Pats into PIAA state playoffs

No one spoke about it at practice on Wednesday. There were still some remnants of soreness—though it was two days ago and the healing had already begun. Yet, Archbishop Carroll girls’ basketball coach Chuck Creighton wanted to run it one more time—wanted to see how his team would react with three seconds left and the season at stake.

Creighton got his answer. So did the rest of the Patriots when Jen Carney swished a halfcourt shot to close practice Wednesday and rinse away the Pats’ loss to Archbishop Wood for the Philadelphia Catholic League championship. Now it all seems behind Carroll, and the Pats embarked on their larger task of winning a second PIAA state championship in the last three years on Saturday.

Maybe the Carney halfcourt shot was an omen of some kind, because Carroll shot exceptionally well in easily disposing of Central, 76-33, in the District 12 Class AAAA championship at Lincoln High School.

Carroll’s Rachel Pearson finished with a team-high 14 points, Mary Victoria Barr scored 12 and Emily Fazzini was selected as the MVP of the game with nine points and 12 rebounds in limited action.

The Pats now improve to 19-7 overall and begin the first round of the PIAA state playoffs on Friday against the loser of the Bensalem-Central Bucks East game, scheduled for possibly Monsignor Bonner High School.

For Creighton and his team, stepping on Central was a nice way to move forward from the 33-31 loss to Wood on Monday.

“We played really well from the beginning, and we talked to the girls about a sense of urgency all the way through the game,” said Creighton, who guided the Pats to the PIAA Class AAA state championship in 2009. “This was a big deal to the girls and any time you can win a district title, it is a big deal. We wanted to get past the Wood game and we spoke about not being placed in that position again. We can’t go back and replay the Catholic League championship, and sure we wanted it, but we just won the district title and we have a chance at the state title ahead. So two out of that three isn’t bad.”

Carroll trailed once, 2-0, and that was it. The Pats never looked back again. Carroll led by 20 at halftime, held a 57-27 lead entering the fourth quarter, and when Creighton emptied his bench, the Pats’ reserves built on that advantage even more—finally finishing as 43-point winners.

“We came in really relaxed and I think that helped,” said Fazzini, the 5-foot-10 senior who is headed to Rider on a basketball scholarship next fall. “It was emotional losing to Wood in the Catholic League championship and we had to get ourselves back to together. We wanted to win all three, like I did my sophomore year when I transferred in from Conestoga. We got the trifecta, Catholic League, district and state titles. I think this was important for us to get rolling again.”