It was everything a battle for the Metropolitan Conference championship should be, the game between Carmel and Class 4A No. 1 Warren Central Friday at the Warriors’ gym.
The roller coaster clash ended when Warren’s Antwaan Cushingberry made a jump shot with less than five seconds to go, and that sent the Warriors past the Greyhounds 66-65. With the win, Warren Central improved to 6-0 in the MIC and 23-0 overall, while Carmel fell to 5-2 in the conference, 13-7 overall.
The ‘Hounds will thus finish second in the MIC. The Warriors still have one more conference game left to play, at Pike on Tuesday, but Warren clinched the title by handing Carmel its second MIC loss.
The Greyhounds led 13-10 after the first quarter, but the Warriors came back to take a 32-25 halftime advantage. Carmel returned the favor, outscoring Warren Central 21-6 in the third period to go ahead 46-38. The ‘Hounds led by 60-55 with just over a minute to go before the Warriors made their final push.
John Michael Mulloy finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, the first of four Greyhounds to reach double figures. Andrew Owens drained three 3-pointers on his way to 13 points. Jalen Whack scored 11 and Eddie Gill added 10 points. Cole Jenkins handed out four assists.
Carmel will play at Warsaw tonight. Tip-off is 7:45 p.m.
Warren Central 66, Carmel 65
Carmel FG FT TP PF
John Michael Mulloy 5-10 5-7 15 1
Cole Jenkins 2-4 2-2 7 2
Luke Heady 0-0 8-10 8 1
Jalen Whack 3-5 4-7 11 3
Eddie Gill 4-5 1-1 10 5
Andrew Owens 5-6 0-0 13 5
Karsten Windlan 0-0 1-2 1 0
Alex Jackson 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 19-30 21-29 65 17
Score by Quarters
Carmel 13 12 21 19 – 65
Warren 10 22 6 28 – 66
Carmel 3-point shooting (6-10) Owens 3-4, Jenkins 1-2, Whack 1-2, Gill 1-1, Mulloy 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (21) Mulloy 10, Jenkins 4, Owens 3, Whack 2, Gill 1, Heady 1.