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Archbishop Wood falls to Moon in PIAA Class 5A championship game

District 7 Moon, a team led by four senior starters, came from behind in the fourth quarter and won the PIAA Class 5A championship, 74-64.

Archbishop Wood # 22 Daeshon Shepherd reacts as Moon celebrates in the background after the Archbishop Wood vs. Mars H.S. PIAA Class 5A boys' basketball state championship game at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa. on March 22, 2019.  Archbishop Wood lost the game 74-64.
Archbishop Wood # 22 Daeshon Shepherd reacts as Moon celebrates in the background after the Archbishop Wood vs. Mars H.S. PIAA Class 5A boys' basketball state championship game at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa. on March 22, 2019. Archbishop Wood lost the game 74-64.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

HERSHEY, Pa. -- There are no moral victories in Hershey, but the inexperienced Vikings from Archbishop Wood briefly eclipsed Moon late in the second half before a devastating descent at the Giant Center in Hershey.

District 7 Moon, a team led by four senior starters, came from behind in the fourth quarter and won the PIAA Class 5A championship, 74-64.

Wood, the District 12 top seed with just one senior on its roster, took a seven-point edge into the final frame before faltering late.

“They played steady the whole game,” said Wood coach John Mosco. “They didn’t rattle. We got a few turnovers and didn’t capitalize on them. They made their foul shots at the end. All their seniors stepped up.”

Senior guard Connor Ryan led the Tigers (27-2) with 28 points, including 17 in the final frame. Fellow senior guard Jioni Smith finished with eight points, a game-high 11 assists, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

“I knew we weren’t going to come out [in the fourth] and roll over,” said Moon coach Adam Kaufman. “They’re not those types of kids.”

The Tigers outscored Wood, 30-13, in the fourth.

Wood had taken a 51-44 edge into the final frame and added two more early after senior Julius Phillips tipped in a miss.

Sophomores Daeshon Shepherd and Rahsool Diggins led the Vikings (19-9) with 22 and 20 points, respectively.

The pair even connected on an alley-oop launched near halfcourt from Diggins into the hands of Shepherd, who dunked the ball with authority. On Wood’s previous possession, Diggins had thrown a similar lob pass just out of Shepherd’s reach, resulting in a turnover.

“We have to use this as a learning experience,” Mosco said. “That’s what I just told them. This hurts, but life hurts. Everything is not positive. You’re gonna win some and lose some, but you have to fight through it and make us a better team.”

Shepherd added eight rebounds, five on the offensive side. Diggins finished 8-of-23 overall, 0-of-6 from three. He added six rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

Wood finished with 19 offensive rebounds.

The Vikings used defensive pressure late in the third to turn a four-point deficit with 2 minutes, 48 seconds left in the quarter into a seven-point lead.

“I think in the beginning of the game we were a little nervous,” Mosco said. “Then we settled in during the middle of the game and got a little … I don’t know if it was nerves or just we started pressing and didn’t play together as much down the stretch.”

Moon 16 9 19 30 -- 74

Wood 11 12 28 13 -- 64

M: Jioni Smith 8, Donovan Johnson 17, Austin Ryan 8, Connor Ryan 28, Taru Jones 13,

W: Julius Phillips 7, Rahsool Diggins 20, Jaylen Stinson 12, Muneer Newton 3, Daeshon Shepperd 22.