Carroll's Girls Are Headed to the State Championship

For about two minutes, it looked a little shaky. Some hurried shots and anxious passes spelled an early deficit for the girls’ basketball team. And suddenly, just like that in a blink, it was over. The Patriots went on a colossal roll and never looked back Tuesday against Boyertown in the PIAA Class AAAA state semifinals at Spring-Ford High School.

By about the middle of the second quarter, Carroll had firm control on its way to a commanding, dominating 65-41 victory over Boyertown and will advance to the PIAA Class AAAA state championship game, where the Pats will meet two-time defending state champion Mount Lebanon, a 62-35 winner over Lower Merion in the other semifinal game, at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center Friday at 6 p.m in the PIAA Class AAAA state finals.

It marks the second time in three years that Carroll will be playing in the state championship (the Pats won the Class AAA state title in 2009). That ’09 team was filled with Division I-caliber players and seemed destined to win the state championship. This team wasn’t, and didn’t seem destined for anything—at least at the start of the season.

“I think that’s what makes this special,” said Carroll senior Emily Fazzini, one the Pats’ leaders who finished with six points and five rebounds. “I was on that team two years ago and they were expected to do good things. This year there were no expectations. We were expected to be good, and to compete, but I don’t think anyone thought we’d get this far.”

Carroll (24-5 overall) was led by junior Rachel Pearson, who came off the bench to score a team-high 13 points and grab six rebounds. Meghan Creighton finished with 12 points and Ryann Fiascki chipped in with 10.

The Bears got off to a 6-2 lead, and seemed to stymie the Carroll offense at the outset. That didn’t last very long. The Pats defense kicked in and went on a 33-15 tear to end the half leading 35-21. That was it. Boyertown got within 35-25 midway through the third quarter, and the Pats put their foot down again, building up leads of 61-36 and 63-38.

“We played really well defensively,” Pats’ coach Chuck Creighton said. “We caused 17 turnovers in the first half and that changed a lot of things. Our offense wasn’t working too well, and once we got the turnovers, trapping well helping when we had to have help, things began moving. It feels great going back [to the state championship game]. These girls deserve to be there. They put a lot of time into everything they do. Sometimes the most competition we have the whole year comes during practice, and how they go after each other.”

Now this group has a chance to continue what the seniors did two years and win a second state crown in three years.

“We lost last year in the state semifinals and that made us kind of angry,” said Pearson, who missed over two month with a stress reaction in her left ankle. “I guess you can say that this is a vengeance year. We had something to prove, I think, and we’re proving it.”