City of Basketball Love

By Sean McBryan
—

ROYERSFORD --  Archbishop Carroll junior Alexis Eberz has the rare experience of knowing how it feels to end a season with a win or a loss.

As a freshman, she helped the Patriots win their first state title since 2012. Last year, Eberz and the Patriots fell in the quarterfinal round to Parkland. They prefer the former.

“I won my freshman year, so that’s obviously the goal,” Eberz said. “We want to win it. It’s awesome going [to Hershey’s Giant Center] and playing there in that environment.”

Eberz scored a game-high 23 points to move the Patriots one step closer to the Sweetest Place on Earth with a 60-41 victory over Wilson Tuesday night at Spring-Ford High School in the PIAA Class 6A second round.

Carroll advances to face Central Dauphin, which defeated Parkland 39-23 Tuesday, in the quarterfinals Friday.

The District 12 champion Patriots (19-9) took the District 3 fifth-place Bulldogs’ (20-10) best punch in the first half as Eberz and Wilson sophomore Kailani Hardy matched each other’s 10 points. Carroll trailed 13-10 after the first quarter and led 27-26 at halftime.

“We forced a couple turnovers that got us going in the second half,” Archbishop Carroll head coach Renie Shields said. “We took better shots and didn’t rush. We started to get relaxed in our offense and get good looks.”

The Patriots don’t have a true point guard, but sophomore Abbie McFillin has filled the role of distributor about as good as Shields could ask. She finished with nine assists (along with nine points, four rebounds, and seven steals) and zero turnovers as Eberz and her freshman sister Kayla Eberz broke out offensively in the second half.

The Patriots won the overall turnover battle 17-7.

“We knew from watching film that they were good in transition,” McFillin said. “If we turned the ball over, we would’ve just been beating ourselves. We knew we had to come in and take care of the ball.”

Carroll pushed its lead to 46-39 at the end of the third quarter as Alexis Eberz (eight points) and Kayla Eberz (six points) scored 14 of the team’s 19 points.

Hardy scored eight of her team-high 20 points in the third quarter and junior guard Laura Crocona drilled a 3 to keep Wilson in it.

Alexis Eberz (five points) and Kayla Eberz (seven points) scored 12 of the Patriots’ 14 points in the final quarter as Carroll’s defense stifled the Bulldogs, who only managed to score two points on Hardy’s two free throws.

“We knew they were a great team,” the elder Eberz said. “We still came out a little slow, especially on the defensive end. We were lazy at some points with missed box outs. But after halftime, we knew we had to come out of the gates strong.”

Eberz and the Patriots are back to the round where their season ended a year ago and two wins away from the championship game they won two years ago, when Eberz scored 12 points and sealed the game with late free throws.

“It’s just one game at a time,” Eberz said. “We’re right back to watching film tomorrow. We’ll look to get this win on Friday and keep it going.”

Another District 3 opponent in Central Dauphin Friday; then either Perkiomen Valley or Hazleton; and finally Cardinal O’Hara, Garnet Valley, Haverford, or Upper St. Clair stand in Eberz and Archbishop Carroll’s way.

It won’t be easy, but they’ve been here before.

By Quarter
AC: 10 |  17  |  19  |  14  ||  60
WIL: 13  |  13  |  13  |  2  ||  41

Shooting
AC:  21-40 (4-14 3PT), 14-17 FT
WIL:  16-37 FG (5-15 3PT), 4-5 FT

Scoring
AC: Alexis Eberz 23, Kayla Eberz 18, Abbie McFillin 9, Brooke Olender 5, Olivia Nardi 3, Bridget Archbold 2.

WIL: Kailani Hardy 20, Laura Crocona 8, Violet Houck 4, Janai Tisdale 4, Ryan Leaman 3, Jade Lee 2.

~~~

Class 1A: Christian Academy 66, High Point Baptist 58

The Christian Academy fell behind by 15 points and allowed five 3-pointers in the first quarter of the PIAA Class 1A boys basketball second round Tuesday evening at Spring-Ford High School in Royersford.

Then Cameron Harrop-Wilson went on a heater and the Crusaders battled back for a 66-58 victory over High Point Baptist Academy to move into the state Elite Eight just four days after picking up their first state playoff victory.

“I’m still shocked it was the first time we won [a state playoff game],” said Harrop-Wilson. “I didn’t expect to come this far this season. I’m just really proud of my guys, myself, and my coach.”

The Crusaders, the No. 2 seed out of District 1, will play Lancaster Country Day, the No. 4 seed out of District 3, in the quarterfinals Friday. Lancaster Country Day defeated Phil-Mont Christian 56-53 Tuesday.

Harrop-Wilson, a 6-3 senior guard, finished with a game-high 26 points that he spread across the final three quarters after only scoring one bucket in the first, as the Crusaders fell behind 23-8.

Junior captain guard Reagan Wodicka hit three 3’s and junior wing Mason Rogers hit two in the first quarter to get the Eagles out to the early lead.

Harrop-Wilson responded with 10 in the second quarter as the Crusaders (15-11) cut High Point’s lead to 34-27 at halftime.

He scored eight points in the third as the Crusaders outscored the Eagles 20-3 to take full control of the game.

“We started out slow and our coach gave us a nice speech,” Harrop-Wilson said. “It all started on the defensive end. We knew they were a slow-paced team that knew how to control the game, so we sped them up. That’s where the runs came from. We play better in the open court and on the fast break.”

High Point made multiple pushes in the fourth, but Harrop-Wilson and fellow senior Sir Guy Epps Jr., who finished with 15 points, each scored six points in the quarter to fend the Eagles off.

Rogers had a team-high 22 points for the Eagles (18-8).

By Quarter
HP:   23  |  11  |   3   |  21  ||  58
TCA:  8   |  19  |  20  |  19  ||  66

Scoring
TCA: Harrop-Wilson 26, Epps Jr. 15, Gray 10, Foreman 9, Jones 4, Mulder 2.

HP: M. Rogers 22, Wodicka 14, Harris 10, Torres 10, G. Rogers 2