Carroll’s Courtland Schumacher grabs a rebound over O’Hara’s Joanie Quinn. It was a battle to the end as Archbishop Carroll defeated Cardinal O’Hara 31-30 in the PIAA Class 6A state semifinals at Garnet Valley High Monday. (Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group)
By Matt Smith
Taylor Wilson cleared her mind as she went to the free-throw line with 5.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter Monday night.
With Archbishop Carroll trailing Cardinal O’Hara by one point, Wilson did not even consider what happened moments earlier when she attempted two freebies. She had made the first, but missed the second.
“I was thinking, this is just like practice,” said the senior forward. “Put them in the basket. That’s it. I shoot foul shots every day, it’s the easiest shot in the game. Free points. Just put them in.”
Wilson swished both foul shots to propel Carroll to a 31-30 victory in a PIAA Class 6A semifinal at Garnet Valley. Carly Coleman’s last-ditch effort to win the game for O’Hara as time expired was off the mark.
Carroll will play District 3 champion Cedar Cliff for the PIAA Class 6A title Friday, 6 p.m. at the Giant Center. Cedar Cliff defeated District 7’s Norwin in overtime, 55-47, in the other semifinal Monday.