Brigid MacGillivray plays with the inspiration of her sister Emily in mind (Photo by Josh Verlin/CoBL).
By Joseph Santoliquito
As the web of twisted arms and legs began to unfold under the basket, it was the smallest girl on the bottom of the pile with the ball. It’s usually that way when Brigid MacGillivray is on the court.
It’s why the Cardinal O’Hara girls’ basketball team looks to her. It’s why her coaches look to her. It’s why her classmates look to her. It’s why her family looks to her.
The 5-foot-4 senior guard plays with a tenacity that belies her size. She hears the clock ticking on her basketball career. It may explain why she played with the ferocity she did Sunday night, in O’Hara’s hard-fought 57-51 loss to visiting Gloucester Catholic at the Cardinal O’Hara Holiday Showcase.
MacGillivray also plays with a heavy heart and a burning motivation. The third of eight children to La Salle women’s basketball coach Mountain MacGillivray and his wife, Grace, Brigid carries the constant thought of her baby 5-year-old sister Emily with her everywhere.