The Carmel boys basketball team got everything it could ask for out of its regular-season finale, which it played Wednesday at the Eric Clark Activity Center.
The Greyhounds, ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press Class 4A poll and the IBCA one-class poll, cruised past La Lumiere Blue 74-30. The Lakers’ Blue team is the regional squad from the famed La Porte prep school, and it agreed to come down to Carmel to give the ‘Hounds a game during this week, the last regular-season week before sectionals.
Carmel had been facing the prospect of two weeks between its final regular-season game, which took place Feb. 18 at Warren Central, and a March 4 semi-final contest at Class 4A Sectional 8 at Noblesville, as the Greyhounds drew a bye into the semi-finals. Carmel coach Ryan Osborn was happy to get a game played, as he said it helped the ‘Hounds to “have a decent routine in the middle of this week, and then hopefully a normal prep week next week.”
“I do appreciate those guys coming down and playing,” said Osborn. “It helped us out a lot.”
Carmel outscored La Lumiere in each of the four quarters. The Greyhounds led 22-14 after the first period, with five different players scoring. Sam Orme threw in three 3-pointers for nine points.
Carmel’s defense ramped up in the second quarter, allowing the Lakers only five points. An 11-0 stretch got the ‘Hounds up 35-17; Jared Bonds scored six points on three baskets, including a dunk.
Carmel led 37-19 at halftime. Charlie Williams hit two free throws to close the first half, and that was the beginning of another 11-0 spurt for the Greyhounds. Carmel continued to cruise in the third quarter, pouring in another 21 points for a 58-27 advantage by the end of the period. Garwey Dual had an exceptional quarter, scoring nine points. Carmel then outscored La Lumiere 16-3 in the fourth; the ‘Hounds made a 21-0 run that began in the third quarter and stretched well into the fourth period.
“We’ve been talking about screening more and having better ball movement, getting multiple sides of the floor,” said Osborn. “And I thought we shared it well.”
Ten different players scored for the ‘Hounds, with three reaching double figures. Orme and Charlie Williams both had 15 points, while Dual scored 13 points.
Orme finished the game with four 3-pointers. Carmel shot the ball well from outside as a team, going 8 for 12. Spencer White made a pair of 3s, while Dual and Logan Reinhart both had one.
Williams led the rebounds with six, while Dual dished out four assists and blocked two shots. Josh Whack handed out five assists; Carmel had 21 assists as a team.
The Greyhounds are 17-5 will play the winner of the Tuesday first-round game between Sectional 8 host Noblesville and Zionsville on Friday, March 4.
“We’ll probably take some time off tomorrow and come back Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and just work on our stuff,” said Osborn. “And then when we find out who we’re playing, we’ll start our normal prep for whoever we’re playing.”
CARMEL 74, LA LUMIERE BLUE 30
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Garwey Dual 5-6 2-2 13 0
Josh Whack 3-5 0-0 6 0
Sam Orme 4-7 3-4 15 1
Charlie Williams 6-10 3-3 15 0
Jared Bonds 3-4 0-0 6 3
Spencer White 2-3 0-0 6 1
Burke Weldy 2-4 0-0 4 0
Jake Griffin 1-2 1-1 3 0
Logan Reinhart 1-1 0-0 3 0
Josh Rauh 1-3 1-2 3 0
Clay Richards 0-1 0-0 0 1
Andrew Clevenger 0-0 0-0 0 2
Totals 28-46 10-12 74 8
Score by Quarters
La Lumiere 14 5 8 3 – 30
Carmel 22 15 21 16 – 74
Carmel 3-point shooting (8-12) Orme 4-7, White 2-3, Dual 1-1, Reinhart 1-1.
Carmel rebounds (23) Williams 6, Griffin 3, Dual 3, Whack 3, Orme 3, Rauh 2, Bonds 2, White 1.