Ultimately, Carmel Catholic able to finish off Streamwood

A lot of times this season Carmel Catholic's boys basketball team has played well in spurts, but at times finishing games has been an issue.

On Monday afternoon, Corsairs coach Zack Ryan left it to the boys to take care of business themselves.

Carmel had control of the game against Streamwood but almost let the game out of their hands. Ultimately, the Corsairs got past Streamwood 75-68 in their final game of Lake Zurich's MLK tournament.

"A game like that one, you have win it with more conviction," Ryan said. "I was saying to the guys that you're the ones that are the problem. When things are going bad, they're looking at me - and I'm not going to bail you guys out. They are the ones that have to figure it out. We did enough to win the game at the end. A win is a win, and we'll take it."

After leading 46-28 at the half, the Corsairs (9-11, 2-3) hit a shooting slump in the third quarter and part of the fourth. Streamwood (2-16, 0-5) closed within 60-54 after freshman Brendon Marton (game-high 20 points) hit a short jumper with 5:18 left.

"Maybe we got too get warmed up," said Marton, who had 16 points in the second half and finished with 15 rebounds. "Once I got going, I started feeling it a little bit. My teammates were giving me the ball at places where I could score."

Carmel's CJ Duff took it upon himself to regain momentum, getting a rebound and putback, followed by a 3-point play with 3:18 remaining.

"We had a good first half and then we sagged off a bit," said Duff, who scored 13 points. "I tried to give a burst of energy to my team. I know we've played a lot of games lately."

The Corsairs were able to keep their distance the rest of the way.

Carmel had balanced scoring. Mike Pabst led with 16, Shareif Belser-Bailey added 14 and 4 steals and Brian Julien chipped in with 12.

"I thought our first half was the best all year," Ryan said. "Second half, our intensity was lost and we let them right back into it. Streamwood doesn't have a lot of wins but they play hard."

The Sabres took advantage of the Corsairs' cold shooting in the third quarter and worked their way into the game.

"We do see glimpses of what we can be," Streamwood coach Paul Kowalyszyn said. "They actually put together a game, even though we didn't win. We're showing what we can do and we're getting more confident."

Streamwood lost its earlier game 67-57 to Palatine in another tightly contested contest, while Carmel Catholic lost to Vernon Hills 74-60.