Shields leads Carroll girls to second straight Catholic League title

ERIN SHIELDS has basketball in her blood. And ice water in her veins from behind the three-point arc.

It's 30-footer, after 30-footer, after 30-footer.

The sharpshooting senior guard from Archbishop Carroll was dialed in from the opening tip last night. In all, Shields buried three first-quarter three-pointers - although her shots came from so far out, maybe the referees should have awarded her four points on them.

Eventually, she finished with a game-high 20 points as the Patriots captured their second consecutive Catholic League title and third in the last 4 years, beating Archbishop Wood, 51-37, last night at the Palestra.

"We've got this play for her called '10 bucks,' " said Carroll coach Chuck Creighton. "We pass her the ball 10 feet in from the halfcourt line and she shoots it."

Really?

"Yeah," Creighton replied without hesitation. "And in our past few games she's made it."

What about the money?

"Well," Creighton said, "we can't actually give her any because it would be a violation, but let's just say we help her with her lunch.

"She's earned the right to take those shots. She practices so hard. She's been shooting ever since she was young."

Shields, who has committed to play at Saint Joseph's, comes from a deep-rooted basketball family. Her mother, Renie, was a West Catholic All-Catholic guard and starred at St. Joe's. Her older sister, Kerri, was a McDonald's All-American while at Carroll. She and Erin led the Patriots past these same Vikings to capture the CL title in 2009.

Kerri wasn't in attendance last night because she plays for Boston College.

"[Kerri] showed me how to play," said Erin, who was 6-for-11 from the field, 3-for-6 from downtown and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. "My dad was sending her text-message updates all game long."

Her younger sister, Shannon, didn't need updates. Just a sophomore, she watched Erin from the Patriots' bench.

"Erin is a true leader," Creighton said. "Nobody works harder. She's the heart and soul of our team."

No doubt about it.

Sure, junior forward Jen Carney added 16 points and game-highs of six steals and five rebounds for Carroll (22-3), but this was Erin Shields' night.

She surpassed the 1,000-point plateau after making her first three-pointer, and she cut down the final piece of net during the victory celebration.

"She's a player you find maybe once every 20 years," said Wood coach Jim Ricci, who was perplexed when his defenders didn't get out to challenge Shields - 10 feet behind the arc.

After scoring her team's first nine points of the game - all on triples - Shields went backdoor, made the layup, was fouled and converted the free throw, giving the Patriots a 19-13 edge in the second quarter. They took a 27-19 lead into intermission.

The Vikings never got closer than six in the second half.

Shields converted a runner to make it 33-24 midway through the third quarter, then knocked down a pullup jumper that gave Carroll a 39-26 cushion with 3:14 remaining in the third.

It was the last field goal the Patriots would need. They didn't even register a field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter, as all 11 of their points came from the foul line. In all, Carroll was 21-for-25 from the stripe.

Scoring 10 points in a losing effort for Wood (20-5) was senior guard Samantha Greenfield, who will be playing soccer - not basketball - at Drexel.

"There isn't much to say," she said. "They made foul shots and played stingy defense. You've got to give them credit."

Forget those 10 bucks; for Erin Shields, the CL trophy is worth millions.