By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – Carmel dropped its first game of the season on Wednesday, as the Class 4A No. 2 Greyhounds fell to 4A No. 5 Cathedral 51-50 in an exciting, truly back-and-forth contest at the Eric Clark Activity Center.
It was a game of runs from the get-go. Carmel scored the first six points, with Connor Gioia getting the first basket and Charlie Williams hitting back-to-back field goals.
The Irish worked their way back into the game, and went up 12-10 when Tayshawn Comer hit a 3-pointer. But the Greyhounds’ Sam Orme answered that with a triple at the end of the quarter, and Carmel led 13-12.
Orme’s 3 started a 10-0 run for the ‘Hounds. Brian Waddell opened the second period with his own 3-pointer, then Williams again made back-to-back layins. Just like that, Carmel led 20-12.
The Greyhounds still led 22-15 with just over five minutes left in the second quarter. But Cathedral took over with the game’s biggest run, a 15-0 stretch that kept going well into the third period. Comer took over the game by scoring six straight points, then Jake Davis nailed a 3 to put the Irish ahead 24-22. That would be the halftime score.
“I love our team,” said Carmel coach Ryan Osborn. “I think we do a lot of good things, but I think they came in more aggressive in the first half. They had seven offensive rebounds that turned into a lot of points. Finished with nine, they outrebounded us by seven. That’s a hustle thing, that’s a toughness thing. We didn’t shoot a free throw in the first half. We weren’t driving it.”
Cathedral then opened the second half with back-to-back triples by Davis and Jaron Tibbs, giving the Irish their biggest lead at 30-22. Carmel quickly closed the gap with its own 7-0 run, which began with a three-point play by Peter Suder. Waddell and Suder then each made a pair of foul shots.
Suder would later make a 3-point basket to get the ‘Hounds back in front 34-33. The teams traded the lead for the remainder of the third period, which ended on a 3 by Davis and a 38-36 Cathedral lead.
Orme opened the fourth quarter with another triple, and Carmel was back in front 39-38. The game continued in that fashion for the entire period, with eight lead changes. A bright spot for the ‘Hounds was the return of Josh Whack, who had missed a few games due to injury. Whack played a few minutes in the fourth quarter and had an immediate impact once he got in the game: He made a steal, then sent the ball to Williams, who scored and got Carmel up 45-42.
Five quick points by the Irish put them ahead 47-45, and the basket-trading began again. Orme nailed his third 3 of the game to put Carmel up 48-47. Cathedral’s Vincent Brady answered that with two foul shots, and his team led 49-48.
Gioia scored on a layin, getting Carmel back in front 50-49. About a minute later, Brady made a putback, and the Irish were ahead 51-50. Brady’s basket turned out to be the last one of the game. The Greyhounds had one last look with around 10 seconds left, but the shot didn’t go, and the Irish cleared the rebound and ran out the clock.
“They were the more aggressive team,” said Osborn. “They were better than us tonight. We had 14 turnovers and that’s just another thing. I think their pressure and trying to force us to one side of the floor kind of took us out of what we do, and we panicked a little bit.”
Waddell scored 15 points to lead the Carmel scoring, with Williams adding 12 and Suder 10. Orme had nine points on three 3-pointers. Williams collected five rebounds and blocked two shots, while Gioia dished out seven assists.
Comer also had 15 points for Cathedral, with Davis and Brady scoring 14 points. Davis had four 3s.
“I think a game like this where we’re challenged in a different way than what we have been in the past is not a bad thing,” said Osborn.
The Greyhounds are 10-1 and will next play on Tuesday at Perry Meridian.
CATHEDRAL 51, CARMEL 50
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Connor Gioia 2-3 0-0 4 4
Peter Suder 3-8 3-3 10 4
Brian Waddell 6-13 2-3 15 0
Bryce Beery 0-0 0-0 0 1
Charlie Williams 5-8 2-2 12 3
Sam Orme 3-7 0-0 9 2
Wil Leary 0-0 0-0 0 0
Nick Frische 0-0 0-0 0 0
Josh Whack 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 19-39 7-8 50 15
Score by Quarters
Cathedral 12 12 14 13 – 51
Carmel 11 11 14 14 – 50
Carmel 3-point shooting (5-14) Orme 3-7, Waddell 1-4, Suder 1-2, Gioia 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (17) Williams 5, Suder 4, Gioia 3, Waddell 2, Orme 2, Beery 1.