City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADrobinson3)
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BROOMALL — For any freshman playing varsity basketball, life can come at them fast.

For Archbishop Carroll’s Alexis Eberz, that’s most definitely been the case. Not only is the freshman starting for a Patriots team that reached the PCL title game, she’s doing it at point guard against a whirlwind schedule that’s included trips out of state and games against some top-tier opponents.

Life is coming fast, but Eberz has handled it in stride to give a veteran Carroll team just what it needs.

“It is a lot quicker but I think I’m doing good, I just have to keep shooting when I’m open,” Eberz said. “It’s been good so far.”

Eberz also has a pretty good basketball pedigree to lean back on. Her parents - Eric Eberz and Michele (Thornton) Eberz - both played at Villanova in the early 1990s so it almost predetermined that Alexis would eventually find her way onto a basketball court.

Eric shared the court with Kerry Kittles, Alvin Williams, Jason Lawson and Jonathan Haynes, earning second team All-Big East as a senior in the 1994-95 season  while Michele is a 2011 Varsity Club Hall of Fame inductee and was a first team All-Big East selection as a senior in 94-95.

Alexis is a long way off from thinking about her college plans, instead focusing on fitting in with a Patriots team that starts three seniors and a junior around her.

“If I miss a shot, they’re always telling me ‘it’s alright, you got it, go on to the next one,’” Eberz said. “They’re always there for all of us.”

Carroll junior Brooke Wilson, who assisted Eberz on the freshman’s timely 3-pointer in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s 43-38 win over Germantown Academy, has been impressed with her teammate’s impact already.

“She’s doing awesome, we’ve all said it, she couldn’t have stepped into her role any better,” Wilson said. “It’s hard, playing in the Catholic League, our schedule and she’s playing the point? That’s a lot to ask, but she should be really proud of herself because she’s doing a great job.”

Eberz finished Thursday’s game with seven points - including that three which put Carroll ahead 37-30 with 3:38 to play - but left a few on the court with a few missed free throws in the fourth quarter. After the game, Eberz stayed behind for a minute, getting some guidance from one of the Patriots’ assistant coaches, just another lesson for a young player finding their way.

Having been there herself a few years ago, Wilson can relate to how quickly everything comes being the newbie in a big, new, faster world.

“Everything’s a learning experience,” Wilson said. “If you throw the ball away, that’s a learning experience and the next time, you’re not going to do it. You have to have the mentality of next play, everyone makes mistakes, especially when you’re new and going grade school to high school, you just need to have a good mindset.”

Eberz knows she’s on the floor for a reason and if the ball comes her way, it’s because her teammates believe in her to make the right play. GA, despite being short handed on Thursday, played some tough, physical defense so Eberz when Wilson found her open in the fourth, she knew what to do.

“Gotta be ready to shoot,” the freshman said.

Carroll graduated point guard Grace O’Neill, currently starting for Drexel as a freshman, so whoever was taking over the point had quite the act to follow. The Patriots coaches haven’t put it all on Eberz either, with any of the other four starters able to handle the ball, but it’s been quite the change for the newest addition to the roster.

“I was a big in CYO,” Eberz said. “Coming in and being a point guard, it’s definitely a hard adjustment but I think I’m doing better at it.”

Alexis Eberz (above, left) comes from a basketball family, as both of her parents were standouts at Villanova. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

It’ll be another adjustment starting next week when PCL play begins, but Eberz is looking forward to her first experience of the league and sharing it with her teammates.

In terms of Thursday’s game, it was scrappy on both ends. Wilson said the Patriots weren’t happy with their play in Wednesday’s loss to Villa Maria and felt similar about the first half against GA.

The junior and her older sister Taylor decided to do something about it, combining for the first nine points of the third quarter to take the lead for good. Between them, the Wilsons had 30 points and led the defensive effort against a GA team that got a strong 22-point game from Izzy Casey.

Down a few players, including starters Kendall Bennett and Jess Aponik, plus a key rotation piece in freshman Addison Levensten, Germantown Academy was no less scrappy on defense but couldn’t make up the gap after Eberz’s fourth quarter three.

“We needed to get stops, then go score on offense, just break it down one play at a time,” Brooke Wilson said. “We got a stop, we scored, then it happened three other times and we went up eight, which got momentum going and really helped us.”

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By  Quarter
AC:  7   |   8   |  15  |  13  ||  43
GA:  9   |   7   |  10  |  12  ||  38

Scoring
AC: Brooke Wilson 16, Taylor Wilson 14, Alexis Eberz 7, Meg Sheridan 4, Olivia Nardi 2

GA: Izzy Casey 22, Gabby Bowes 6, Sam Wade 4, Jess Kolecki 2, CeeJay Thomas 2, Jenna Aponik 2