By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
The Carmel girls basketball team received a tough test from visiting Bedford North Lawrence on Wednesday, but finished the game strong in a 65-53 win at the Eric Clark Activity Center.
The Class 4A No. 8 Stars actually led the 4A No. 2 Greyhounds 28-27 at halftime. Carmel managed to get the lead back in the third quarter, thanks to balanced scoring and timely baskets. Tomi Taiwo’s 3-pointer changed a 31-31 tie into a 34-31 Greyhound lead, and later Taiwo’s basket off a steal pushed Carmel ahead 42-35.
The ‘Hounds opened the fourth quarter ahead 45-42, and that lead became 48-42 after Maddi Sears hit a 3-pointer. Carmel led 53-48 before BNL made a push to tie the game at 53-all on a ‘3’ by Chloe McKnight with around four minutes remaining.
But after that, the Stars didn’t score again, while the Greyhounds ran off 12 straight points. Amy Dilk gave Carmel the lead for good with a pair of free throws at the 3:40 mark. Then in a big turning point, Jasmine McWilliams and Dilk bottled up BNL’s Jorie Allen, inducing a five-second violation with 3:22 to go.
Reagan Hune stepped up seconds later, as she deflected a BNL pass, stole it, and sent it to Dilk, who passed it to Taiwo under the basket for an easy score. That made the game 57-53 with 2:32 left.
After that, Carmel got it done from the free-throw line. Taiwo made both foul shot attempts, and McWilliams went 4-for-4 to get the ‘Hounds up 63-53. A Dilk steal and basket finished the game.
“We called time out and we told the girls that our defensive pressure really needed to step up and that would turn into an offensive flow,” said Carmel assistant coach Erin Trimpe. “And when we made them a little bit more uncomfortable, especially their guards, we got a lot more in transition and a lot more opportunities to score, and I think that really pushed us to finish the game out strong.”
Dilk and Taiwo both finished the game with 14 points, followed by Hune scoring 13 points and McWilliams 10. McWilliams also led the boards with seven rebounds, while Dilk collected five rebounds. Dilk handed out seven assists and Sears made four steals.
Carmel is now 14-1 for the season. The Greyhounds will travel to New Castle on Friday to play in the prestigious Raymond James Hall of Fame Classic. Carmel takes on Martinsville in the first semi-final game at 11 a.m., followed by a contest between East Chicago Central and Zionsville at 12:45 p.m. The third-place game is set for 6 p.m., followed by the championship game at 7:45 p.m.
