Vikings

Libby Lannon had a one-track mind all week: foul shots, foul shots, foul shots. After missing crucial free throws in Cardinal O'Hara's one-point loss to Neumann-Goretti, the senior guard relentlessly practiced shooting from the stripe leading up to her squad's showdown Friday night with Archbishop Wood. In what was a serendipitous occurrence, Lannon found herself at the line, shooting two, with a little more than two minutes remaining and her team up by four. She converted both, giving the Lions some needed cushion as they defeated the Vikings, 30-27, in a Catholic League game.

It's easy for a player or team to get amped up for a league game or one against a long-standing rival, but what if your schedule looks like Archbishop Wood's? The Vikings opened the girls' basketball season against Bishop Ford, which had reached the Brooklyn/Queens Division I championship game last season. Then they traveled to Arizona, where they competed in the Nike Tournament of Champions, featuring some of the top teams in the nation. The next challenge for the Vikings was Archbishop Molloy, considered one of the best teams in New York state and boasting three Division I recruits.

STATE COLLEGE - Even in a season in which Archbishop Wood lost more games than in the previous two seasons combined, the Vikings found a way to win it all again. The PIAA Class AAA girls' state championship trophy won't be moving from its trophy case, as Wood cruised to its third consecutive state title by defeating Lancaster Catholic, 52-33, Saturday night in Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. "Every team is different, but I don't think it ever gets old," Vikings coach Jim Ricci said.

Martel Johnson was a sophomore with speed, skills, and a stubborn streak. He wasn't fond of "constructive criticism," which is a nice way of saying the coach used to yell at him a lot. "I didn't want to listen," Johnson said. "You get older, you get a little more mature, you start to realize what he's talking about. " Johnson's coach at Atlantic City, Gene Allen, likes to downplay his role in the most exciting season in the long history of the proud program. It's the players, Allen says.

It was Group 4 against Group 2. That's not always an advantage in size and strength for the larger school. But it was when Eastern played Haddonfield in the Cherry Hill East Invitational on Saturday. "That was the game plan," Eastern coach Joe Murphy of his team's physical play in a 52-41 victory in the second game of the two-day, 12-game showcase of most of South Jersey's top boys' basketball teams. Eastern (18-5), the No. 7 team in The Inquirer's South Jersey rankings, dominated the backboards and flexed its muscle on defense, holding the Bulldogs to their second-lowest scoring total of the season.

The formula for the Archbishop Wood football team was pretty simple on Friday night. Give the ball to Andrew Guckin. Need a first down? Guckin will take it for touchdown. Want to dump the ball off on a screen? Guckin will take it 41 yards. How about from the 2-yard line - can the senior tailback get it in the end zone? Yep. Against Interboro, Guckin's 133 rushing yards and four touchdowns helped the Vikings sail to victory, 35-7, in a PIAA Class AAA state quarterfinal at Plymouth Whitemarsh.

The Archbishop Wood girls' soccer team is no stranger to being down a goal in a close game. So when they found themselves in that predicament in the state AA final the Vikings didn't panic. It was just like the first round game against Villa Joseph Marie, they thought, a game the Vikings rallied back to win in overtime. On Saturday afternoon; however, at Hersheypark Stadium, Wood couldn't find the equalizer, losing to Moon, 1-0. "I thought we would get it. We are usually down in the first half of games and most times we end up coming back," junior defensive back Katherine Hennessey said.

Members of the Archbishop Wood girls' soccer team aren't strangers to playing for a state championship. Senior midfielder and cocaptain Jackie Pierson won three straight state titles with the Vikings' basketball team. Sophomore forward Aubree Brown also has been a part of that hoops squad. Then there is Deanna Messner, the junior goalkeeper who split time in net when Wood reached the PIAA Class AAA title game in 2010, the last time Bill Cappo's squad made it to Hershey. Several other Vikings, including Pierson, also will be returning to the state finals on Saturday, when Wood (18-3-2)

Three years ago had been the last time the Lansdale Catholic Crusaders defeated Archbishop Wood in girls' soccer. But the overtime regular-season victory in 2009 was nothing compared to Wednesday's 2-0 defeat of the Vikings in a Catholic League semifinal. "I feel like I'm floating on a cloud right now," Lansdale coach Tom O'Donnell said. The feeling was contagious, as the Crusaders barely contained their excitement after the game ended. "As soon as that whistle blew, we all just broke down into tears," said Bryn Wassel, a senior captain.

Lansdale Catholic had not beaten Archbishop Wood in girls' soccer in three years. But the overtime regular-season victory in 2009 was nothing compared to Wednesday's 2-0 defeat of the Vikings in a Catholic League semifinal at Archbishop Ryan. "I feel like I'm floating on a cloud right now," Lansdale Catholic coach Tom O'Donnell said. The feeling was contagious, as the Crusaders barely contained their excitement after the game ended. "As soon as that whistle blew, we all just broke down into tears," said Bryn Wassel, a senior captain.