A defensive dandy as Carmel nixes Nazareth
Simple math works here.
After one quarter, how many points was visiting Nazareth on pace to score? It's a total of 4 points.
Yep, after that first quarter it the score was a most unusual Carmel Catholic 5, Nazareth 1.
OK, Carmel coach, Zack Ryan, how many times have your Corsairs held a team to just 1 point in a quarter?
"Not since I've been here,'' Ryan claimed.
Carmel's designated 3-point shooter, Evan Myers, also agreed with his coach's assessment after one quarter.
"I've never seen it,'' Myers said. "Or not for a long time. Coach wanted us to get a zero on the board."
Myers admits he's trying to expand his game from the 3-point line. But of his 7 field goals, 5 came from 3-point range. He led all scorers with 19 points as Carmel's 10th victory came rather easily, 49-36.
"Our defense was awesome tonight,'' Ryan said. "But Nazareth also makes you defend. We weren't getting many steals, because they were throwing the ball away."
As sluggish as this game was after one quarter, both teams found the range in the second quarter. On the first of three 3-pointers from the Roadrunners' Anthony King, Nazareth actually led briefly at 9-8.
That lead didn't hold for very long. Myers had a 3 and a 2, and with a drive from Damone Gray-Williams (7 points), Carmel began to pull away.
On this night, however, the long-range shooting of Myers proved to be the key for Carmel.
"I was definitely feeling it tonight,'' Myers said. "But I know I have to mix my shots up. I was trying to take the ball to the basket."
Carmel's halftime lead of 26-16 was helped along by free throws from Johnny Roeser (6 points) and Kimahri Wilson (5 points).
Carmel (10-5, 1-2) opened this game up to start the third quarter. The lead reached double figures and got to 31-16 on a layup from Myers.
"The majority of my shots are threes,'' he said. "But on this night, we were switching defenses really well."
King hit two consecutive threes to bring his Nazareth squad closer, but again the Carmel lead stood at double figures at 39-27 after three quarters.
Both teams were able to play reserves for a good part of the fourth quarter.
Both Lukas Galdoni and Brandon Evans gave the Corsairs good minutes down the stretch. Myers' last 3 of the night expanded the Carmel lead to 46-29.
Nazareth manage to knock down six straight free throws to close its scoring for the night.
The tenth win gave Ryan a good feeling about his team's performance. He also noted that four of his starters are averaging in double figures this season.
"Tonight was Evan's night,'' Ryan said. "But with all of our scorers, it makes us hard to defend."