Carmichaels defense smothers Beth-Center in 61-36 win
DEEMSTON – The Carmichaels Mikes upped their record to 2-1 by defeating the Beth-Center Bulldogs, 61-36, at B-C Friday night in a non-conference contest. The Mikes were led by the hot outside shooting of Colby Giles, who had a game-high 19 points, nine on three-pointers. Teammates Jamie Kowalczyk and Bobby Hathaway each joined Giles in double figures. Kowalczyk contributed 14 and Hathaway had 12, most of which came from tough shots underneath the basket.
“We were sluggish offensively,” noted Mikes coach Don Williams. “We didn’t get into the flow. I give B-C credit. They played hard.”
At the other end of the court, the Mikes smothered the Bulldogs (0-2) with their man-to-man defense.
“Defensively, they pressured us, especially the guards,” Bulldog coach Barry Niemic commented. “Coach Williams’ steady defense pressured the turnovers. That’s the name of the game. They did a nice job.”
“We played good man-to-man,” added Williams. “We were all over them.”
B-C opened the scoring on a fastbreak as Garrett Balas. The Mikes then rattled off the next 12 points, led by Giles and Hathaway, who each contributed five points.
The run gave the Mikes a 16-4 advantage at the end of the first quarter, a lead they would not relinquish.
Again in the second quarter the Mikes spread the scoring around. Giles and Kowalczyk each contributed five points and Jono Menhart added four. For the Bulldogs, who hung close throughout the second quarter, Ryan Stotka added four of his six points on the night and Balas and Tony Davis, who led B-C with seven points, each added three.
The Mikes went into the half with a comfortable 30-14 lead.
Carmichaels tried to pull away in the third quarter, but Beth-Center wouldn’t let them. The Bulldogs had five different players each score two points as Ferea, Tony Davis, Stotka, Reggie Davis, and L.B. Booze each contributed. For the Mikes, Giles scored six as the two teams played to a deadlock for the quarter to give the Mikes a 40-24 lead going into the final period.
The Mikes squelched any hopes the Bulldogs had of pulling closer by scoring the first 11 points of the final period to give them a 51-24 lead with 4:47 left. From that point on, the Bulldogs outscored the Mikes 12-10 to make the final 61-36.
The Mikes begin section play Tuesday at West Greene. Beth-Center travels to Brownsville for a non-conference game on Monday.