Archbishop Carroll girls’ basketball prepared to defend its state title after learning resilience

To many, Archbishop Carroll girls’ basketball was the surprise of last year’s PIAA playoffs as they knocked off quality team after quality team before capping it with a PIAA 6A state title over until-then undefeated Cedar Cliff.

Patriots head coach Renie Shields led her squad to a 15-12 record, finishing 7-3 in the Catholic League. While there’s some reloading to do this season, there’s a system in place to do it.

“Playing for Carroll and having Carroll on your shirt, I think most people — no matter how we did the previous season — [see it] to be a powerhouse,” said senior Brooke Wilson. “We’re very fortunate for it. I always say we have the best coaches in the area and it’s a privilege to wear Carroll on our uniform.”

Carroll returns two starters. Wilson, who will join her older sister, Taylor Wilson, at Army next season, and sophomore Alexis Eberz. Filling in around them are a couple of role players, a mix of newcomers, and players with familiar last names looking to get their first names known the same way.

Junior Kate O’Neill was a reserve player last season and could see an increased role. Her older sister, Grace O’Neill, was a former all-state point guard at Carroll, who’s starting her sophomore year at Drexel.

“We’re all really competitive and I think that comes from a lot of us having siblings that have gone through the program or push us to be more competitive,” O’Neill said. “Even though for some of us, basketball isn’t our main thing, you still always want to win and play a major role in how Carroll does this year.”

Sophomore Bridget Grant is the younger sister of Villanova guard Maggie Grant, and incoming freshman Kate Schumacher’s older sister, Courtland, was a starting guard last season and now playing field hockey at Fairfield.

While Wilson and Eberz are the leftover starters, they aren’t the only ones with pivotal experience. Junior Olivia Nardi was the first player off the bench last year and figures to be in the mix for a starting spot, while O’Neill also played in a high number of games.

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“We still need to work on our defense, but so does every team going into the season, and communicating,” Wilson said. “We’re also learning how to play off each other. This is kind of a new team, so we still have to learn each other’s strengths and be aware of the game but that comes with getting to know each other.”

Losing Taylor Wilson, who was Carroll’s post player, leaves a void on both ends of the court, and she isn’t the only loss that the Patriots have to fill. Courtland Schumacher and Megan Sheridan (Pitt lacrosse) carried a key role on defense last season.

The Patriots finished fourth in the Catholic League last season and should have a case to contend for a trip to the Palestra in February.

“Last year, we played some of the best teams in the country,” O’Neill said. “Playing the best, I’d rather play those games than one we’re going to win by 40 because that makes us get better. That’s what allowed us to win last year.”

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There’s no need to tell Archbishop Carroll about the expectations coming into a new season — defending a state championship or not — they already know all about them.

“It shows you that if you’re working hard and come back to the gym every day ready to work, it’ll end well,” Wilson said. “We started 0-5, lost every hard game we played, so you’d think we’d come into practice like we’re done for or when we lost the PCL semis that we’d have no chance of winning 6A states, but no.

“It lit a fire under us every day and it shows how to be resilient and how to come back stronger and stronger.”

This story was produced as part of a partnership between The Inquirer and City of Basketball Love, a nonprofit news organization that covers high school and college basketball in the Philadelphia area while also helping mentor the next generation of sportswriters. This collaboration will help boost coverage of the city’s vibrant amateur basketball scene, from the high school ranks up through the Big 5 and beyond.