As the chants of “Airball…Airball…Airball” rained down from the visiting Oliver Ames fans and with her team trailing in the fourth quarter of its second round tournament game, Karlie O’Driscoll set aside what to that point had been a frustrating night and the possibility that it could be her final high school game.
She did what is expected from star players - she took over.
Sharon’s senior forward, who had been recently named the Hockomock League MVP by the coaches, got the ball on the block and scored five points in the final minute to push the Eagles ahead. She capped it on the other end with a huge block that prevented an OA layup and allowed Sharon to get past its Davenport rival and continue on a path that would continue all the way to the sectional finals at UMass Boston.
“It was an MVP performance,” said Sharon coach Kate Horsmann after the game. “There are some other really fine players in the league but when you come through all the difficulty that we came through I wouldn’t trade her for any other girl in the league.”
It was one more MVP performance in a season filled with them for the league’s leading scorer and the Eagles clear star. O’Driscoll, who also reached the 1,000-point plateau this year, finished the season averaging team highs of 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists, five steals, and three blocks per game, while almost always being the focal point of the opposition’s game plan.
“She is naturally strong and deceptively fast,” said Horsmann, who saw her grow from freshman year into a strong physical presence in the post. “Once she grew and added some post moves, she became one of the most versatile players in the Hock. She is very tough to guard.”
She added, “Personal stats have never been a concern to her, which makes her easy to coach. If she scores 20 and we lose, she's bummed. If she scores two and we win, she's excited because we won. Every coach should have a chance to coach someone like Karlie.”
“It’s unbelievable what we’ve done,” she said. “Especially with me being a senior, it’s my last year, and I was honored to be named a captain, a leader, and a part of the program this year.”
The Eagles came into the year as favorites in the Davenport division but were forced to battle through injuries and illnesses that at various times in the season cost four of the team’s regular starting five. Despite even more of a load being put on her shoulders, O’Driscoll said that she never felt weighed down by expectations.
“I knew there was going to be pressure this year, but game by game I don’t really think like that. Before a game, I don’t really get nervous. I think about just playing my game and not worrying about anything else,” she said.
O’Driscoll continued, “I definitely thought that with our team as a whole, including the players that were injured, that we were absolutely the best team in the league. I didn’t really lose hope in us or think that we’re going to lose all our games; I thought that it was a little hiccup and that we were still a good team.”
The Eagles proved just how good of a team they were by making a charge all the way to the sectional final, but it was earning the program’s first league title in 37 years that meant the most to O’Driscoll and her teammates.
“In the beginning of the season, we had a team meeting and set a goal to be Hock champs. Once we hit that goal, we weren’t thinking okay this is over but we felt that we had done what we needed to do and whatever [else] happens we’re going to be happy because we reached our goal.”
She added, “Not having Andrea [Bender] and Alyssa [Piazza] out there really hurt us because they’re starters, but it didn’t really hit me until after how amazing the rest of the team was to step up and help each other out.”
After the loss in the final against Duxbury, there was disappointment in not being able to match the 1977 team and win a sectional title, but that wasn’t the part that bothered O’Driscoll the most.
“I was really upset after the game, not because we had lost but because it was over. I was really proud of the team and how far we had come and I was just upset because it was my last game…It was more upsetting to know that I won’t be playing with the same group of girls again then losing the game.”
“After Liz Wluka got [MVP] my freshman year, I was kind of working towards that myself to get up to her level. I still talk to her a lot to this day, we’re still very close, but as a freshman she took me under her wing and showed me what to do.”
Now, as a senior, O’Driscoll is providing that leadership to the younger players and hoping that it will help the program build on this year’s success.
“Being named captain is a lot of pressure because there’s a lot of people looking up to you,” she said. “My biggest strength is doing the best that I can to set a good example for people and not just telling them what to do or being bossy - kind of being the fun captain and letting everyone do their own thing. Just being a good teammate.”
As her Sharon career came to an end, it was not the individual awards that she wanted to highlight, but the overall time that she spent on the court with the Eagles.
“Every year was just such a different experience and I enjoyed each year. I’m just very proud to be a part of the program.”
Josh Perry can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.