City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
—

Renie Shields has a word for players like Bridget Grant.

“I call it the ‘connect’ player, the player who does a little bit of everything really well,” the Archbishop Carroll coach said. “And I think that’s Bridget — she connects all the dots when it comes to the offensive motion.”

In a program loaded with talent, Grant isn’t going to be one who usually stands out in a box score, especially when points are the focus. But her contribution to the Patriots’ program is clear from watching her: the 5-foot-11 wing does the dirty work defensively, acts as the swing in the Patriots’ motion offense, and generally finds ways to stay involved.

That was the case in a 51-33 win over Central Bucks East on Sunday, when Grant contributed three points, seven rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block as Carroll won the battle of Patriots at Cardinal O’Hara, part of O’Hara’s holiday showcase. 

Bridget Grant (above) doesn't need to take many shots for Carroll to make a big impact. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

It’s a role that’s been filled by a number of recent Carroll graduates, including Olivia Nardi last season and Courtland Schumacher a few years back, as well as Grant’s older sister Maggie, a 2022 Carroll grad. 

“She wasn’t a big scorer for their team,” Bridget Grant said of her sister, “but playing a role for the team means a lot, and being there for your teammates, working hard is one of the most important things and just showing up every day.”

It's a role Grant has grown into, moving into the starting lineup full-time as a senior after coming off the varsity bench last season. But it's one she's been waiting for since seventh grade, when she said she knew she was going to follow her sister to Carroll. 

As to the ‘connector’ moniker, she said she’s aware of it and embraces the mindset, on a team that features Villanova commit and senior guard Alexis Eberz, junior guard Abbie McFillin and sophomore wing Kayla Eberz, all Division I recruits and regular double-digit scorers. She touches the ball on every possession, often waiting patiently at the top of the key and scanning her teammates moving and cutting, waiting for the right moment to get things moving and create an open shot. 

“I think it’s just helping my teammates work together and everything,” she said. “Knowing where the next pass is, even if it’s not my shot, just helping my teammates get their shots and everything.”

Both Eberz sisters led the way offensively, contributing 16 points apiece as Carroll (4-4) jumped out to a big lead and cruised to hand CB East (8-1) its first loss. The older Eberz added a career-high 17 rebounds, the 5-9 guard grabbing 10 of them on the offensive end; McFillin, a 5-8 guard, added nine points, 10 rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block. 

Haley Moran led CB East with 18 points and four steals, the junior guard the only member of her team able to work free on the offensive end to make things happen. Carroll was otherwise swarming defensively, using its collective length and athleticism to frustrate its Suburban One League opponent to no end. 

Grant certainly plays a big role in that, her length on the wing frustrating an athletic East side with good size on its own right. With East’s offensive motion frustrated early, Carroll was able to generate easy looks to open up a 19-6 advantage after one quarter, then slowly grew that edge to 16 by halftime and 21 at the end of the third quarter. 

“We just know that they have a couple good players so we really focused on shutting them down in the first half,” Grant said, “and it makes it easier in the second half just to play our game and work on our sets and everything when we’re up by a good amount.”

Grant faced a similar choice her older sister made when it came to hoops after high school. 

After graduating from Carroll, Maggie Grant decided to walk on at Villanova to play for their aunt, Wildcats head coach Denise Dillon, getting into a handful of games each of the last two years. It was an option Bridget shared, but she was more interested in a collegiate career where she could carve out a role on the floor as well. 

She ended up sending Ursinus coach Bobbi Morgan an email in November, expressing interest in the program, which has Nardi on its roster as a freshman. Morgan, who apparently had thought Grant was following in her sister’s footsteps, was thrilled to hear she was wrong.

“She was very happy,” Grant said. “She got me on campus the day after I reached out and I just loved it when I went and it all went from there.”

Grant announced her commitment to Ursinus on December 1 on Instagram. The day later, she hit a buzzer-beater in Carroll’s season-opening win over Notre Dame, a 24 hours that she said “blew up her phone,” a one-two punch that were her biggest steps yet in the local hoops spotlight.

At Ursinus, she’ll be joining a program that immediately became a Centennial Conference contender under Morgan, a longtime area head coach who took over before the 2021-22 season after previous successful stops at Haverford College and Cabrini.

“I really liked, not only the basketball, it was also just the community and everything,” Grant said. “The type of program that Bobbi runs is just really great [...] Liv just loves it and I’ve only heard good things about it.”

“Oh my gosh, she’ll do really well [there],” Shields said. “She’s already improved a ton this year. I think we’ll see good things from Bridget.”

By Quarter
Carroll:    19  |  10  |  13  |   9   ||  51
CB East:  6   |   7   |   8   |  12  ||  33

Shooting
Carroll: 22-57 FG (4-20 3PT), 3-6 FT
CB East: 14-41 FG (3-16 3PT), 2-2 FT

Scoring
Carroll: Alexis Eberz 16, Kayla Eberz 16, Abbie McFillin 9, Cate Schumacher 4, Bridget Grant 3, Evie Lawrence 3

CB East: Haley Moran 18, Natalie Berndt 7, Payton Wiliams 6, Jess Lockwood 2