GREENWOOD — TheJayGravesReport Game of the Week was the undefeated No.2 Carmel rolling into No.7 Center Grove! A match up of premiere bigs ready to bump heads. Carmel’s John Michael Mulloy and Center Grove’s Trayce Jackson-Davis primed and ready to go. However, it was Carmel’s Andrew Owens and Center Grove’s Ben Nicoson that put on the show. When the smoke cleared Carmel walked out of the joint with a 47-37 win to remain undefeated.
The Greyhounds jumped off of the bus and went on a 6-0 run to start the game as Center Grove looked sluggish in the opening minutes. They had multiple turnovers to start the game. CG’s Zach Hahn called a timeout to give them the Big Momma speech and they came right out of the break with two three-pointers to close the gap quickly to make it 8-6 Carmel. At the end of the first quarter the kids from the north side held on to a 11-9 lead.
It was a slow game with both teams trying to get into a rhythm in the second quarter. Both Trayce Jackson-Davis and John Michael Mulloy took their shots and attacked the rim with aggression to try to give their teams a spark. Jackson-Davis came up with a huge block as Mulloy went to the rack to make a statement. That didn’t happen playa. It was swatted into the 5th row as it knocked Aunt Lucy’s nachos out of her hands and Uncle Bob dropped his Diet Coke.
However, that didn’t slow the Greyhounds down. They kept it moving to get to the break up 20-18 over the Trojans. The Greyhounds were led by Karsten Windlan with 6 of his 10 points at the half as Ben Nicoson held the Trojans down with 8 of his 10 points at the break. Nicoson played a helluva game.
Center Grove came out of the break and went on the 5-0 run. Then Carmel went on a 6-0 run just to let boyz know that it was, like Puffy used to say, “Real in the Field.” At the end of three quarters the Greyhounds had stretched the lead to 10 points going up 35-25 with Andrew Owens leading the way.
Down the stretch Carmel just seemed to want it more. John Michael Mulloy was hustlin’ to the ball. Luke Heady, Karsten Windlan and Andrew Owens were playing crazy defense as well as well as scrappin’ on the offensive end of the floor. Center Grove never seemed to play with the same sense of urgency and that was the difference in the game. They had their moments but Carmel just seemed to play harder down the stretch.
Salute to Ben Nicoson of Center Grove!!! He played his heart out. And there you have it my friend.