2025 PIAA Class 5A girls basketball championship breakdown: South Fayette vs. Archbishop Wood

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, March 29, 2025 | 7:01 AM

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PIAA Class 5A girls basketball final

South Fayette vs. Archbishop Wood

6 p.m. Saturday, Giant Center, Hershey

On the air: TV: PCN; Livestream: NFHS Network

PIAA titles: South Fayette 0, Archbishop Wood 9 (2024, ’23, ’22, ’21, ’17, ’16, ’12, ’11, ’10)

South Fayette (28-2)

Coach: Bryan Bennett

Projected starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Yr., Pos.

1, Lailah Wright, 5-7, so., G

3, Haylie Lamonde, 5-8, jr., G

4, Cierra Rexrode, 5-10, sr., G

14, Juliette Leroux, 5-11, jr., F

24, Ryan Oldaker, 5-10, jr., G

How they got here: South Fayette defeated Lower Dauphin, 56-21, in the first round; West York, 70-41, in the second round; Hollidaysburg, 70-52, in the quarterfinals; and Peters Township, 50-36, in the semifinals.

Notable: South Fayette qualified for the PIAA playoffs as the WPIAL runner-up. … The Lions reached the state finals once before, losing in the Class 5A game to Archbishop Wood, 61-54, in 2023. … South Fayette averages 61.2 points per game and its defense allows 35.5. … Wright scored 14 points in the semifinals and Oldaker had 13. … In the quarterfinals, Leroux scored 21 and Lemonde had 19. … Bennett’s record is 134-47 in seven seasons at South Fayette. That includes a 98-19 mark in the past four years. … Leroux is the daughter of former NHL defenseman Francois Leroux. She lists a half-dozen college offers, including Duquesne and Robert Morris. … Oldaker is the daughter of longtime Blackhawk and Mt. Lebanon coach Dori Oldaker.

Archbishop Wood (22-7)

Coach: Mike McDonald

Projected starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Yr., Pos.

1, Ryan Carter, 6-0, so., G

10, Sophia Topakas, 5-7, jr., G

20, Makayla Finnegan, 5-6, so., G

21, Emma Seckinger, 5-10, so., G

30, Emily Knouse, 6-0, sr., G/F

How they got here: Archbishop Wood defeated Lower Moreland, 70-25, in the first round; Villa Maria Academy, 58-32, in the second round; Bethlehem Catholic, 69-35, in the quarterfinals; and Crestwood, 62-29, in the semifinals.

Notable: Archbishop Wood has won four straight state titles (Class 5A in 2024 and ’23. Class 4A in 2022 and ’21). … ESPN ranks Carter as the eighth-best sophomore prospect in the country. She lists more than two dozen college offers, including from Florida State, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Ole Miss and Tennessee, among others. … Carter scored 25 points in the semifinals. … Knouse is a 1,000-point scorer committed to St. Joseph’s. … The Vikings offense averages 60.1 points per game and its defense allows 40.7. … They outscored their first four state playoff opponents by 45, 26, 34 and 33 points. … The team lost in-season to PIAA Class 6A champion Perkioman Valley, 78-55, and 4A finalist Neumann-Goretti, 80-53. … Wood has reached the state finals 13 times with runner-up finishes in 2014, ’15 and ’18.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: South Fayette