By RICHIE HALL
INDIANAPOLIS – A close game in the state tournament. Win or go home.
Carmel and Lawrence North played each other Saturday night in the Class 4A boys state championship game, so both teams were going home regardless of what happened. It’s just that one of them would be going home with a bigger trophy.
That team would be the Greyhounds. Carmel won its second consecutive boys basketball state title, getting past the Wildcats in an overtime thriller, 51-46 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The No. 2-ranked Greyhounds used their trademark defense and solid free-throw shooting to hold off third-ranked Lawrence North in another all-Metropolitan Conference battle for the big trophy.
Senior Brian Waddell noted that his Carmel team had been through close games before during the tournament, and said “that gave us a little bit of an edge.” Indeed, this was the second consecutive game where Carmel needed an extra period to win a tournament game. The Greyhounds beat Gary West Side in overtime to win the Lafayette Jefferson semi-state two weeks ago.
Carmel also had a close game in the Logansport regional final over Lafayette Jeff. That experience would serve the Greyhounds well Saturday night.
Carmel threatened to run away with the game late in the third quarter. The Greyhounds took off on a 7-0 run that ate up the middle part of that period. Peter Suder made back-to-back layins, then Waddell threw in a dunk while being fouled and made the subsequent free throw. That gave Carmel what would be its largest lead of the game, 32-25 with 1:55 left.
But the Wildcats came back, using a 9-0 run to take a 34-32 lead midway through the fourth quarter. CJ Gunn finished the third period with a jump shot, then opened the fourth by draining a 3-pointer and making a layin to tie the game. DJ Hughes then scored on a putback, and LN was ahead 34-32.
Charlie Williams stopped the run with a free throw, then Waddell nailed a 3 to put the ‘Hounds back up 36-34. Carmel would not trail again, but the game would be tied a few more times.
Sure enough, Gunn tied up the game with two free throws at the 1:44 mark. Waddell made a layin to give the Greyhounds another lead, but Gunn again answered with a pair of foul shots. That made the score 38-38 with 29.3 seconds left, and neither team would score again in regulation.
Carmel got the first word in the overtime, as Connor Gioia hit a triple. The ‘Hounds would stay in front until about a minute-and-a-half left, when Hughes made a layin, tying the game at 42-42 with 1:17 left.
Then Josh Whack took over. The junior made 7 of 8 free throws during that final 1:17. His first two put Carmel ahead 44-42; Whack was fouled a few seconds later, and he drained two more foul shots. Now the Greyhounds were up 46-42 with under a minute to go.
“Josh did a little bit of everything,” said Carmel coach Ryan Osborn. “He hit some big free throws, but he’s shooting over 80 percent for the year. Just a mental toughness thing. You can credit his defense in the same manner.”
Gunn hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to get LN back within 47-46, but the Wildcats would score no more. They immediately fouled Waddell out of a timeout, and he made both his free throws. Waddell finished a perfect 8-of-8 from the line.
Two more foul shots by Whack sealed the game with 17.9 seconds left in the OT. That brought Whack to 11 points on the night.
“Credit to LN, they played a heck of a game,” said Waddell. “I had faith in our guys throughout the whole time, even when we were down, we were going to find a way to pull it out.”
Lawrence North came out hot in the opening minutes of the game, quickly going up 6-0. Carmel called a 30-second timeout with 5:57 left in the first quarter.
“We kind of anticipated they would come out swinging, come out ready to play,” said Osborn.
But his team would quickly absorb that early run, and go off on an 11-2 run of its own. Whack got the Greyhounds on the board with a floater. Hughes made a dunk to push LN ahead 8-2, but Carmel ran off the next nine points: Waddell and Gioia both made 3s, then Waddell turned a putback into an and-one at the 2:53 mark of the quarter. Neither team would score again in the period, but now the Greyhounds were up 11-8.
“After the timeout, I think we settled in, took what the defense gave us,” said Osborn.
Suder made a basket to open the second quarter, giving Carmel a 13-8 lead. Gunn cut the advantage to 13-12 with back-to-back baskets, but the ‘Hounds used a stretch of free throws (5 of 6) to get back ahead 18-14 at the 5:01 mark.
Donaven McCulley scored twice to tie the game at 18-18, then Gioia nailed a 3. The Wildcats again made consecutive baskets for a 22-21 advantage, but Whack finished the half with a basket, putting Carmel up 23-22 at the break.
Waddell finished the game with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Whack’s 11. Gioia’s three 3-pointers gave him nine points. Suder and Charlie Williams each collected six rebounds, with Whack getting five rebounds. Williams also had three blocked shots.
Gunn led Lawrence North with 18 points, with Hughes adding 12 and McCulley scoring 11. Shamar Avance handed out six assists and Hughes made three blocks.
After the game, Gioia was named the Arthur L. Trester Mental Attitude Award winner. This makes Gioia the third consecutive Carmel player to receive the prestigious award, after John-Michael Mulloy in 2019 and Jalen Whack in 2018.
Gioia’s memories of playing for Carmel stretch back to third grade. Even then they were dreaming of wearing the blue ribbons of state champions, and those dreams came true Saturday night.
“It’s been a journey with these guys and it’s been great to finish with a state championship,” said Gioia.
Carmel finished its season with a 26-2 record, making this the second time in the past three years that the ‘Hounds have reached the 26-win mark. In addition, Carmel claimed its fifth boys basketball state title. Only three schools have more: Marion and Muncie Central with eight each, and Washington with seven.
The Greyhounds also picked up their 159th IHSAA state championship in school history and their fifth of the school year. Carmel has also won boys tennis, girls cross country, girls swimming and boys swimming state championships in 2020-21.
CARMEL 51, LAWRENCE NORTH 46
(overtime)
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Connor Gioia 3-8 0-1 9 2
Josh Whack 2-4 7-8 11 2
Peter Suder 3-6 0-0 6 4
Brian Waddell 5-10 8-8 20 2
Charlie Williams 0-3 5-8 5 4
Samuel Orme 0-0 0-0 0 0
Wil Leary 0-0 0-0 0 0
Nick Frische 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 13-31 20-25 51 14
Carmel 3-point shooting (5-11) Gioia 3-4, Waddell 2-5, Whack 0-1, Frische 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (31) Waddell 10, Suder 6, Williams 6, Whack 5, Frische 1, team 3.
Lawrence North FG FT TP PF
Kayden Beatty 1-5 0-0 2 3
CJ Gunn 6-18 4-4 18 4
Shamar Avance 1-6 1-4 3 1
DJ Hughes 6-11 0-5 12 5
Donvaen McCulley 5-5 1-4 11 4
David Batie 0-1 0-0 0 1
MaCoyion Brown 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 19-46 6-17 46 18
Lawrence North 3-point shooting (2-12) Gunn 2-8, Beatty 0-4.
Lawrence North rebounds (21) Beatty 4, Gunn 4, Avance 4, Hughes 4, McCulley 3, Batie 1, team 1.
Score by Quarters
Carmel 11 12 9 6 13 – 51
Lawrence North 8 14 5 11 8 – 46