City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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Tension and anxiety filled even the neutral observer during the Philadelphia Catholic League girls championship last week.

As the game continued into one overtime and then another, the knuckles were a little whiter gripping two seats in the Archbishop Carroll cheering section.

Matt and Maureen McFillin had their nerves tripled with not just one, not just two but sometimes three daughters — Felicity, Maddie and Abbie — out on the floor at the Palestra at the same time of what ended up being a double overtime loss in the Catholic League title game for the Patriots. 

It’s a moment they’ll never forget though, Matt ensuring even in the most stressful seconds of the thriller to appreciate it.

“I said look up, look at this,” Matt recounted. “It’s packed in here. This will never happen again for these girls, all three of them on the same court in front of a sold out Palestra. I said enjoy this.”

Archbishop Carroll, from left, senior Felicity McFillin, freshman Abbie McFillin and junior Maddie McFillin pose together following a game earlier this season. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

The McFillin sisters are three of six siblings. The oldest is Felicity, a senior, followed by Maddie, a junior, and Abbie, a freshman. They have three younger siblings in Frank (eighth grade), Maren (fifth grade) and Max (third grade). 

Felicity and Maddie teamed together at Harriton High School for a season and a half on the varsity team during Felicity’s sophomore and junior seasons. When Abbie decided to attend Archbishop Carroll, her two older sisters joined.

“I think my parents get a little stressed watching us,” Maddie said. “Especially my mom, she gets really stressed.”

“Especially when there’s three of us on the court,” Felicity added. “They’re like it’s bound for one of us to make a mistake every game because there’s always three of us on the court. They get stressed out about that, but it’s OK. They love it though.”

Matt and Maureen both come from big families too as Matt’s one of 11 and Maureen is one of 10. Matt was a standout football player at Archbishop Ryan and West Chester, but he never suited up with his siblings at the high school level. 

His two rules for his children playing sports are to hustle and have fun.

“We went into the year, my wife and I, like, ‘Oh this is going to be fun. They finally all get the chance to play together,’” Matt said. “And as the year progressed and they’re all playing and getting significant minutes and sometimes all three on the court together at the same time, it’s like, woah this is fun, but it’s a little stressful too at times as a parent.”

While Felicity and Maddie were often in the same age groups and on the same teams in organized basketball growing up, Abbie was typically too young to play with her older sisters.

The three girls did share the court on the same co-ed summer league teams in North Wildwood a few times though, and Abbie fit right in with her sisters and the rest of the Patriots when they started playing and practicing with Carroll this offseason.

“I’ve watched them since they were little,” Abbie said. “In CYO, they were always playing together. It was fun to realize I’m actually going to be able to play with them.”

“We knew how it was going to be a little bit but it’s so much fun,” she added. “You don’t see it a lot either.”

Carroll head coach Renie Shields coached a pair of sisters last season in Taylor and Brooke Wilson. She recalls the last time she had three siblings on the same team was in 2009 when she was an assistant alongside former coach Chuck Creighton with her own daughters Kerri, Erin and Shannon on the team. 

“It’s unique,” Shields said. “They’re very individuals and Chuck treated my daughters individually and I treat these three individually. It’s funny, I get home and I forget they’re sisters because they bring a different perspective to the game, but yet that same intensity and that toughness, which is pretty cool.”

Maddie described herself as the “driver,” Felicity as the “shooter,” and Abbie the “facilitator” when it comes to their skillsets on the court. 

“I would say we’re all different players, but we all play the kind of the same,” Abbie said.

“We all know each other so well,” Felicity continued. “Playing in practice, we all know what our strengths and weaknesses are, so sometimes we go at each other a little too hard.”

Matt and Maureen are appreciative of Felicity’s ability to transport the three, making it easier to get the other three kids to their respective sporting events. The McFillins ride to and from school together each day. 

The rides home after wins can be three times the fun. A tough loss can cause a silent ride home until one comment sets off some jabbering back and forth before reconciling by the time they pull into the driveway.

The unique opportunity to play together and share extra time together has felt special but nothing too out of the ordinary.

“We’re so used to it,” Maddie said. “I guess I don’t really think of it, but I guess it’s actually not really normal.”

This will be the only season with three McFillins on the court together. Abbie and Maddie will be key pieces back next season, but Felicity is headed to Colorado next school year to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School, where she will continue her academic and basketball careers before enrolling in the Air Force Academy the following year.

She’s excited to either fly or jump out of planes one day.

“I was looking at a bunch of different schools at a bunch of different levels to see where I could end up, and I visited an academy one day and I realized that was something I really needed to do,” Felicity said. “I decided to take a look at all the academies I went to Air Force and they offered me a chance to play there, so I decided to take the offer up.”

Carroll made a run to the state title game last season. If the Patriots can repeat that run, which won’t be easy, that would mean five more games on the court together, beginning with a home matchup with West Chester Henderson at 6 p.m. on Friday night.

Along with the experience at the Palestra, Maddie’s game-winner against Lansdale Catholic in the Catholic League quarterfinals ranks high up on the memories they’ve already made together.

A state championship celebration in Hershey would add another for the sisters, along with a few more white-knuckled moments for their biggest supporters.

“My wife and I would say this all the time during the ups and downs of the long basketball season, just enjoy it,” Matt said. “Just sit back and enjoy it as much as we can and hope they all do well and play to the best of their ability. That’s all we wish for as parents is hopefully they play to the best of their ability and have fun doing it.”