Carmel can't catch up to Lake Forest

Junior Bryce Moore has turned into the leader that Carmel Catholic has hoped for at the start of the boys basketball season. Moore contributed with 16 points and 7 rebounds, but it wasn't enough in a 56-44 defeat to Lake Forest in a nonconference game in Mundelein on Tuesday night.

The game was made up after the postponement on Monday with the Scouts and also Benet Academy postponed its game with Carmel on Tuesday.

"I'm just trying to get all my teammates involved, as well as defend," Moore said. "That's a big deal of what we're trying to do this year. Especially since we lost a few of our starters. I'm just trying to get everybody on board.

"Really, offense hasn't been the problem in any of the games. It's been defensively, with new guys it's hard to teach what our defense is out there in a short amount of time."

Still, Moore has stepped up in a lot of ways with the younger players making the team better than its 1-3 record so far.

"Bryce is our leader and captain," Carmel coach Zack Ryan said. "I think he got our offense going in this one. It kind of shows what kind of team we can be. I've asked him for things he's not used to, like playing point guard. He's been coachable and doing it. In this fourth game, you can see us get into a rhythm and making shots. He's really a good player and one of our best guys."

Asher Jackson added 12 points for the Corsairs.

Lake Forest (4-1) was led by Asa Thomas with a team-high 16 points that included five 3-pointers. LF went on a 12 -3 run in the second quarter that gave the Scouts a 29-24 lead by halftime. Lake Forest extended the margin out to double digits in the second half.

Walt Mattingly added 12 points and 9 rebounds after foul trouble in the opening quarter.

"We knew (Carmel) was going to be athletic," Lake Forest coach Phil LaScala said. "They have some really good streaky shooters. We just had to be disciplined and we were better in the second half. That was the big difference and running our offense."