O’Neill helps Carroll shake rust, roll past Mount in Class 5A opener

FAIRVIEW VILLAGE — FArchbishop Carroll could be excused for its slow start in Saturday’s PIAA Class 5A tournament opener at Methacton High School.

The Patriots hadn’t played a competitive game in nearly a month. The layoff between the end of their run in the Catholic League playoffs (Feb. 13) and Saturday is too long for anyone’s liking and a glaring problem the PIAA and District 12 must resolve.

Two weeks after pummeling Freire Charter in the District 12 third-place game, Carroll finally returned to the hardwood to face a worthy opponent in Mount St. Joseph, the No. 3 seed from District 1.

Unlike the Public League team Carroll was forced to play, the Mount is an excellent basketball program deserving of its spot in states. And the Patriots had their hands full in the early going.

“I kind of knew that it would be a little hard coming into this game,” said sophomore sensation Grace O’Neill, who poured in a game-high 17 points to lead Carroll to a 47-41 victory. “We played a team in districts and it wasn’t a close game. The last close game we had was against O’Hara (in the Catholic League quarterfinals), which was over three weeks ago. But we knew coming in that (Mount) was very good.”

The Patriots snapped back to life and seized control in the second quarter, tallying 11 straight points to erase what had been a nine-point deficit.

“After not playing for a while, it’s definitely hard to get back into a game that’s not a scrimmage in practice,” senior guard Erin Sweeney said. “After that first quarter I think we really started to focus more on the game and what we had to do to bring our energy up, playing good defense and getting rebounds, stuff like that.”

Carroll did plenty of stuff well after the first period. Notwithstanding the not-so-good field goal percentage (26.4 percent), the Patriots were excellent on the defensive end, hit 13 of 14 free-throw attempts, and received solid contributions from their youngsters. The star was freshman guard Taylor Wilson, who generated nine points, seven rebounds, one steal and a block.

“I thought she got better as the game went on, too,” Carroll coach Renie Shields said. “She has so much potential.”

Wilson and Maggie Grant, another first-year starter, are perfect complements to veteran starters O’Neill, Sweeney and junior Karli Dougherty, who have the experience the Patriots need to get back to the state final.

“I know my teammates are always there for me if I need help with anything and of course my coaches are there, too,” Wilson said. “It’s a little pressure, but not too much. I always want to make something happen and help the girls out as much as I can.”

Wilson’s steal late in the fourth quarter thwarted any chance at a Mount comeback.

Carroll’s top players delivered in crunch time. Sweeney hit a 3-pointer moments after the Magic pulled within three points in the fourth quarter, and O’Neill swished a pull-up jumper and made all six of her foul shots down the stretch.

Carroll’s stingy defense forced six third-quarter turnovers and limited one of the best juniors in the area in Grace Niekelski to six points on 3 of 13 shooting from the field.

Lauren Vessey collected 13 points and four assists for the Magic, Kelly Rothenberg added 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists and a steal.

After missing her first five shots, Sweeney settled in for the Patriots. The Drexel-bound guard and four-year starter produced 13 points and seven rebounds.

Carroll’s second-round game against the winner of West Scranton and Spring Grove is slated for Wednesday at a time and place to be determined.

“We’re really young and not a lot people on the team have been through this experience before,” Sweeney said. “You get to states and it’s do-or-die every time you play. But we know we can win, we know we can get there. We just have to play like we know how.”