For the second consecutive season, Archbishop Carroll girls basketball was sent home from the Palestra with heads hung low.
For the second consecutive season, the Lady Pats fell in the Philadelphia Catholic League Championship game, this time in the form of a 50-43 loss to the Saints of Neumann-Goretti.
“Nobody feels worse than I feel,” said Patriots head coach Renie Shields. “Getting here two times in a row and not being able to take it home, I mean, it’s on me and I gotta do better.”
The loss marked not just Carroll’s second consecutive title loss but third in the last four years, going all the way back to 2022 where the club fell to Cardinal O’Hara 55-30 on that same Palestra floor — a floor that four of the current Patriots, seniors Brooke Olender, Bridget Archbold, Djami Diallo, and Olivia Nardi, had seen their team fall on three times. With all the experience and history this team had on the floor, jitters and nuances were not to blame for a slow Carroll start, especially against a Neumann-Goretti team that hadn’t appeared in a Catholic League title game since winning back in 2015.
“We are experienced, though we have young girls with Kayla (Eberz) and Cate (Schumacher) that are still learning and growing as we go on,” said Shields.
Despite Carroll’s advantages, Neumann used their own advantages — their athleticism and playmaking ability — and ran with them early. The Saints, led by Carryn Easley and Amaya Scott in the early going, took the Pats by storm and held them to only four points of offense in the first quarter, outshooting them 13-4.
Although the Pats couldn’t stop Neumann on defense, the Saints didn’t have to do all too much on the other end to slow Carroll down. Carroll chucked up multiple shots freely and just seemingly could not hit from the floor at any point. The Patriots shot a horrid 18.2 percent from the floor in the period while going zero for four from beyond the arc. Even with good shot opportunities in the mid-range, open turns from three and clean lanes in the paint, nothing ever came to fruition for Carroll, which simply could not make a basket.
“We got really good shots in the first quarter, like really good,” said Shields. “Everybody has those days. Monday night we make shots — tonight the ball just doesn’t go in and we start going out of ourselves a little.”
Carroll was able to rebound in the second quarter, matching Neumann’s 10 points as sophomore Caitlin Schumacher came in off the bench with a couple big buckets.
Although Carroll shot a bit better in the second quarter, it came at the price of fewer shot attempts as the Pats only put up 12 shots in the period, shooting a slightly improved 33.3 percent.
Going into the half still trailing by nine at 23-14, there were plenty of holes for Carroll to plug going into half No. 2.
“We knew we had to get to the basket,” said junior guard Alexis Eberz. “We shot two-for-13 or something like that in the first half. We knew shots weren’t falling but we tried to get to the basket, and we know they’re a great defensive team.”
The halftime adjustments did do something for Carroll as they began a climb back into things when the half opened. A big part of that came with their offense in the paint as they went five for 11 from the paint in the half while Kayla and Alexis Eberz both made huge contributions down low.
The Patriots would outscore the Saints barely 16-14 in the period, although it opened the door for a brief comeback. That brief comeback occurred as Carroll began the fourth quarter on a quick run to take a 40-39 lead that prompted an Andrea Peterson timeout from NG.
Following that timeout from Goretti, the Patriots would score only three more points in a spot where they led with minutes remaining.
“If we aren’t making shots it’s tough and it’s frustrating,” said Alexis Eberz. “It was just tough to find answers in that spot down the run.”
The Saints quickly reclaimed their lead and ran with it. The Saints first burned as much clock as they could and forced Carroll to foul. They’d once again take advantage by simply doing what they needed to do and dropping a couple of big foul shots to move their advantage ultimately to seven points.
Even as the Pats tried a few last-ditch shots, they’d rim off or thump off the blackboard as the dry shooting continued to the final buzzer. With their 2025 title, the Saints now lay claim to four Catholic League titles dating back to 1976.
As for Carroll, their loss marks yet another disappointing end to the Catholic League season, with their last title win coming back in 2019. The Pats will now look ahead to Thursday night’s District 12/City Championship game against Palumbo. That game will take place at 6 p.m. at La Salle College High School.