By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – There’s little doubt that Carmel’s Wednesday showdown with Cathedral at the Eric Clark Activity Center was one of the more physical game the Greyhounds have had all season.
Class 4A No. 2-ranked Carmel had to contend with the 4A No. 4 Irish’s pressure for the entire contest. But thanks to balanced scoring and a superb night from the free throw line, the ‘Hounds won 71-56, keeping their unbeaten record intact at 10-0.
“This game was hard to get into a flow,” said Carmel coach Ryan Osborn. “It’s a good home win for us. Our schedule doesn’t get easier.”
The Greyhounds never trailed in the game, scoring the first four points on a basket from Andrew Owens and two foul shots by John Michael Mulloy. That was enough to allow some separation for Carmel in the first quarter, although Cathedral cut the lead to one point on two occasions. But both times, the ‘Hounds hit a 3-pointer to get the lead back to four – Karsten Windlan’s trey put Carmel up 9-5, then Andrew Owens sent one in to give the Greyhounds a 14-10 lead.
Ross Welch hit two free throws with 4.8 seconds left in the first quarter to put the Irish within 14-12, then hit a floater early in the second to tie the game at 14-14. That would be the only tie of the game, as Carmel went on an 8-0 run after that. Owens scored on a layin, Luke Heady made a pair of foul shots, then Mulloy added four points to complete the run.
Mulloy wound up with eight points in the period, and the ‘Hounds needed every one of them to stay ahead. Cathedral continued to press, but could never get any close than one point. Owens hit a 3 with seconds left in the half to give Carmel a 31-26 halftime lead.
The game stayed close until the middle of the third quarter. The Irish were within 38-35, but the Greyhounds broke it open with a 10-0 run. Windlan scored the final seven points of the run, putting Carmel up 48-35.
“I thought the guards did a good job of having better spacing and better patience,” said Osborn. “We fought their pressure in the first half, and they do a good job of getting up and pressuring, speeding you up. I thought we played into their hands in the first half, just speeding us up and forcing us into some quick shots that were contested in the lane.
“But in the second half, I thought overall our spacing and our patience were better, which led to, in most times, Karsten with the ball in his hands and a little bit more space. But I thought Karsten did a good job of making good decisions.”
Carmel led 48-37 going into the fourth quarter. Cathedral kept pushing, with its star guard Armaan Franklin scoring 15 points in that period. But by then the Irish were fouling, and Carmel got it done from the line, making 16 of 20 free throws in that period.
There were a large number of fouls called in the game – Cathedral had 28, Carmel had 23. Overall, the ‘Hounds were 30 of 37 from the line.
Windlan led the scoring with 20 points, while Owens added 18. Mulloy was especially dominant, with a double-double of 19 rebounds, 17 points, plus three blocked shots. Heady scored all nine of his points from the free throw line, with Robert Fry coming off the bench to play tough and add three points. Freshman Peter Suder scored four points.
“They all gave us something at different points in the game,” said Osborn. “I thought Luke did a great job of handling their pressure and being smart, getting to the free throw line. Robert came in and had a spurt in the third quarter. I thought he was aggressive and confident, got in the line a couple times.”
Carmel will host Bishop Dwenger on Saturday evening. The game will be an hour earlier than normal, with the junior varsity at 5 p.m. and the varsity at 6:30 p.m.
Carmel 71, Cathedral 56
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Karsten Windlan 5-13 9-9 20 3
Peter Suder 2-3 0-0 4 3
Luke Heady 0-1 9-14 9 4
Andrew Owens 7-14 0-0 18 3
John Michael Mulloy 4-9 9-10 17 3
Robert Fry 0-2 3-4 3 4
Ben Frische 0-0 0-0 0 2
Conner Gioia 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 18-42 30-37 71 23
Score by Quarters
Cathedral 12 14 11 19 – 56
Carmel 14 17 17 23 – 71
Carmel 3-point shooting (5-14) Owens 4-9, Windlan 1-4, Heady 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (41) Mulloy 19, Suder 6, Heady 6, Windlan 5, Owens 4, Gioia 1.
Carmel’s Karsten Windlan scored 20 points for the Greyhounds in their 71-56 win over Cathedral Wednesday at the Eric Clark Activity Center. The victory keeps Carmel unbeaten this season at 10-0. (Richie Hall)