Catholic League girls basketball: Wilson’s injury serves only as motivation for Carroll
BRISTOL TWP. — When Brooke Wilson collapsed to the floor and clutched her knee, the Conwell-Egan High School gymnasium fell silent.
Archbishop Carroll’s sophomore standout writhed in pain for several minutes in the second quarter of Tuesday’s Catholic League semifinal. When she was able to walk off under her own power, the Patriots breathed a sigh of relief and refocused. They had a job to finish.
Even so, senior forward Taylor Wilson knew the immediate impact her sister’s absence would have on the team.
“She’s a huge, huge part of our defense and we kind of had to make up for her not being there,” Taylor Wilson said. “Unfortunately, injuries are part of the game of basketball. So you kind of just have to adapt when it does happen. I think we did a good job.”
Brooke will have six days to rest and hopefully make a comeback at the Palestra next Monday. Carroll, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, advanced to the league championship with a convincing 50-35 win over fifth-seeded Neumann-Goretti Tuesday.
“Obviously we hope she’s OK and feeling better,” Taylor Wilson said. “We’re definitely going to need her for our game Monday.”
The Patriots, who improved their league record to 11-0, will play No. 2 Cardinal O’Hara in an all-Delaware County Catholic League championship game. O’Hara defeated reigning league champion Archbishop Wood, 55-48, in the other semifinal.
Carroll coach Renie Shields was disheartened to see Brooke Wilson exit with an injury, but proud of her team’s overall response. The Patriots finished the second quarter on a 15-4 run and took a 31-16 lead into halftime.
“They didn’t even skip a beat,” Shields said. “I think they felt like, ‘OK, let’s go.’ We do practice with everybody on the team and we have confidence in everybody when they’re out there. … As much as I love Brooke, and hate to see her hurt, they’re really confident in the next kid coming in.”
Chloe Bleckley and Courtland Schumacher played valuable minutes off the bench in Brooke Wilson’s absence.
The star of the night was Grace O’Neill. The Drexel-bound senior guard produced 28 points on 7 of 15 shooting from the field. She was 13 of 18 from the free-throw line, including 7 of 9 in the fourth quarter. O’Neill also had eight rebounds and four assists.
“We knew how scrappy they were and our number one thing was boxing out and … coming down with rebounds,” O’Neill said. “Losing Brooke, we were obviously hoping that she’s OK. But we know to finish the game because that’s exactly what she wants us to do. She wants us to get the win and move on. So I think just focusing on different areas that she was assigned in the game, like picking up some of her assignments and helping out whenever we could was really important after she went down.”
Senior guard Maggie Grant buried a pair of clutch 3-pointers, including a buzzer-beater to end the third quarter with the Patriots on top, 38-28. Carroll turned the ball over eight times in the second half, and Neumann-Goretti pulled within seven points early in the final period, but O’Neill and Taylor Wilson closed the game strong. Wilson dominates the low post with 12 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks.
“We all had to play our best and make sure we kept our lead going,” she said.
Senior forward D’Azyha Atkinson, who played at Chester Charter Scholars Academy as a freshman, led the Saints with 15 points and 14 boards.
“They are pretty fast and it can be pretty difficult because it’s definitely not the way that we play,” Taylor Wilson said. “So in the beginning we were kind of rushing and we were letting them dictate how we ran our offense. But I think we did a good job once the game went on at slowing it down and running our offense and doing what we do best.”
Carroll and O’Hara’s Monday title meeting will be a rematch of their Feb. 1 game. The Patriots played an outstanding defensive game and earned a 49-39 victory, the Lions’ only league loss. The Patriots are looking for their first PCL title since 2019. O’Hara’s last two championships came back to back in the 2017-18 seasons.
