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Carmel wins a close one with Waukegan

It was like old times on the playground. Or in grade school. Or in AAU.

Many of the boys basketball players at Carmel and Waukegan go back. Way back.

"We know them and they know us," Waukegan junior guard Ja'Dyn Brown said of the familiarity between the two teams. "Actually, (Carmel senior guard) Zion Kilpatrick was my neighbor when I was in middle school. We lived in apartments and he was my next door neighbor and I used to be at his house all the time. And (Carmel junior forward) Jalen Snell, he's my AAU teammate to this day. A lot of us know each other like that.

"This game was personal, but it was fun. I like games like that."

Fans in the stands like games like the one that Carmel and Waukegan put on. Besides the personal connections between the players, there was the drama of a back-and-forth affair that wound up producing an epic overtime battle in the Grant Thanksgiving tournament. Carmel figured out a way to out-last Waukegan, the ninth-ranked team in the state, 71-68.

"I knew it was going to be crazy, even before the game, because I know almost everyone from Waukegan. We all live around each other," Carmel freshman guard Kimahri Wilson said. "Everybody's kind of talking stuff during the game, and we had people (from the neighborhood) telling us that they were going to come out and watch. We knew it was going to be a big game and a good game.

"That made it so much more fun. And we were the underdog. We had to show everyone what we were made of."

As it turned out, both teams had to do that.

Waukegan (2-1) faced adversity first, falling behind by as many as 10 points in the third quarter when Wilson got hot and scored 9 of his 15 points. The Carmel lead was 11 points early in the fourth quarter.

But then Brown and his teammate Bryant Brown (no relation) went on a scoring binge and helped Waukegan finish the quarter on a 15-4 run that tied the game at the end of regulation and forced overtime.

"I had complete confidence that we had it under control," Ja'Dyn Brown said of his thoughts heading into overtime.

In fact, Waukegan then went on to score the first 4 points of overtime, including a big dunk by Ja'Dyn Brown that put the Bulldogs up 68-64 with just 39 seconds remaining.

That's when Carmel needed to show what it is made of.

Carmel (2-1) revved up its defense, forced some Waukegan turnovers and missed shots and then hit free throws. The Corsairs hit 5 straight free throws and got a big bucket from Kilpatrick in the midst of a scrum to run out the rest of the game out-scoring Waukegan 7-0.

"We just showed a level of toughness there at the end that we haven't had in the last couple years," Carmel coach Zack Ryan said. "And it just came down to getting a couple of stops, a couple steals and some tough rebounds.

"That was our Achilles' heel all of last year. Finally we pulled out one of these games, and against the ninth-ranked team in the state. Our guys can now see that we can do it. I'm just proud of these guys. We got down 4 (in overtime) and you're thinking maybe it's done and we kept fighting and we pulled it out."

In addition to the 15 points from Wilson, Carmel got a team-high 21 points out of junior forward Damone Williams-Gray, 18 points, including 3 three-pointers, from Evan Myers and 10 points from Johnny Roeser.

For Waukegan, Bryant Brown scored a game-high 31 points while Ja'Dyn Brown finished with 21 points. They were the only two players to reach double-figures for the Bulldogs.

"I think we just had some key mistakes on top of (Carmel's) great plays. They made some key shots," Waukegan coach Ron Ashlaw said. "We had some mistakes. But give them credit. They're a good team. We're just going to have to figure our way through adversity when it happens."

Rockford Boylan 73, Grant 69: In the nightcap of the Grant Thanksgiving tournament, Rockford Boylan got hot from 3-point land and hit 10 3-pointers to out-shoot the host Bulldogs.

Ben Ambrose led Rockford Boylan with a game-high 23 points, including six 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Jon Starck had 18 points, including four 3-pointers.

For Grant, which drops to 0-3, Mike Huff scored a team-high 22 points.

  Carmel's Damone Williams-Gray, top, and Johnny Roeser (34) battle for a rebound with Waukegan's Jordan Brown (5) on Friday night at Grant. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Carmel's Damone Williams-Gray, right, drives on Waukegan's Eric Doyne on Friday night at Grant. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Carmel's Johnny Roeser and Kimarhi Wilson, right defend against Waukegan's Ja'Dyn Brown on Friday night at Grant. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Carmel's Johnny Roeser (34) drives on Waukegan's Jordan Brown on Friday night at Grant. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Carmel's Lukas Galdoni, left, and Waukegan's Jaylin Cunningham battle for a rebound Friday night at Grant. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Carmel's Lukas Galdoni, right, drives on Waukegan's Jaylin Cunningham on Friday night at Grant. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Carmel's Evan Meyers, right, drives on Waukegan's Bryant Brown on Friday night at Grant. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Carmel's Damone Williams-Gray goes in for a layup against Waukegan on Friday night at Grant. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
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