By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – Greyhounds are supposed to run fast, but the Carmel boys basketball team felt like things were getting too speedy at first against Lawrence Central.
Thw two teams met at the Eric Clark Activity Center Friday night. The ‘Hounds were in a battle with the Bears during the first quarter, but thanks to hot shooting in the second quarter – and the second half – Carmel was able to break away to a comfortable 63-39 victory over LC and improve to 2-0 for the season.
Fountain
“We were really ready to play,” said ‘Hounds junior Jamichael Fountain. Carmel played its first game 10 days ago and got a win over Zionsville, so the Greyhounds players had been going against the junior varsity squad for quite a while. “We’re just very excited to play someone else,” said Fountain.
Carmel’s Evan Harrell got the game’s first points with a hook shot at the five-minute mark. The two teams went back and forth for the remainder of the quarter, with Harrell scoring five points.
The Bears had the Greyhounds down 9-7 late in the first period before Alex Couto drained a 3-pointer to finish the quarter and give Carmel a 10-7 lead. That began a 13-2 run that took up a good part of the second quarter and put the ‘Hounds ahead 20-11. Couto finished the run with back-to-back triples.
Couto
Lawernce Central got back within 24-21 by halftime, but Carmel surged ahead in the third quarter. Harrell began the period with seven straight points, including a 3. Later, the Greyhounds quickly turned a 35-27 lead into a 41-27 advantage with Aiden Dickerson making an and-1 and Fountain hitting a triple.
“They sped us up a lot in the first half,” said Carmel coach Ryan Osborn. ‘In the second half, we stuck with it.”
Couto, Harrell and Fountain all made layins late in the third quarter for a 6-0 run to put Carmel ahead 47-29. LC’s Dillon Wright finished the period with a 3, but Couto nailed a 3 to start the fourth. Fountain then threw in three triples during the fourth quarter.
Couto finished with 20 points, while Fountain scored 16 points. Both totaled four 3-pointers. Harrell also scored 16 points. Dickerson led the rebounds with eight, followed by Couto with seven and Fountain with five. Couto also dished out five assists.
“The team is really fun to coach,” said Osborn. “I’m proud of all of them. This team went through a lot last year and grew up over the season. Really came together through the summer and in the pre-season. They like being around each other. They cheer for each other. Everybody is excited when somebody else has success. Just hope we can keep getting better.”
Carmel plays tonight at Plainfield.
