Carmichaels girls pass first hurdle
MONESSEN – Carmichaels girls’ basketball coach Jim Lane had a plan and his Lady Mikes worked it to perfection in their 48-40 win over Duquesne in a first-round WPIAL Class A playoff game Tuesday night at Monessen High School. Of course, that was nothing new to followers of the Lady Mikes. They’ve been using the same plan with mostly the same results all season. Carmichaels improved to 21-2 on the season and will meet the winner of tonight’s Sewickley Academy-Ellis School game, probably Saturday, at a site and time to be determined.
This game, like all Carmichaels girls’ games, was about tempo. The Lady Mikes controlled it for three quarters and advanced to the quarterfinals.
“That was the goal,” Lane said. “No. 1, we had to control the boards. Then, we had to control the ball and make them play a half-court game.”
The Lady Dukes, who fell to 13-10, came out of the gate sharp, thanks to a pair of three-pointers from Shawdawn Reeves, the last in the waning seconds of the first quarter, to claim a 12-8 lead after one.
“We had a lot of one-pass shots in the first quarter, then we settled down,” Lane said. “Once we get into our half-court game, it starts to take a toll. Banging with the Willis twins and our other inside players, that takes a toll and I think it did as the game wore on.”
Duquesne starts two sophomores and two freshmen and the senior-laden Lady Mikes started to show their experience in the second quarter. After Duquesne made only three turnovers in the first quarter, Carmichaels forced seven each in the middle quarters.
Not surprisingly, that was when the Lady Mikes also took control of the game. Even though Carmichaels’ lead was only four, 36-32, after three quarters, they had the Lady Dukes playing a half-court game.
Then, the Lady Mikes scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to go up, 44-32. From there, they coasted to the win.
Autumn Willis paced the Carmichaels offense with 15 points, while Christina Antonelli added 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Meghan Wood added 10 points for the Lady Mikes.
Reeves shared Duquesne scoring honors with Chereave Robinson, each with 12 points.
“A lot of credit goes to their coach,” Lane said of Duquesne’s Remondo Williams. “He does a good job with such a young team. They are going to be very good the next few years.”
For Carmichaels, the time is now.
“I feel very fortunate to have these seniors, who have played together since junior high,” Lane said. “Believe me, they are well aware that this is do or die for us now.”
The fact that they did didn’t surprise Lane, who noted the Lady Mikes are 20-1 over the last two seasons in games decided by 10 or fewer points.
“They’ve been in these situations many times before,” Lane said. “Maybe not with this much at stake, but they knew what to do. And this team epitomizes the word `team.'”
Class A Boys
At Monessen
GEIBEL CATHOLIC (64) – Speggen 0 0-0 0, White 4 0-0 9, Ramsey 2 9-10 14, Leonard 4 1-2 9, Bokat 6 1-5 13, Welc 5 1-2 11, Holmes 2 3-5 8. Totals: 23 15-24 64.
DUQUESNE (71) – Barlow 5 3-8 13, Brown 5 1-5 11, Dunn 8 1-3 19, Beatty 5 5-8 15,demery 0 0-0 0, Fields 4 3-7 11, Freeman 1 0-0 2. Totals: 28 13-34 71.
Geibel Catholic 18 10 14 15 7 – 64
Duquesne 16 15 11 15 14 – 71
3-Point Goals: Geibel Catholic 3 (White, Ramsey, Holmes), Duquesne 2 (Dunn 2); Records: Geibel Catholic 14-9, Duquesne 10-15; Officials: Adam Jones, Lance Cash and Larry Kupec.
Class A Girls
At Monessen
DUQUESNE (40) – Robinson 3 6-7 12, Shawdawn Reeves 4 0-0 12, C. Thomas 1 0-3 2, Shanelle Reeves 2 2-2 6, Reddick 1 1-2 3, Ausbrook 1 0-2 2, Wright 1 1-1 3. Totals: 13 10-17 40.
CARMICHAELS (48) – Antonelli 5 1-2 11, Wood 4 2-2 10, McMinn 2 0-0 4, Amber Willis 2 2-3 6, Autumn Willis 5 5-7 15, Virgili 1 0-0 2. Totals: 19 10-14 48.
Duquesne 12 9 11 8 – 40
Carmichaels 8 15 13 12 – 48
3-Point Goals: Duquesne 4 (Shawdawn Reeves 4), Carmichaels 0; Records: Duquesne 13-10, Carmichaels 21-2; Officials: Mike Steratore, Dave Japp and James Lipscomb.