Buzzer-beater lifts Greyhounds to 36-33 win over No. 4 Tigers
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
The formula Warsaw used in winning its first 20 games of the season, the Carmel Greyhounds used it Saturday night to hand the Class 4A No. 4 Tigers their first loss of the season. On a night Warsaw seniors Paul Marandet, Riley Rhoades and Evan Schmidt played their final game in the Tiger Den, it was Carmel that won by playing stingy defense, committing fewer turnovers, outscoring the opposition at the free throw line and winning the battle on the boards. That formula, along with junior Sterling Brown’s tough, turnaround three-pointer just before the final horn, lifted the Greyhounds to a thrilling 36-33 win over the Tigers, who entered the contest as the only unbeaten team in the state. After Warsaw junior Kyle Mangas tied the game at 33-33 with a three-pointer with just over 30 seconds remaining, Carmel inbounded the ball and patiently held for one final shot. After bobbling the ball and then regaining control, Brown – well-defended on the play by Mangas – hit a shot from the right wing that sucked the energy out of the gym. Brown’s heroics helped Carmel improve to 13-8 on the season, while the Tigers fell to 20-1. “We were tied, so we weren’t gonna call a timeout,” said Carmel coach Scott Heady, whose team lost 47-43 to Warren Central on Friday, while the Tigers didn’t play. “It probably wouldn’t have mattered, as good as they are defensively. Whatever we would’ve drawn up, they would have defended it, so we didn’t call a timeout. We just wanted to space the floor and let someone drive, knowing they’re not gonna foul you. I thought they did a great job defensively, Sterling just hit a tought shot. You know, we’ve had a lot of games like this. We’ve played four top 10 teams where we went right down to the wire, and just didn’t make plays.” Of Carmel’s eight losses this season, five have been by four or fewer points, including a 62-60 loss to Indianapolis Cathedral in four overtimes. According to Sagarin ratings, Carmel has faced the fourth-toughest schedule in the state, while Warsaw’s schedule is ranked 78th. “How much better Carmel is than anybody we’ve played to date, I don’t know, but they’re clearly better,” said Warsaw coach Doug Ogle. “From an athletic standpoint, size, defense, their rebounding power ... they’re just good. “I wrote in our scouting report, and I cautioned our players that this could be the game that our rebounding exposes us and costs us. It wasn’t just the rebounding, it was too many empty possessions offensively because we were off-balanced, we rushed, didn’t have enough poise to shot-fake. We weren’t as solid tonight as we needed to be. “Carmel had a lot do with it, their defense was good, really good, so it’s not like we weren’t playing a good team. But with that being said, I don’t feel like we played that well offensively, I don’t think we played that well defensively, and I don’t think we rebounded that well. That’s a team that’s ranked in the top 15 in the Sagarin ratings, and we were right there.” Carmel led 11-7 after one quarter of play. Warsaw held the Greyhounds to two points in the second quarter, and the Tigers led 14-13 at halftime before Carmel held a 25-22 advantage going into the fourth quarter. The Tigers trailed 31-26 in the final frame, but a 7-2 run tied the game when Mangas’ three-pointer swished through the net. Carmel finished the game 11 of 31 (36 percent) from the field overall, while the Tigers made 57 percent of their shots, finishing 12 of 21. Where the Greyhounds were better was at the free throw line, as they made 9 of 10 attempts, compared to Warsaw’s 7 of 8. Carmel outrebounded Warsaw 17-14, including an 8-1 advantage on the offensive glass. And the Greyhounds committed just eight turnovers, while the Tigers were guilty of 10 turnovers. In a low-scoring game, those things were huge. Heady was excited about his team scoring more points at the charity stripe than Warsaw did. Heady, who led Carmel to state championships in 2013 and 2014, knew that keeping Mangas and senior Paul Marandet off the line would be a key. Marandet was 6 of 6 at the charity stripe en route to his eight-point performance, but Mangas didn’t attempt a free throw, though he was 9 of 10 from the field for a game-high 20 points. “Free throws more than anything, I think that was the key ... it’s two guys, and you know who they are,” said Heady. “That was our No. 1 goal, to try and keep Mangas and Marandet off the line, and I think one was 6 of 6, and the other didn’t shoot one. “We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, we played last night, so it was just a walk-through today and watch film, but I thought our guys did a great job without a lot of preparation. Warsaw is really good at isolating you and driving and they’re patient with the ball. Those two guys are just really good. They’re so efficient. They’re two very efficient players. And I thought we did a great job keeping them off the free throw line. That was the key to the game.” Outside of Mangas and Marandet, the Tigers produced just five points – two buckets from junior Jeremy David and a free throw from Rhoades. P.J. Baron, making his first start for Carmel, was 5 of 6 from the field and 1 of 2 at the line en route to 13 points. Brown finished with 12 points. “We just didn’t play well enough tonight, and we gotta move on,” said Ogle. “I’m looking forward to our team meeting after school on Monday. We’ll go over this game, and take our time going over it. I think if we handle it the right way, this game, moving forward, can help us because some things got exposed that we’ve been talking about. Now maybe our players will be a little more serious about shoring those things up.” The Tigers close the regular season Friday with a trip to Huntertown to play seventh-ranked Carroll.
