Oakland Catholic Falls to Archbishop Carroll in PIAA Girls AAAA Finals

By: Bruce Markey
Friday, March 23, 2012 | 7:59 PM

The Archbishop Carroll Patriots picked up their second PIAA Girls Quad-A title with a 56-37 victory over Oakland Catholic on Friday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Patriots won the 2009 title and fell to Mount Lebanon in last year's title game.

The Patriots were led by Sarah Curran with 16 points and 7 rebounds, Rachel Pearson added 14 points with 7 rebounds and Meghan Creighton with 10 points and 7 boards.

Archbishop Carroll took the lead midway thru the first quarter as Creighton hit a three to stake the Patriots to a 14-9 lead. Oakland Catholic turned the ball over five times in the first and went without a basket over the final 3:07.

The second quarter started the same way as the first for the Eagles, only one point and no field goals thru the first four minutes. Pearson hit a three with 2:27 left in the half forced Oakland Catholic coach Shannon Boyle to take a timeout with a 22-10 Patriots lead.

Oakland Catholic had five more turnovers in the second, they did not hit a basket until Rachel Vigliotti hit a three from the right wing with five seconds left, a 10:57 draught without a bucket for the Eagles and a 24-13 Patriots lead at the half.

The District 12 champions put the pedal to the medal early in the third, going up by as many as 18 points, following the media timeout, the Eagles struggled thru two empty possessions before Bobbi Baker hit a three and Vigliotti forced a turnover, but the struggle to score started all over again as Baker tried another three from the left corner that was swatted by Kristie Costantino. 

Trailing 38-24 to start the final quarter, the Eagles could not break that fourteen point barrier, including a missed three by Madison Caufield. Curran hit two foul shots and a driving layup, Creighton buried a three from the left corner to give Archbishop Carroll their then biggest lead of night, forcing another timeout to be called by Boyle.

The Patriots shot 52 percent from the field, 18 of 34 with four three pointers, they also won the glass battle 31-24. Archbishop Carroll finishes 29-2 and winners of 19 straight.

Baker finishes her career with 13 points for the Eagles, Vigliotti added 11 points and 7 rebounds. Oakland Catholic shot 12 of 44 from the field and 4 of 17 behind the arc. The Eagles end up 28-3, also ending a four game winning streak.

Score by Quarters: 
Oakland Catholic Eagles  9-4-11-13  = 37
Archbishop Carroll Patriots 14-10-14-18  = 56