Cary-Grove weathers big Carmel comeback
Cary-Grove boys basketball coach Ralph Schuetzle could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Leading by as many as 24 points in the first half, the Trojans' coach could just watch in amazement as Carmel Catholic's valiant second-half comeback fell short and the Trojans were able to earn a 63-60 win over the Corsairs to win the Consolation A championship of the Hinkle Holiday Classic hosted by Jacobs on Saturday afternoon.
"We played a great first half," said Schuetzle. "We came out with great intensity and made shots. In the second half, we needed to play smarter. Jason (Gregoire) got in foul trouble and we almost gave the game away.
"It is the first time since I have been at Cary-Grove that we have won four games in this tournament. We are to starting to move forward as a team."
Carmel's C.J. Duff certainly put Cary-Grove to the test. He finished with a game-high 27 points, giving him a record 139 in the tournament, breaking the mark of 136 set by Mundelein's Ben Brust in 2008.
The Trojans (7-5) came out sizzling, connecting on 8-of-14 shots in the first quarter for 57 percent in leading 19-5 after 8 minutes. Trevor Ruhland, who is headed to Notre Dame on a football scholarship, provided the inside presence with 7 points while Justin Blair and Danny Schmidt canned 3-pointers and the Trojans led by 14 after 1 quarter.
Led by two 3s by Pat Meyer and a trey from Adam Loch, the Trojans continued their red-hot shooting in the second quarter and held their biggest lead, 33-9, with 2:35 left in the half.
The Corsairs (5-7) started their comeback by scoring the final 7 points to slice the Cary-Grove lead to 17 at 33-16 by intermission.
Led by 16 third-quarter points from Duff, Carmel got to within 46-34 heading to the fourth.
Then, paced by 15 points in the fourth quarter by Shareif Bailey, Carmel got within 1 of Cary-Grove at 61-60 on a basket by Duff with 35 seconds left.
The Trojans sealed the win on 2 free throws by Loch with 12 seconds remaining.
Pat Meyer led the Trojans with 14 points, including 4 treys.
"I was just in good rhythm tonight," said Meyer. "I felt really good shooting the ball."
Jason Gregoire, who fouled out with 1:33 left in the game, scored 10 while Justin Blair added 10.
Duff had 25 points in the second half; Bailey finished with 17.
"They simply played harder than us in the first half," said Carmel coach Zack Ryan. "They played with more intensity and got every loose ball. We wanted it more in the second half and played much better."