Lawless leads Mikes to 57-55 victory
Holly Tonini
Carmichaels’ Brandon Lawless (5) is edged on by Frazier’s Roger Cline (3)
Holly Tonini
Holly Tonini Frazier’s Roger Cline pulls up a jumper around Carmichaels’ Ty Aeschbacher (22) in Tuesday night’s game.
Carmichaels’ Brandon Lawless (5) makes a pass around Frazier’s Roger Cline in a game at Carmichaels High School.
(Photo by Holly Tonini)
Holly Tonini
Frazier’s Caleb Cox makes the layup in a game against Carmichaels
CARMICHAELS — Brandon Lawless collected 30 points and the Carmichaels boys’ basketball team survived a late, three-point barrage from Frazier to pull off a 57-55 victory Tuesday night in non-section action.
The Mikes (2-0) were more effective in their half-court sets than their season opening win against Jefferson-Morgan on Saturday, and were aided by a strong third quarter, in which they tallied 26 points.
“We were a little out of sync on offense in the first half,” Carmichaels coach Don Williams said. “In the second half, we started to sprint to our spots and did a good job of moving without the ball. We set better screens and that opened up some things for us on the outside. Passing is always key for us, and we have to be smart with the ball.”
The Commodores (1-1) suffered their first loss of the season, despite a late rally and a streaky shooting effort from beyond the arc.
“This is only our second game of the year and we are still a little rusty on offense,” Frazier coach Ed Keebler said. “We made some mistakes on some plays in the first half and we address that at halftime. I thought in the second half, we were more efficient and we got some second chance points.”
Carmichaels led 13-10 at the end of one, as Lawlesss registered nine points in the opening eight minutes of play.
Only 13 points were scored in the second stanza and the Mikes held a 19-17 lead at halftime.
After Frazier tallied the first two buckets of the third period, Carmichaels garnered 12 straight points, capped off by back-to-back treys from Tyler Aeschbacher.
The Commodores trimmed the deficit down to six, 31-25, but the Mikes once again responded with a 14-8 spree to end the quarter.
In the fourth, Lawless connected on an old-fashioned three-point play to extend Carmichaels lead to 52-43 with 3:56 remaining in the contest.
On the Commodores’ next possession, Charles Manack nailed a 3-pointer to keep the visitors close. After another basket by Lawless, Manack responded back with another three to cut the lead to 54-49.
Sandwiched around three free throws from Lawless, Frazier totaled 3-point baskets from Manack and Alvin Ross in the final minute, but it wasn’t enough as Carmichaels hung on for the win.
“Carmichaels is a perennial playoff team and this is a good test for us,” Keebler said. “I sure would have liked to win this one, but we didn’t quit. We competed with them the whole 32 minutes of the game. We jacked up too many shots from beyond the arc, and we have to do a better job of driving to the rim and getting to the foul line.”
Lawless had 10 points in the final quarter and was eight-for-11 from the charity stripe. Aeschbacher finished with 15 points, while Justin Newman dished out 12 points.
“When Brandon is on like he was tonight, it helps the team out a lot,” Williams said. “It relaxes everyone else and everyone kind of goes with his flow. Brandon is very versatile and we move him around on offense. They threw two to three different defenders on him, and he was able to adjust and create some offense.”
Manack ended his night with 19 points for the Commodores, while Roger Cline (14) and Ross (10) rounded out the scoring.
Both teams will be back in non-section action today, as Frazier travels to Elizabeth-Forward and Carmichaels ventures out to Beth-Center.