Greyhound Express keeps rolling. Carmel takes down second No. 1, undefeated team in six days
Carmel – Call ‘em the giant killers.
For the second time in six days, Carmel knocked off an undefeated and No. 1-ranked team in the Class 4A poll. Last week, it was Fishers. On Thursday night, it was a 42-35 victory over Lawrence North.
Safe to say, no one outside the Carmel locker room saw this coming when the Greyhounds started the season 3-7.
“It’s a lot of credit to our guys to stick with what we do and believing,” Carmel coach Ryan Osborn said. “It’s really been about having some resilience and playing tough and staying together.”
Osborn was talking specifically about the game against Lawrence North, but it applies to Carmel’s season, too. The Greyhounds, playing against the state’s No. 1 schedule by the Sagarin ratings, have now won five games in a row against tough competition. The streak started with a 30-point win over Pike, followed by a win on a shot in the final seconds by Alex Couto against Brownsburg, a three-point win over Ben Davis and back-to-back wins over undefeated and top-ranked Fishers and Lawrence North.
“When we started 2-6 or 2-7, we had a meeting and we were like, ‘We’re done with this,’” junior guard Alex Couto said. “‘We’re going to come work every day and we’re going to play as hard as we can.’”
That plan has worked on the scoreboard for Carmel, which jumped out to an early lead against Lawrence North as Couto got loose for three 3-pointers in the first quarter and scored 10 points. Carmel took a 22-15 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Lawrence North (17-1) punched back right away to start the third quarter, starting the half on a 10-0 run to take a three-point lead. Lawrence North coach Chris Giffin said the three or four possessions right after the Wildcats took the lead were key.
“I thought we took a couple bad shots where we could have extended the lead to four or five,” Giffin said. “We just weren’t crisp offensively but give Carmel credit. You can’t beat teams that are that composed offensively and that comfortable with long possessions if you aren’t able to knock some shots down from the perimeter.”
Carmel (9-9) came right back with an 11-0 run that spanned the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth to take an eight-point lead. Lawrence North got as close as 37-33 on a basket by Azavier Robinson with 3:10 left, but Carmel took care of the ball and made free throws down the stretch.
Sophomore Evan Harrell led Carmel with 13 points and seven rebounds and Couto added 12 points, five rebounds and two steals. Ryan Clevenger, Carmel’s senior point guard, added seven points, five assists and four rebounds.
Robinson finished with 22 points, four rebounds and two steals to lead Lawrence North.
“This is a fun group to be around,” Osborn said. “They get excited for each other and that has allowed us to grow up. Without that, none of it happens.”
Carmel off until next week (Feb. 9) at Hamilton Southeastern. Lawrence North hosts Fort Wayne North Side on Saturday.
In other big games on a jam-packed Thursday night …
*Class 4A No. 3 Fishers knocked off second-ranked Westfield 51-49 as Keenan Garner led the way with 15 points and JonAnthony Hall added nine. Freshman Cooper Zachary scored on a left-handed up-and-under with 1:12 left to break the 49-all tie. Westfield missed two 3-pointers in the final 20 seconds and Fishers held on for the win. The Tigers (17-1, 6-0) clinched the Hoosier Crossroads Conference outright with the win. Westfield dropped to 14-2 and 4-2.
*Class 4A No. 7 Kokomo ran away for a 91-74 home win over No. 5 Cathedral as Karson Rogers had 23 points, 12 rebounds and six assists and McDonald’s All-American Flory Bidunga fought off foul trouble to finish with 23 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and five blocked shots. Kokomo improved to 17-3, while Cathedral dropped to 13-3.
*Brownsburg knocked off 4A No. 8 Crispus Attucks 49-44 as Jordan Lomax led the way with 19 points and Grant Porath and Spencer Porath each added nine. Attucks (15-5) has lost back-to-back games after seeing its 10-game winning streak snapped by Ben Davis.
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: Carmel takes down second No. 1, undefeated team in a week
