Green’s double-double leads Bulldogs past Mikes, 43-42
Carmichaels’ Liam Shea (1) drives the ball between Beth-Center’s Brennan Stanley (23) and JJ Green during their game Dec. 28, 2016, at Carmichaels High School in the Lions Club King Coal Christmas Tournament.
Carmichaels' Matt Barrish (11) dribbles the ball around Beth-Center's Hunter Bowen during their match-up Wednesday at Carmichaels High School.
Carmichaels' Matt Barrish (11) scores two on a breakaway from Beth-Center's JJ Green during their game Wednesday at Carmichaels High School.
CARMICHAELS — Beth-Center’s JJ Green picked up a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while aiding the Bulldogs to a 43-42 victory over Carmichaels Wednesday night in the championship game at the Lions Club King Coal Tournament.
“It was so big for us to take two wins at this tournament,” B-C coach Paul Stanley said. “At halftime we challenge them to compete. We were sloppy and out of sync to begin the game. We were playing at 75 percent in the first half and we had some lazy turnovers. In the second half, we played hard and laid everything out there on the court.”
After scoring just four points in the first half, Green compiled 18 in the second half and had 11 critical points in the final eight minutes of play.
“We had some pick-and-rolls that got me going and got me some open looks at the basket,” Green said. “We struggled in the first half and we were disappointed with our effort. It was a gut-check win for us and we hope we can build off of this win.”
Nick Pryor added nine points for the Bulldogs (4-4), while Carmichaels’ leading scorers were Liam Shea (16) and Matt Barrish (13).
“We wanted it to be a low-scoring contest and we had to control their big guys,” Carmichaels coach Don Williams said. “I thought we did that, but Green went off on us and we couldn’t respond to their scoring late in the game.”
B-C held an 8-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Mikes (5-3) responded with an 11-7 scoring edge in the second stanza to take a 17-15 lead into halftime.
After Carmichaels scored the first two buckets of the third period, B-C went on a 9-4 spurt to cut the lead down to 25-24.
Shea extended the Mikes’ lead to 27-24 after two free throws, but the Bulldogs countered with a mid-range jumper by Pryor and an inside hoop by Hunter Bowen to take a 28-27 lead into the fourth quarter.
“We were rushing too many shots up and we got excited,” Williams said. “We didn’t run anything on offense in the second half and wasn’t getting any good looks. We panicked a little bit and we couldn’t overcome some things against a tough team.”
After the teams traded baskets to start the final quarter, the Bulldogs retook the lead for good after a hoop from Green and two foul shots by Brennan Stanley.
“They didn’t have an answer for JJ,” coach Stanley said. “He was active on defense and got some transition hoops. He is tough when he is driving to the rim one-on-one. The other guys fed off of his play and we had some guys that made some big shots late.”
In the waning seconds of the contest, B-C’s Andrew White connected on two crucial free throws to extend their lead. Shea scored the final bucket of the night for Carmichaels, but it was inside the arc, as the Mikes dropped a one-point heartbreaker in the finals.
For his efforts, Green was named King Coal Lions Club Tournament MVP.
“Our coaches challenge us on the defensive end at halftime,” Green said. “I was more active and got some steals. We didn’t get down and we knew we could turn this around. We won this game as a team tonight. It was all about that final push.”
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Geibel Catholic 67, Mapletown 18 — In the consolation contest, Geibel Catholic tallied the final 13 points of the second quarter to pull away from Mapletown for a 67-18 win.
“Mapletown is a well-coached team and we had to put pressure on them,” Geibel coach Brian Henckel said. “We wanted an up-tempo pace and we wanted to let our athletic guards run. We forced some turnovers and made our shots in that late run in the second.”
The Gators (2-6) built a 17-9 advantage at the end of the one, but the Maples (0-8) cut the deficit to 30-18 with a basket from Ryan Carter.
With two minutes left before intermission, Geibel rolled with 13 unanswered points and held a 43-18 lead at halftime.
It was all Gators in the third quarter, as Geibel shut out Mapletown 16-0 to evoke the mercy rule. With the running clock going in the fourth, the Gators held an 8-0 edge.
Cole Kendall poured in 28 points for Geibel, while Enzo Fetsko collected 16.
“Both Cole and Enzo are only freshmen,” Henckel said. “They are fun to watch and they have a lot of potential in the future. The last couple of games they haven’t been on, and we are glad they found their shot today. Hopefully they can stay hot for us.”
Richard Cacuvak scored nine points for Mapletown.