By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – Any time is a good time for a basketball team to put its defense on display, and Senior Night is no exception.
Carmel’s boys celebrated their Senior Night Friday at the Eric Clark Activity Center by putting on a defensive show, with senior Brian Waddell providing a show-stopping performance. Waddell poured in 28 points for the Class 4A No. 2 Greyhounds as they defeated 4A No. 6 Lawrence Central 64-35 in their first Metropolitan Conference game of the season.
Carmel coach Ryan Osborn said his team got back to a “defensive mentality” for this game.
“I was happier tonight with our defensive performance, that we were connected a little bit better, communicated better, made it difficult for the leading guys to get in-rhythm shots,” said Osborn. “So, credit to everybody that played tonight. Not just on their top two scorers, but even off the ball, I thought our guys were locked in defensively.”
The ‘Hounds allowed the Bears only two points in the first quarter while scoring 15 of their own. Waddell hit two 3-pointers to start the game, then later converted a traditional three-point play. Charlie Williams also completed and and-1, and Peter Suder finished the period with his own triple.
Waddell opened the second quarter with another 3, pushing Carmel ahead 18-2. Lawrence Central was able to get its offense going in that period, but the Greyhounds maintained a comfortable lead throughout the quarter. Waddell added 11 points, including a pair of dunks, and Bryce Beery helped out with six points.
Carmel got its defense going again in the third quarter, limiting the Bears to five points. Josh Whack started the period with a 3, then Suder was good on a pair of foul shots. The ‘Hounds steadily increased their lead throughout the period, which ended with Carmel ahead 47-22.
Lawrence Central made a 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter, but the Greyhounds’ lead was too much to overcome. Carmel finished the game with a 13-0 run that ate up most of the final half of the period, starting with Connor Gioia making 4-of-4 foul shots. Waddell added six points, and Gioia finished the run with a basket off a steal.
“At a time where it’s Senior Night, we’re celebrating them, it’s also about going and playing your first MIC game,” said Osborn. “A lot of stuff going on and I think it tells you a lot about the guys in the locker room. They’re together and they like being around each other. They like competing together. Makes it a lot of fun.”
“The first game of the year was different, playing an opponent that we didn’t know anything about and never played,” said Osborn. He was referring to Carmel’s season-opening win over Columbus North, which the Greyhounds played back on Nov. 24. Carmel had to wait 10 days to play its second game after a cancellation of its Nov. 28 game.
“I think they turned around and I saw a lot tonight that mimicked what we saw personnel-wise out of the guys last year, at the end of the year,” said Osborn.
In addition to his 28 points, Waddell also led the rebounds with nine and made two blocked shots. Suder scored nine points and dished out five assists, while Gioia handed out five assists and made four steals.
The Greyhounds are 2-0 and host Zionsville tonight at the Eric Clark Activity Center.
CARMEL 64, LAWRENCE CENTRAL 35
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Connor Gioia 1-3 4-4 6 2
Josh Whack 2-4 0-0 5 2
Peter Suder 3-8 2-2 9 2
Brian Waddell 9-11 7-7 28 0
Charlie Williams 1-4 1-1 3 4
Wil Leary 0-5 0-0 0 2
Nick Frische 1-1 3-4 5 3
Bryce Beery 4-4 0-0 8 0
Burke Weldy 0-0 0-0 0 0
Spencer White 0-0 0-0 0 0
Sam Orme 0-1 0-0 0 0
Josh Rauh 0-0 0-0 0 0
Jared Bonds 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 21-41 17-18 64 16
Score by Quarters
Lawrence Cen. 2 15 5 13 – 35
Carmel 15 19 13 17 – 64
Carmel 3-point shooting (5-14) Waddell 3-5, Suder 1-3, Whack 1-2, Leary 0-3, Gioia 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (28) Waddell 9, Gioia 4, Williams 4, Suder 3, Beery 3, Whack 2, Frische 2, White 1.