Lady Mikes defeat Geibel Catholic, 64-23
CARMICHAELS — Christmas came early for the Carmichaels, as they broke their two-game slide and will go into the holiday break with an above .500 record after defeating Geibel Catholic, 64-23, Thursday.
“We definitely wanted to get a win before Christmas,” Carmichaels coach Jim Lane said. “I didn’t want to put a damper on the holidays. It’s been a rough two games for us, and we talked about learning from our losses.”
The Lady Mikes (4-3) started out the season 3-1, but opened Section 3-A play with back-to-back losses against Fort Cherry and Chartiers-Houston, the top two teams in the section from a year ago.
“We just need to continue to play better team defense,” Lane said. “Basketball is a day-to-day thing and I’m just hoping that we are a better team next week than this week and that hopefully the next time we see Fort Cherry or Chartiers-Houston, it will be a different outcome.”
The Lady Gators (0-6) held an early 4-2 edge, but the home team put the game out of reach, as they scored the next 27 points.
Morgan Berardi tallied 11 points in the opening quarter, as the Lady Mikes held a 14-4 lead at the end of one.
In the second, Carmichaels continued their onslaught, as Anna Cree connected on two 3-pointers to start the quarter. Cree also added an old-fashioned three-point play minutes later, as she tallied nine points in the second quarter.
Two free throws by Peyton McInrtye ended Carmichaels scoring streak, but the Lady Mikes still held a commanding 41-8 lead at halftime.
The Lady Mikes made it 50-10 in the early stages of the third quarter after Mikee Swartz converted a basket and free throw, followed by two treys from Cree.
With the 40-point advantage, the game was under the mercy rule and the clock was turned off the rest of the game.
Cree led all scorers with 23 points and five treys for Carmichaels, while Berardi totaled 17 points and dished out eight assists. Swartz finished with seven points and seven rebounds, as Amanda Brown added nine points in the victory.
“These girls can score,” Lane said. “I’m not worried about our offense because these girls have put in the work during the off-season to be better offensive players. This team has been one of the better offensive teams I have been a part of. We need to work on our defense. We have been giving up 55 points a game and that is not acceptable. You can’t afford to give up that many points, especially in section play.”
For Geibel, Brittany Rulli recorded 10 points and McIntrye finished with seven points.
“We are extremely young,” Geibel Catholic coach Shawn Holup said. “And tonight we had 11 girls dressed and seven of them were freshmen. We knew there was going to be some growing pains this year. They are very athletic, but very raw as well. Carmichaels was young like us a couple of years ago and look at where they are at now. They are a perfect model to follow.”