Mikes open season by avenging loss
CARMICHAELS — The Carmichaels boys basketball squad avenged last year’s season opening loss with a 62-46 victory over Jefferson-Morgan Friday night to kick off the 2015-16 campaign.
“It was a typical season opener for both teams,” Carmichaels coach Don Williams said. “It was chaotic and sloppy, and it took some time for both teams to get their feet underneath them. We got better as the game went on and we settled down. We had to control our nerves and play defense.”
The Mikes (1-0) scored double digits in all four quarters and had eight players reach the score sheet, headlined by a game-high 21 points from Liam Shea.
Blake Conard collected a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Joel Spishock added eight points. Reed Long and Alex Hoy tallied six points each.
The Rockets (0-1) couldn’t overcome a slow start in the opening quarter and showed their youthfulness in spots throughout the non-section contest.
“We are young and we made some mistakes,” J-M coach Dennis Garrett said. “But those are correctable mistakes and our kids hustled to the very end. It’s all about learning the fundamentals and trusting those fundamentals when you get into a game. They killed us on the glass.”
Gage Clark and DL Garrett finished with eight points apiece for J-M, while Brennan Kozich scored seven points.
After the visitors grabbed an early 2-0 lead, Carmichaels scored nine consecutive points, capped off by a trey from Shea and an inside hoop by Spishock.
The Mikes tallied six of the final 10 points in the first quarter to take a 15-6 lead.
In the second stanza, Kozich made back-to-back baskets for the Rockets to cut the Mikes’ lead down to 15-10, but the home team rebounded with a 10-3 run. Shea had eight of the 10 points in the run.
Carmichaels ended the second on a 7-5 rally and held a 30-21 lead at the halftime intermission.
After the Mikes jumped out to a 38-25 lead midway through the third quarter, the Rockets responded with a 7-4 run and trailed 42-32 going into the final quarter.
J-M got as close as 48-39 after consecutive hoops by Garrett, but the Mikes pulled away with crisp passing and strong rebounding down the stretch.
“We didn’t make a lot of adjustments at halftime,” Williams said. “We had to clean some things up on our press and we told them to continue to find the open shot on offense. Sometimes we rush on offense and we shoot too fast. We got a lot of contributions tonight from different kids. We are a team and not a one-man show.”
Carmichaels had eight different players score a point in the final eight minutes and ended the contest on a 14-7 rally to capture the win.
“Our defense carried us tonight,” Williams said. “That was the most impressive thing about our performance tonight. They made some shots, but we kept them in front of us and rebound the ball to cut down on their second-chance points.”
Both teams will continue their non-section schedule on Tuesday, as Carmichaels travels to Avella and J-M hosts Bentworth.
“A loss is a loss and we make no excuses,” coach Garrett said. “I like some things that we did, but this is going to be a learning process. I give Donnie a lot of credit, his kids were on tonight. In my mind he is one of the best coaches in the WPIAL. He gets every ounce of his kids and they played hard.”
Non-section
Jefferson-Morgan 6-15-11-14 — 46
Carmichaels 15-15-12-20 — 62
Jefferson-Morgan: DL Garrett 8, Gage Clark 8, Brennan Kozich 7. Carmichaels: Liam Shea 21, Blake Conard 12, Joel Spishock 8. Records: Jefferson-Morgan (0-1), Carmichaels (1-0).