PIAA Class 5A boys championship breakdown: Moon vs. Archbishop Wood
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Friday, March 22, 2019 | 11:19 AM
Moon’s Jioni Smith steals the ball from Mars’ Michael Carmody during their PIAA Class 5A semifinal Monday, Mar. 18, 2019, at New Castle High School.
PIAA Class 5A boys basketball championship
Moon vs. Archbishop Wood
8 p.m., Friday at Giant Center, Hershey
TV: PCN
Radio: WBVP-AM/TribLive HSSN
Moon (26-2)
Coach: Adam Kaufman
No., Name, Pos, Ht., Yr.
3, Jioni Smith, G, 6-2, Sr.
5, Donovan Johnson, F, 6-6, Jr.
10, Austin Ryan, G, 5-11, Sr.
12, Connor Ryan, G, 6-0, Sr.
23, Taru Jones, G, 6-2, Sr.
Archbishop Wood (20-8)
Coach: John Mosco
No., Name, Pos, Ht., Yr.
1, Julius Phillips, G/F, 6-6, Sr.
3, Rahsool Diggins, G, 6-0, So.
4, Jaylen Stinson, G, 5-11, So.
5, Brendan Kersey, F, 6-2, Jr.
22, Daeshon Shepherd, G/F, 6-5, So.
How they got here: District 12 champion Archbishop Wood defeated Holy Ghost Prep, 52-41, Penncrest, 61-38, Pottsville, 55-43, and Abington Heights, 63-53, in overtime. WPIAL runner-up Moon defeated Northestern, 77-53, Archbishop Ryan, 44-36, Lower Dauphin, 51-50 in overtime, and Mars, 73-55.
Notable: Archbishop Wood won the PIAA title in 2017 but missed the state playoffs last season. The Vikings are led by a trio of high-scoring sophomores: Diggins 17.5, Shepherd 14.4 and Stinson 13.6. A fourth double-digit scorer, Phillips, averages 13.4. Shepherd lists scholarship offers from Temple and Denver. Diggins scored 32 points twice this season. Wood owns a four-point win over Class A champion Sankofa Freedom Academy in December. Moon has reached the PIAA finals for the second time in school history. The Tigers won the Class AAA title in 2004 over Holy Ghost Prep, 52-50. Johnson, who averages 22.3 points and 9.4 rebounds, transferred home last summer from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. OLSH reached the PIAA Class 2A finals last season but Johnson sat out with a knee injury. Connor Ryan averages 13.2 points, Austin Ryan averages 9.2 and Jioni Smith 8.7. This is the third time Kaufman has led a team to the state finals. Montour was PIAA Class 3A runner-up in 2011 and 2012.
Preview story: WPIAL title escaped Moon’s grasp, but PIAA championship now within reach
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: Moon
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