It wasn’t easy, but Carmel kept its undefeated season intact Friday night with a 51-50 Metropolitan Conference victory at Pike.
The game was tied at 12-12 after the first quarter and 25-25 at halftime. The Class 4A No. 2 Greyhounds finally got a comfortable lead in the third quarter, as a fast break dunk by Andrew Owens put Carmel up 38-30 late in the period.
The Red Devils scored to get within 38-32 at the end of the quarter, then made their own run to cut the Greyhounds’ lead to 42-41 with 3:17 left. But Robert Fly made a steal and dunk with two minutes left.
Karsten Windlan helped out with four consecutive free throws to get the ‘Hounds up 49-44 with 15 seconds remaining, and that would see Carmel through, despite some big shots from Pike in the last few seconds.
Windlan led the scoring with 11 points, while Owens and Luke Heady both had nine points. John Michael Mulloy had a solid game with eight points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Robert Fry scored eight points and Owens collected six rebounds.
The Greyhounds are 11-0 overall and are now in the MIC driver’s seat at 4-0. Warren Central, which has been ranked No. 1 in the 4A Associated Press poll since the start of the season, lost to 4A No. 3 Lawrence Central 54-44 on Friday, so Carmel will likely be ranked No. 1 next week.
The ‘Hounds are scheduled to host 4A No. 6 Brownsburg tonight.
Carmel 51, Pike 50
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Luke Heady 2-5 3-4 9 1
Andrew Owens 3-6 2-2 9 3
John Michael Mulloy 3-5 2-2 8 2
Karsten Windlan 1-7 9-10 11 3
Peter Suder 2-4 0-0 4 2
Robert Fry 3-3 2-4 8 3
Conner Gioia 0-0 0-0 0 0
Ben Frische 1-1 0-0 2 2
Totals 15-31 18-22 51 16
Score by Quarters
Carmel 12 13 13 13 – 51
Pike 12 13 7 18 – 50
Carmel 3-point shooting (3-11) Heady 2-4, Owens 1-3, Windlan 0-3, Suder 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (22) Mulloy 7, Owens 6, Suder 4, Windlan 2, Fry 2, Heady 1.