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Carmel hangs on, edges out Addison Trail

Carmel Catholic's boys basketball team is getting used to having games decided in the final seconds.

The Corsairs had another one of that variety Monday night in the third-place game of Lake Zurich's sixth annual Martin Luther King Classic - and this time they prevailed.

Johnny Roeser came up with a timely block from close range, and Evan Myers made a couple of clinching free throws in the final seconds, preserving Carmel's 54-50 victory over Addison Trail.

"We have a habit of making everything difficult at the end of games," said Carmel coach Zack Ryan, whose 13-7 Corsairs finished 4-1 in the tournament. "That's something that we've got to work on. At the end of the day, we're tying to get out 2-0 (on the day) and we did that. I'm proud of the guys for battling. Addison Trail played hard and really good this week."

Carmel had a 7-point lead in the final couple of minutes, but Addison Trail (10-11, 3-2 tourney) used full-court pressure to cause chaos for the Corsairs, who turned the ball over multiple times.

Addison Trail's Connor Palesch dropped in a 3-pointer during a 7-2 run, cutting Carmel's lead to 52-50 with 34 seconds left.

After a missed opportunity for Carmel, the Trail Blazers tried to tie game on close-range jump shot. But Roeser came from behind to deliver a game-saving block.

"I saw (JT Daniels) with the opportunity down low," Roeser said. "I just came up from behind and blocked him. It was exciting."

Myers came up with the rebound and was fouled with 2.6 seconds left on the clock. He hit both free throws, giving him 10 points in the game.

"We had some chances at the end," said Addison Trail coach Brendan Lyons, whose team lost to Lake Zurich in the morning. "It's just disappointing at this time of year for us not to execute in key situations. Against good teams, you have to execute your shots in those situations."

Addison Trail was led by Daniels with a game-high 15 points. Ramon Casey added 10 points coming off the bench.

Zion Kilpatrick led Carmel with 15 points. Kimahri Wilson added 13, and Roeser chipped in 10.

Addison Trail jumped out to a 19-8 first-quarter lead and bumped it to 22-8 early in the second quarter.

Carmel responded with some aggressive defense, and a 15-2 run trimmed its deficit to 24-23 by halftime. The Corsairs took a 38-37 lead into the final quarter.

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