By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – The Carmel girls basketball team lost its first game of the season on Tuesday, as a 3-pointer at the buzzer sent Lawrence North past the Class 4A No. 1 Greyhounds 43-40.
The game was the first Metropolitan Conference game of the season for Carmel, which traded the lead with the Wildcats for the entire game. The ‘Hounds were up 36-32 midway through the fourth quarter, but LN ended the contest on an 11-4 run. Two free throws by Sydnee Hughes tied the game at 40-40 with 47 seconds left, then Jayla Smith threw in the game-winning shot as the clock ran out.
“It’s a tough one,” said Carmel coach Erin Trimpe. “I thought we handled their pressure pretty well, for the most part. But we talked about it in the locker room: We got to learn to finish games and we got to learn to take care of the basketball and take smarter shots, and I really felt like we beat ourselves tonight with some bad turnovers and missed free throws, some bad shot selection. So, I thought overall, we handled the pressure pretty well. When it came down to needing to take care of it in that half-court, we just didn’t handle it well.”
The Greyhounds led 12-11 after the first quarter. Kate Clarke tossed in a 3-pointer for the last basket of the period, then Bridget Dunn opened the second period with a pair of free throws.
Smith hit a floater to tie the game at 19-19 with 2:16 left in the half. Carmel quickly jumped up 24-19 on a layin by Emily Roper and another triple from Clarke. But the Wildcats answered with a basket and 3 of their own, and the halftime score was 24-24.
The Greyhounds again tried to pull away in the third quarter, using a 6-0 run to lead 32-26. Riley Pennington hit two baskets, while Clarke made a couple of free throws. Carmel held on to the lead for the first part of the fourth quarter, with Pennington’s layin getting the ‘Hounds up 36-32. But Lawrence North began its run at that point.
Clarke scored 18 points, including three 3-pointers. Dunn earned a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds and also handed out four assists. Smith led all scorers with 23 points.
Carmel is now 4-1 and plays another MIC game Friday, at Warren Central.
“Our season’s not over,” said Trimpe. “We got, hopefully, a long season to go and one loss doesn’t define us. We’ve got to figure out how to respond. Trimpe said her team needs “to have a short-term memory and come back tomorrow ready to go and get ready for Warren.”
LAWRENCE NORTH 43, CARMEL 40
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Bridget Dunn 4-13 5-6 13 1
Evan Spidel 0-1 0-0 0 2
Kate Clarke 5-13 5-5 18 0
Hannah Lach 0-3 0-0 0 4
Mackenzie Thomas 0-2 1-2 1 0
Riley Pennington 3-3 0-4 6 3
Emily Roper 1-2 0-0 2 1
Erin Baker 0-0 0-0 0 0
Laura Valiente 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 13-37 11-17 40 12
Score by Quarters
Lawrence North 11 13 4 15 – 43
Carmel 12 12 8 8 – 40
Carmel 3-point shooting (3-16) Clarke 3-7, Dunn 0-6, Lach 0-3.
Carmel rebounds (28) Dunn 12, Clarke 4, Thomas 4, Lach 3, Pennington 2, Roper 2, Baker 1.