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PIAA Class 5A Girls' Championship Preview: Archbishop Wood vs. South Fayette

03/26/2025, 9:45pm EDT
By Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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When the lights go down and the spotlight comes on, that’s when Emily Knouse expects it to hit her.

Archbishop Wood’s lone senior will be announced one last time as a starter for her team Saturday night when the Vikings take the floor against South Fayette in the PIAA Class 5A title game. It’ll be the start of the end of an era at Wood, one Knouse and her teammates are hoping to end with something no other girls’ program in PA has ever done.

Wood chases a fifth straight state title Saturday at the Giant Center, both having never been done before, but South Fayette stands as a formidable roadblock.

“When they do turn the lights down and you watch that video where it’s a recap of the season, I think it’ll finally be like ‘ok, this is it,’” Knouse said. “That last bus ride home, I’m looking forward to it. I love just hanging out with these guys, they’re the best.”


Emily Knouse, Archbishop Wood's lone senior, will try to lead the Vikings to a fifth straight state title Saturday against South Fayette. (CoBL Photo/Josh Verlin)

Knouse won’t be the first player to win four state titles – 2024 grads Lauren Greer and Alexa Windish were with the program for each of the last four – but she could be the first Viking to actually play in four state title wins. With a victory on Saturday, the Vikings would be the first girls’ team in PA history to win five consecutive PIAA titles and the first girls’ program with 10 overall championships.

As the sole senior on the Wood roster this season, Knouse has been a keystone player for a mostly very young roster.

The sweet-shooting guard came to Wood as a talented player – Knouse will depart as a 1,000-point scorer and the program’s all-time leader in made three-pointers – but it didn’t stop her from getting even better the last four years. With a bright future awaiting at St. Joe’s, Knouse admitted she’s been a little reflective as the last week of her high school career unfolds. The extra week between the semifinals and title game this year has allowed Knouse a few extra days with her team, not something she’s overlooking.

“Soph Topakas looked at me after our last game and said ‘you only have one week of practice left’ and I think that’s when it hit me,” Knouse said. “I’m just trying to soak in all the memories I’ve had in this gym with all the girls I’ve shared them with, just thinking of everybody who’s gotten me to this point.”

After the team wrapped practice on Monday, Knouse and a few teammates stuck around to put up extra shots. As the senior swished look after look, Vikings coach Mike McDonald highlighted the co-captain’s impact on this year’s team.

“I said to her the other day after we won, four state championship games in four years is rare, it’s something to be proud of,” McDonald said. “She’s been pretty mature and easy to talk to from the time she was a freshman, so everything about her off the court and the way she plays on the court where she can facilitate, she knows what we’re in and how to read defenses, both sides of that has helped us tremendously.”

The group around her has grown significantly as well, Wood’s depth on full display the last four games as the Vikings have rolled through the bracket. Sophomore Ryan Carter has excelled all season, her defense the catalyst in a Wood press that’s caused plenty of turnovers and her rim attacks opening up plenty of shots around her.

Juniors Emma Yogis and Sophia Topakas have been playing very well in states, Knouse saying those two and junior Colleen Besachio have been like pseudo-seniors along with her this year as the team’s older players.


Ryan Carter (above) has shown why she's one of the best sophomores in the country according to national scouts. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Sophomore Sophia McDonald is shooting the ball at a high rate, sophomore Emma Seckinger has continued to emerge as a rising talent and sophomore Makaya Finnegan is always around the ball powering Wood’s disruptive defense. Where the team has started to get a boost of late is from its freshman group with Addison Payne and Abbie Kelly finding their way on the floor throughout the state run.

"I'm excited about our future," McDonald said. "The freshmen are starting to become sophomores, you can tell they're starting to think about their future and wanting to be a bigger part of it.

"We tell them all the time, there's no guarantee but we need all hands on deck, you don't know what's going to happen where we might need somebody who's strengths are going to help us win the game."

