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Carroll's girls top Wood, stay atop PCL standings

01/20/2022, 11:00pm EST
By Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)

WARMINSTER — Grace O'Neill wasn't thinking about payback.

Revenge isn't a valid motive, it's an emotional response, so the Archbishop Carroll senior wasn't thinking about the agonizing loss she and her team suffered last year in Archbishop Wood's gym in the PCL semifinals. Well, maybe it did cross the Drexel recruit's mind once or twice, but it was more the feeling of being on the other side as she and Brooke Wilson led a ferocious fourth-quarter charge.

This wasn't vengeance, it was just a really good win over a really good team as the Patriots delivered an early haymaker to the PCL standings with their 44-38 win over the defending champion Vikings on Thursday night.


Grace O'Neill (above) had 18 points as Carroll came from behind to beat Wood. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

"Just being focused on this game was all we were trying to key in on," O'Neill, who scored 18 points, said. "I know the feeling being, I think we were up two, so I know that feeling of seeing it slip away but that can't be where you focus. Brooke did a great job finishing off her foul shots and that definitely helped us get the win."

O'Neill would have been justified had she said she wanted some payback against the Vikings. After going 3-0 against the Vikings her freshman year, including a win in the PCL title game and PIAA 5A tournament, she had lost her last five contests against Wood over the past two seasons capped by that one-point loss in last season's playoff game.

For the non-seniors, like Wilson, Thursday marked their first win over Wood. It was a win that might have looked a little improbable 30 seconds into the fourth quarter after Bri Bowen's basket put the hosts up 37-27. Carroll's defense held Wood to just one point the rest of the way.

Interestingly, Carroll gave up the same amount of points in the 38-37 playoff loss, but this time around, the result felt much better walking out of the gym.

"We came into this game super-prepared with the right mentality," Wilson said. "We wanted to wipe away that mentality of 'oh, we always lose here.' It was a clean slate for us, which helped us."

Wilson, a sophomore, might have scored 10 of her 15 in the final frame but instead pointed to the frenetic Patriots defense as the catalyst in the comeback.

The Patriots pestered the Vikings all game, contributing to Wood's 15 turnovers with four of them coming in the pivotal final frame. O'Neill had an athletic interception of a pass that set up the possession where Taylor Wilson scored on a drive to give Carroll it's first lead at 38-37 with 1:36 left on the clock.

"Our focus is practice, everything in practice should replicate into the game," Brooke Wilson said. "We take a lot of pride in our defense and work on it every day."

Wood turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, with O'Neill finding Brooke Wilson for a basket to push the lead to 40-37, then the sophomore came up with a steal off a bad pass by the Vikings, forcing the hosts to foul.

Turnovers are generally befitting of an offense out of sorts and that was just what the Vikings had to contend with for much of Thursday's game. Senior Ryanne Allen led Wood with 14 points, but the Vanderbilt recruit only had two shot attempts in the fourth quarter and the Vikings only got one point from their usually-dependable bench.

"They kept hitting shots while we kept turning it over, we have to learn to close out a fourth quarter game," Wood coach Mike McDonald said. "Some of it is on me, we have some kids we're still figuring things out with and it's up to me to find more consistency and get the right people out there to close out the game. We had opportunities, we forced it in and turned the ball over too much, we'd like to get Ryanne more involved especially in the fourth quarter but again, that's Archbishop Carroll, they're always so prepared, so tough and defend you so well."

Brooke Wilson, who guarded Allen much of the night, couldn't buy a bucket prior to the fourth and missed nine of her 11 attempts through three quarters. With Taylor Wilson limited by foul trouble and Maggie Grant likewise having an off night, the defense buckled in and O'Neill did all she could to keep the Patriots in striking distance.

The 5-foot-6 guard brought out the full repertoire offensively, scoring at least four points in every quarter then finished with five in the fourth while also adding five assists for the night.

"It's all due to practicing," O'Neill said. "Coming around screens and being able to get off a shot quickly, we shoot a lot in practice where it's that 'three, two, one, shot,' so that preparation is what helps me find those shots in a game.

"From experience, I know what it's like, so I was just trying to get the best opportunity to score. Whether that's running plays for me, or Taylor Wilson, Brooke or Maggie Grant, that's what I'm looking for."

Wood had to start fouling, putting O'Neill at the line with 43.8 left on the clock for a one-and-one. The senior missed the first, but Brooke Wilson slipped in to steal away the offensive rebound, getting it back to O'Neill who this time got one of two for a four-point lead.

"She does the little things so well," O'Neill said of her sophomore teammate. "The defensive intensity, getting tough boards, those are the types of things she's just so good at."

Wilson was 3-of-5 from the floor in the quarter and closed the game out hitting 3-of-4 at the line. It wasn't a surprise that her best offensive quarter came during her team's best defensive frame either.

"My defense fuels my offense," Wilson said. "If I'm not shooting well, it never really gets in my head. I keep shooting, maybe change up my shot selection but if my offense isn't there, it only fuels me to do better on defense. I think it hit us that 'we only have five minutes left and if we want to win this, we have to go now.'"

Last time she was in Wood's gym, O'Neill ended the game with a desperation heave that was off the mark in a gutting loss. This time, the senior got to corral the final rebound and pass it off to Brooke Wilson for a final connection in a much more gratifying ending.

It wasn't payback, just a win worth celebrating.

"We haven't beaten them since my freshman year and they're always such a great team, so to get a win over a team like that is awesome," O'Neill said.

By Quarter
Carroll:  9   |  10  |   8   |  17  ||  44
Wood:  13  |  12  |  10  |   3   ||  38

Scoring
AC: Grace O'Neill 18, Brooke Wilson 15, Taylor Wilson 7, Maggie Grant 2, Cortland Schumacher 2

AW: Ryanne Allen 14, Bri Bowen 12, Deja Evans 8, Ava Renning 3, Kara Meredith 1


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