PIAA boys basketball preview capsule: Fox Chapel vs. Archbishop Wood, Saturday, March 19, 2022

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Friday, March 18, 2022 | 4:40 PM

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Class 6A

Semifinals

Fox Chapel (27-1) vs. Archbishop Wood (20-7)

4 p.m. Saturday at Chambersburg

Winner plays: Winner of Lower Merion (27-3)/Roman Catholic (22-4) in championship 7:30 p.m. March 26 at Giant Center, Hershey

Coaches: Zach Skrinjar, Fox Chapel; John Mosco, Archbishop Wood

How they got here: Fox Chapel — Defeated 3-7 Cumberland Valley (52-47), 8-1 Allderdice (61-52) and 11-1 Northhampton (39-37); Archbishop Wood — Defeated 1-5 Plymouth Whitemarsh (77-50), 3-1 Reading (64-58), and 7-2 North Hills (74-47)

Layup lines: Fox Chapel reached the state semifinals for the first time in 45 years with a two-point victory over Northhampton at Chambersburg. Standout senior Eli Yofan made a deep jumper from the top of the key gave the Foxes a 39-37 lead with about 10 seconds left, and J.P. Dockey blocked a 3-point attempt with a second remaining to seal the win over the District 11 champions. Yofan, the school’s all-time scoring leader, had 14 points. … Archbishop Wood dashed a potential WPIAL final rematch when it clipped North Hills in the quarterfinals. The Vikings reached the PIAA final last season and lost to Reading, 58-57, on the big floor at Hershey’s Giant Center. In the quarterfinal win over North Hills, sophomore guard Jalil Bethea erupted for 37 points, making 11 of 15 3-pointers. The Vikings’ losses are to Archbishop Ryan, West Catholic, La Salle College, Reading, Camen (N.J.), George School, and St. Frances Academy (Md.). Archbishop Wood won a state 5A title in 2017 and was the state runner-up to Moon in ‘19, also in 5A.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Fox Chapel