Knouse laughs about it now but when she got to Wood four years ago, she thought a schedule loaded with nationally ranked opponents was what “big girl basketball” was all about then quickly it wasn’t that way everywhere. She’s had her own ups and downs over four years and the senior has looked to help her younger teammates along with that as a captain each of the last two seasons.

“I told the freshmen before, you’re going to hit a wall,” Knouse said. “This is nothing like CYO or what you’re used to, it’s a way different schedule, it’s almost like a college program. It’s going to be hard freshman year. I definitely hit a wall and I was frustrated but it’s going to make you a better person and a better player to come back from that adversity.”

Two years ago when Bryan Bennett led South Fayette to Hershey for the first time in his tenure, he didn’t absorb the moment enough. That’s not something the Lions’ 11th year coach plans on doing again, especially with the way this group has gotten to Hershey.

Going into the season, the Lions figured they were a year away from making their big run. South Fayette had a talented group, but one that was still on the younger side and a little unproven as a collective.

“This group has exceeded my expectations, they just work so hard and we’re looking forward to being back on the big stage,” Bennett said. “We have some really talented kids, they’re so unselfish and they play well together. Going into every game, I don’t know where the points are going to come from because we have so many kids who can score, so I’m just very fortunate to have a group like this.”

What’s powered this Lions team has been its balance and shared success.

South Fayette runs as its junior trio of Juliette Leroux, Ryan Oldaker and Haylie Lamonde go. The three, who all have college offers from Division I and II programs, have a strong sense of how to play with and off each other. On the floor, they’re interchangeable in many ways, all of them good athletes around 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-11 and averaging in the area of 12-13 points per game.

“They’re really close friends, they’re just used to each other and know what each other does on the court but they’re also such hard workers and push each other every day,” Bennett said. “They all want to play at the next level and they make each other better.”


Sophia Topakas (above) is another veteran presence for McDonald. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

That trio, coupled with a strong two-way point guard in sophomore Lailah Wright, provide a tremendous core for the Lions. Bennett said Wright in particular has been a breakout player, replacing a four-year starter, the guard is posting close to 10 ppg but also a tenacious defender and orchestrates the offense like a veteran.

South Fayette arrives in Hershey with a 28-2 overall record and a high-tempo game that’s been emphatic in the state playoffs. The Lions have won their first four games by an average of 24 points per game, and they’ve averaged close to 63 points offensively all year while only allowing around 35 points per game defensively.

A trip to Florida in late December for a high-level tournament was the turning point. South Fayette lost its first game in the event by 38, then fought for a one-point win in the next to start a 16-game streak that only came to a halt in the WPIAL championship against Peters Twp.

“I didn’t know where our kids’ heads were losing as bad as we did in our first game but they were just so focused, came and played a really good game and beat a really good team,” Bennett said. “After that win, I thought we had something special. We still had things to work on and get better at, but those two games defined where we were going this season.”

South Fayette avenged its loss in the WPIAL final in the state semis and Bennett also made sure to highlight the leadership of his two seniors, Cierra Rexrode and Alexa Ankrum, all season.

McDonald said it’s a credit to the type of program South Fayette has that the Lions were able to get back to the state final in short order with such a different roster from two years ago. His early impressions of the WPIAL side were that they were as good as their record says and South Fayette has plenty to account for on both sides.

“I expect it to be a challenging game,” McDonald said. “We’re going to have to defend at a high level and be unselfish and move the ball. The guards are long, they can all move, they’re similar to us in that they’re going to have five kids on the court who are able to do a lot of different things.”

At this point, Knouse knows the routine. She knows how the Vikings will spend their day in Hershey before the game, an annual team lunch preceding a trip to Chocolate World before they head into the Giant Center and lock in.

As much as she knows what’s coming and what’s on the line, Knouse admitted this one will be different. It’ll be memorable, it will be special and if it goes well, it’ll be a historic ending.

“It’s going to be weird not seeing the green and yellow anymore,” Knouse said. “I am really happy about where I’m going for my next chapter, but this has been my home and my life and my routine the last four years. I’ll definitely miss it.”

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