Mikes shoot down Rockets
CARMICHAELS – The Mikes’ inside tandem of Jeremy Ganocy and Ian McCombs proved too much for Jefferson-Morgan to handle, as Carmichaels picked up a 45-32 Section 2-A victory Friday night. Ganocy tossed in a game-high 19 points, all but three coming in the second half, and McCombs added 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Leading by just two points after three quarters, Carmichaels (7-3, 2-1) outscored the visitors 13-2 over the final eight minutes. Ganocy had eight points during the quarter, including four in the final 1:02 after twice rebounding a teammates’ miss off the front end of a 1-and-1 and scoring on a put-back.
“Those two rebounds were really big,” said long-time Carmichaels coach Don Williams. “If he doesn’t grab the rebound and they (J-M) get it, they could come down and hit a three-pointer. And that would have changed the complexion of the game.”
The Mikes took an 11-10 lead in a first quarter that saw eight lead changes. Jefferson-Morgan battled back from an early five-point second-quarter deficit to take a 19-17 lead on Noah Pust’s lay-in, but a Joby Lapkowicz three-pointer a minute later gave Carmichaels the lead for good.
McCombs scored all but four of his points in the first half.
“Those two are definitely an advantage for us,” Williams said of Ganocy and McCombs. “But we also have to realize we have to run the right play to get the ball inside, and those two have to move around as well.”
Leading 24-22 to start the third quarter, Carmichaels increased its lead to eight points behind three field goals and two free throws from Ganocy. But after a timeout midway through the third quarter, Jefferson-Morgan (4-9, 1-2) closed the period with a 6-0 run to close the gap to 32-30.
But the Rockets managed just two free throws over the final quarter, and didn’t score from the field over the game’s last 9:18.
“I just think our legs gave out,” said J-M coach Fred Moorecraft. “Those guys played a lot of minutes tonight, and I think it caught up to us at the end.”
Still, offensive woes withstanding, the Rockets trailed by just six points with 2:25 to play.
“Any time we hold a team under 50 points, we feel we have a good shot to win the basketball game,” Moorecraft said. “I actually thought our guys played really good defense tonight. And we had some open looks in the second half; we just didn’t have our legs.”
David Montibeller paced Jefferson-Morgan with 10 points, but was held scoreless in the second half.
Carmichaels returns to action Tuesday, traveling to Geibel Catholic. Earlier this season, the Mikes blew out the Gators, 66-41, in the opening round of the King Coal Lions Club Tournament at Carmichaels.
Jefferson-Morgan is back in action today, playing at Burgettstown in a non-section match-up.