Archbishop Carroll’s Brooke Wilson takes charge to secure a Catholic League final appearance

There are two sides to Brooke Wilson the basketball player.

There’s “reckless Brooke,” a whirling dervish of energy and gusto that may do some head-scratching things but also others only she can deliver. Then there’s “smart Brooke,” the one who plays at a slower pace, with a little more control and like the senior she is.

Tuesday, No. 3 Archbishop Carroll needed both Brookes to survive a furious rally against No. 2 Cardinal O’Hara to win 45-38 in the PCL semifinal.

“That’s probably my biggest thing I’ve been working on,” Wilson said. “I’d so much rather be ‘reckless Brooke,’ because I can just run all over the place and don’t have to think, but it’s actually much harder to play slow. I tell myself to just walk the ball up and it’s so hard, but I play better when I slow down.”

The win sends the Patriots to the Palestra for the second time in three years, where they will attempt to win their first PCL title since the 2018-19 season.

Halfway through Tuesday’s semifinal, it looked like Carroll was in position to roll its way into the final. The Patriots barely missed in the first half, hitting 10-of-14 shots and 4-of-6 from long range in building a 28-8 lead while O’Hara couldn’t buy a hoop going 3-of-18 from the floor and 0-of-7 from three.

It was not a precursor of how the next 16 minutes would go.

“We weren’t ready and we should have been ready,” said Carroll coach Renie Shields. “You get up 28-8 and you get a little bit comfortable, as much as you tell them they can’t be comfortable.”

A little too much of “reckless Brooke” came out in the third quarter. The senior was tagged with two fouls in the quarter, giving her four for the game.

Shields took her out, even with Carroll committing 10 third quarter turnovers while Joanie Quinn added 10 points to help the Lions clip the lead to 32-25. Her stay on the bench didn’t last long, as soon as Quinn drew an and-one on a drive a minute into the fourth, Wilson re-entered.

Carroll didn’t turn the ball over as much in the fourth, aided by some poised play from freshman Abbie McFillin, but its once 20-point lead got whittle all the way to three. After Cardinal O’Hara’s Molly Rullo cut the lead to 35-32, there was Wilson driving down the lane for an answer.

“Second half, so much of what was in our head was ‘Don’t turn it over, don’t turn it over,’ half of us weren’t even thinking about scoring,” Wilson said. “I said alright, they’re trying to jump the ball, everyone’s just watching the ball, I’m going to go.”

“Brooke getting going, realizing as a senior, she put the team on her back and ran,” Shields added. “That’s what changed the game. She’s a really special player.”

Quinn led all scorers with 17 points, Rullo added 11, and Coleman had seven for O’Hara.

Alexis Eberz led the Patriots with 13 points, Wilson had eight, Abbie McFillin had eight off the bench while her sisters Maddie and Felicity each had five.

Eight minutes changed everything.

After a strong finish to the first quarter, No. 5 Nazareth Academy sat on equal footing with top-seeded Archbishop Wood. The Vikings connected on six three-point shots, scoring 28 points and holding the Pandas to seven in the second quarter to take control.

Wood will return to the Palestra for a second straight year as the program plays for a PCL title for the 14th time in the last 16 seasons and pursues its first championship since 2020-21.

Senior Ava Renninger, who paced Wood with 18 points, said there wasn’t a lack of motivation on Tuesday.

» READ MORE: Playing for its final Public League title, Math, Civics & Sciences has a chance to leave a legacy

“It pushed us all season to get back three, so we’re definitely excited,” Renninger said. “With seven seniors, you wanted to do it for them and for the person next to you, but it pushed us into states. For the returning players, we wanted to go back and get another shot.”

Aside from Renninger, the Vikings got 10 points each from Sophia Topakas, Emily Knouse and Alexa Windish.

Abby Rock led the Pandas, and all scorers, with 19 points including five makes from three-point range.

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.