CARMEL — Everybody and their Uncle LeRoy and Aunt Betty had been waiting to see the rematch of the Class 4A state championship from a year ago and the anticipation was NUTS!!! No.1 Warren Central pulled up in the Big Body Chevy bumpin’ that DJ Khalid “All I Do Is Win” joint and No.2 Carmel pulled up in the 1978 El Camino playing that Beastie Boys “Learn How to Fight for your Right to Party.” By the time the smoke cleared the Carmel Greyhounds had stripped the Big Body Chevy clean and left it sitting on blocks as they sprinted through the defending champs 69-52.
The Greyhounds jumped out of the ride and went on a 8-0 run after Andrew Owens drilled a three from the corner to score 5 of Carmel’s first 8 points. They went up 13-1 off of a Luke Heady three. Carmel was raining threes like a hurricane.
Jesse Bingham scored Dub C’s first field goal after scrapping for a loose ball under the basket. Manny Brown knocked down a three to make it 13-6. Then Isiah Moore hit a three to make it 13-9. The defending Class 4A state champs looked as though they were ready to roar back. Jesse Bingham got to the rack pulling the Warriors to within four points down 15-11.
Then all of a sudden Carmel’s Karsten Windlan put on the Super Man cape and went to work. By the time I bit into my hot dog Windlan had guided the Greyhounds to a 31-18 halftime lead scoring 13 of his 19 points in the first half alone.
Warren Central came out of the intermission on fire as they went on a 4-0 run. They were trapping and playing at a much higher level than they played with in the first half. They were so aggressive that the refs called a couple of quick fouls on Isiah Moore and head coach Criss Beyers snapped. He was so fired up that they hit him with two quick technical fouls at the 6:30 mark of the third quarter that sent him to the locker room.
Carmel was up 31-25 when Beyers exited the building. Warren Central got as close as five points off of a Jakobie Robinson three pointer to make it 39-34. However, John Michael Mulloy and Karsten Windlan kept putting in work to push the lead to 43-34.
Warren Central’s Isiah Moore drained another shot from behind the arc to pull within 6 points with 2:17 left in the third quarter. However, that was the closest they were able to get to the Greyhounds who were playing out of their minds!!!
Karsten Windlan finished leading all scorers with 19 points as Luke Heady dropped off 16. John Michael Mulloy finished with 11. Carmel was not playing with these boyz on Friday night as Warren never looked like themselves. They never played with the confidence that we’ve become so accustomed to seeing them play with. Carmel was in complete control of this one from start to finish.
Jesse Bingham led the Warriors with 13 points as Jakobie Robinson finished with 12.