Carmel dominates Riley for semi-state championship, gets rematch with Warren Central at Bankers Life
By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
In the first half, Carmel went outside. In the second half, Carmel went inside.
In the end, the Greyhounds are going to Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Carmel is headed back to the Class 4A boys basketball state finals for the first time in five years. The No. 10-ranked ‘Hounds stunned No. 2 and previously undefeated South Bend Riley 63-43 to win the 4A north semi-state championship, which took place Saturday afternoon at Lafayette Jefferson.
“It feels amazing,” said junior Andrew Owens, one of three Carmel players to reach double figures in the game. “I’m speechless right now. We played so well. I can’t put it into words how awesome this feeling is.”
This will be the Greyhounds’ first appearance at state since they won back in 2013. Ryan Osborn was an assistant coach on that team, now he’s taking Carmel back to the 4A championship game as a first-year head coach.
“I’m trying to enjoy it,” said Osborn. “It’s been a lot of fun.”
The Wildcats held the lead only once during the game, when Shamar Dilliard immediately drained a 3-pointer seconds after the opening tip. After that, Carmel went on an 11-0 run and was only challenged once thereafter in the entire game.
John Michael Mulloy got the ‘Hounds on the board with a layin, then Carmel drained three consecutive 3-pointers. Cole Jenkins was first; his triple gave the Greyhounds a 5-3 lead that they would never relinquish. Owens then stepped up with back-to-back 3s.
“That’s what we wanted to do,” said Mulloy. The 6-10 junior Butler commit said his team wanted to start out hot and not “let them push us around. We needed to be the aggressor.”
Eventually, Carmel finished the first quarter ahead 19-12. Mulloy converted a three-point play to give his team a 14-5 lead midway through the period, and Jenkins drained another 3.
The three-for-all continued in the second quarter, with Karsten Windlan’s ‘3’ putting the Greyhounds up by nine again, 22-13. Riley went on its most serious run at that point, eventually cutting the lead to 22-20 by the middle point of the period.
But Carmel got going again and finished the half on a 10-1 run. Owens was the catalyst again, making two more 3-pointers, the second of which was a buzzer-beater to put the ‘Hounds up 32-21.
Carmel sailed through the second half untroubled. The Greyhounds showed off their inside game in the third quarter, with Owens and Mulloy both scoring six points each: Owens made back-to-back layins, then Mulloy got back-to-back inside baskets. Both would get one more layin before the end of the period.
“We got to keep going,” said Mulloy. “We couldn’t just stall the whole time, we had to keep going.”
But, there was certainly nothing wrong with one more long-range basket: Eddie Gill threw in a 3-pointer late in the period. That gave Carmel its biggest lead of the game at 49-27.
“He’s given us a heck of a run,” said Osborn. “His athleticism, his defense.”
In the fourth quarter, the Greyhounds got it done from the free-throw line, making 10 of 12 foul shots. Windlan provided some more nice minutes in the period, with four points.
Mulloy wound up with a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds. Owens added 16 points and Gill scored 11. Carmel had a supremely efficient shooting night, going 19-of-33 from the field, a rate of 57.6 percent. The ‘Hounds were 8-of-16 from 3-point land.
Carmel is now 21-7 for the season and will play an old Metropolitan Conference rival next Saturday (March 24) for the Class 4A state championship. The ‘Hounds will take on Warren Central, the top-ranked team in the state.
“It’s another game for us,” said Owens. “On to the next one. They beat us on a last-second shot, so we’re going to remember that.” Warren beat Carmel 66-65 on Feb. 16 on a buzzer-beater (of course) in a game that gave the Warriors an undefeated MIC championship.
The Warriors beat New Albany to win the 4A south semi-state at Seymour, with David Bell making a buzzer-beater to secure a 64-62 win in front of a sold-out crowd. The win ended the high-school career of New Albany’s Romeo Langford, who finished as Indiana’s third-highest career scorer with 3,002 points.
Remarkably, it is Warren’s first-ever semi-state championship. The Greyhounds, meanwhile, collected their sixth semi-state title with this win. The others came in 1970, 1977, 1993, 2012 and 2013. Carmel’s 1977, 2012 and 2013 state appearances ended in state championships.
Carmel 63, South Bend Riley 43
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Cole Jenkins 2-5 0-0 6 5
Eddie Gill 2-7 6-7 11 4
Luke Heady 0-0 4-6 4 2
Andrew Owens 6-7 0-0 16 1
John Michael Mulloy 7-10 4-5 18 0
Jalen Whack 0-1 0-0 0 1
Alex Jackson 0-0 0-0 0 0
Karsten Windlan 2-3 3-4 8 2
Totals 19-33 17-22 63 15
Score by Quarters
Riley 12 9 10 12 – 43
Carmel 19 13 17 14 – 63
Carmel 3-point shooting (8-16) Owens 4-5, Jenkins 2-5, Gill 1-3, Windlan 1-1, Whack 0-1, Mulloy 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (31) Mulloy 15, Gill 2, Heady 2, Owens 2, Windlan 1, team 9.
The Carmel boys basketball team is headed back to the Class 4A state finals for the first time in five years. The Greyhounds beat previously undefeated South Bend Riley 63-43 to win the 4A north semi-state at Lafayette Jefferson on Saturday. (Richie Hall)