Cooley leads Eagles over Carmichaels
By DEAN DELLAMALVA JR.
MVI Sports
Serra Catholic’s boys team didn’t have the most successful regular season, but the playoffs got underway with a different result Saturday.
It was the No. 18 Eagles who brought the defensive pressure, forcing 22 turnovers, in a 72-55 victory over No. 15 Carmichaels.
Serra Catholic’s Brendan Cooley scored a career-high 24 points while nabbing 12 boards in the victory.
“We’ve been working on the man (defense), we have had a lot of games where we only get (75%) of the way there with the man defense,” Eagles head coach AJ Corso said. “They finally got it over the past few days. We played man on Wednesday and Tuesday and it finally clicked. It’s a great time to have the team chemistry coming together.”
Serra Catholic (4-11) advances to play second-seeded and section foe Greensburg Central Catholic 6 p.m. Wednesday. Despite being the lower seed, the Eagles will host the game. The Centurions swept the Eagles during the regular season. But that does not mean Corso thinks his team cannot compete.
“Of the higher seeds, this is the one we wanted because we’ve played them twice already with them in our section,” Corso said. “It’s tough to beat someone three times in a season. Our guys are going to lock in. We’re going to come out and play strong and fast like we are. As long as we play four quarters, we should be good.”
When the Mighty Mikes (9-6) were not giving the ball away, they found it hard to knock down shots against the Serra pressure. Carmichaels did score the first basket of the game and held a 6-2 lead early. However, the lead quickly evaporated as the Eagles’ Joey DeMoss hit a 3-pointer giving Serra a 9-6 lead. From that point, the Mikes never led.
“(Serra Catholic) came out of the gate with defensive pressure and made it hard for us to get any open looks,” Carmichaels coach Ian McCombs said. “We missed our fair share of easy ones. But turnovers and rebounding really was the tale of that first half. That was a big difference in the game.”
The Mighty Mikes leading scorers were held in check for most of the game. Chris Barrish (17 points), Drake Long (14) and Michael Stewart (3) all averaged in double figures for Carmichaels and were held under their usual numbers. Tyler Richmond did manage a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds
It was not enough to counter Cooley, Mark Thomas – who had 17 points – and Joey DeMoss, who added 10. Corso says Cooley has been steadily improving this season and is on the verge of something special.
“(Cooley) has been working everyday, even on Sundays when we are not practicing, he’s working,” Corso said. “I’m glad to see that paid off for him today. He’s a star in the making, as long as he keeps working, he’s going to be a star.”
Despite trailing by double digits most of the game, Carmichaels did have a run in them in the final quarter. Trailing by a 54-37 margin, the Mikes went on a 15-5 run to get the deficit to single digits at 59-52.
After the run, Corso called a timeout but did not have to say much to his team.
“There wasn’t much to say. They all knew. Their basketball IQ is way up there, all of them were saying that they just need to calm down and get the open layup,” Corso said. “It was impressive that Carmichaels fought back. We had to tighten back up.”
After the timeout, Thomas had a strong take to the basket, scored and was fouled. He finished the three-point play to give Serra a 66-52 advantage with 2:22 to play.
