Emily Knouse leads Archbishop Wood girls to fourth straight title game appearance

It was around midseason when Mike McDonald started to notice it.

Emily Knouse wasn’t just a shooter anymore. There was a lot more to the Archbishop Wood junior’s game, but noticeably, the coach said, on offense, Knouse was emerging as a weapon.

On Tuesday night, Knouse’s growth was on display as the Vikings downed Bethlehem Catholic, 53-30, to secure a spot in the PIAA Class 5A championship for the fourth straight year.

The Vikings will face District 10 champion Cathedral Prep, a program they’ve seen a few times in the final under its former name, Villa Maria, on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Hershey’s Giant Center.

“She started driving, ripping, posting up, and scoring in that area and now she just has the confidence to do it all,” McDonald said. “It’s incredible growth for her as a junior and it’s been so impressive to watch her game grow throughout this season, she can score in all different facets now.”

Knouse, who’s committed to St. Joseph’s, poured in 26 points. And it was more about how she did it, mixing her potent perimeter game with some interior work and an aggressive approach that put her on the foul line.

“I was just taking what they were giving me. They were switching it up; it seemed to be every other possession,” Knouse said. “They seemed to have a little bit of trouble guarding those flare screens and my teammates do a great job of passing right on the line to me. I just happened to be knocking them down.”

Knouse ended the first half with 20 points as the Vikings led, 28-13. Senior Ava Renninger had the other eight points for Wood, but it wasn’t as if their teammates weren’t chipping in.

Lauren Greer, who finished with three points, was the lead defender on Hawks senior Cici Hernandez. She held the dynamic guard to five points on 2-of-11 shooting.

“When we were in our huddle yesterday after practice, our assistant, Coach Ray [Horn] said, ‘The key to this game would be stopping [Hernandez],’ ” Greer said. “Preparing for this game today in school, I was watching film and I was trying to pinpoint certain things she did and make sure I was prepared.

“I could tell from watching games that she’s a shooter, so I tried to ride her off the three-point line.”

Knouse added two more three-pointers in the second half to round off the 26 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds.

“It’s something I worked on, getting to the basket,” Knouse said. “I didn’t want to be a one-dimensional player. I wanted them to respect the three but also if they were playing good defense, I wanted to be able to get to the basket.”

» READ MORE: Devon Prep reaches state championship, ending Math, Civics & Sciences final season as a program

Knouse credited Greer’s defense as something that helped her improve offensively. Conversely, Greer gave some props to her teammate.

“She’s so good at making her own shots,” Greer said. “Whether it’s ripping to the basket or setting up so her girl is hitting a screen to get herself open, she’s really good at that and showed it in this game.”

Bethlehem Catholic found a spark in the third, scoring nine straight points after Wood had taken a 40-17 lead. The Vikings withstood the run, then methodically took care of business in the fourth quarter before the starting five got their call to the bench with about a minute remaining.

Last year, Knouse showed the state she can shoot the ball pretty well. For those who haven’t seen her in a year, she can do a lot more than that now.

“It’s always a huge goal, first to win the PCL, then to win states,” Knouse said. “We just talked about it with the girls, everything we get to do and the experience of being up there and they’re just so excited.”

This story was produced as part of a partnership between The Inquirer and City of Basketball Love, a nonprofit news organization that covers high school and college basketball in the Philadelphia area while also helping mentor the next generation of sportswriters. This collaboration will help boost coverage of the city’s vibrant amateur basketball scene, from the high school ranks up through the Big 5 and beyond.