Boys Basketball: Notre Dame handles Carmel in ESCC showdown
BY GARY LARSEN Contributor February 7, 2012 12:50AM
2/3/12. Niles. Notre Dame's Jon Johnson deflects a pass intended for Carmel's Cullen Barr. Notre Dame hosted Carmel at Notre Dame High School. | Tracy Allen~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 11, 2012 8:07AM
Notre Dame senior Joey Solita’s right hand was healthy on Friday and visiting Carmel suffered for it.
After missing six games with a hand injury, Solita buried two key three-pointers in the third quarter that sparked the Dons to a 71-35 win in the East Suburban Catholic contest.
Notre Dame (16-6, 3-2) only led 25-17 at halftime, but third-quarter baskets from Joe Ferrici and Eddie Serrano preceded a pair of treys from Solita to spark the Dons to an eventual 42-25 lead after three quarters.
Solita hit five treys on the night to lead all scorers with 15 points, but quickly pointed to another key that allowed the Dons to gain separation on Carmel in the second half.
“We’ve got 10 or 12 guys that can put the ball in the hole, and I thought it was our defense that got us going,” Solita said. “We only made six stops in the second quarter so we had to do better in the second half.”
Notre Dame held Carmel to eight points in the third quarter and 12 field goals for the game.
Coach Tom Les’ team has been offensive balance personified this season, with a consistent 12-man rotation that has spread the scoring around.
The Dons had four players in double digits on Friday.
In addition to Solita, Greg Leifel scored 13 on the night while Jimmy Cravens and Matt Mooney netted 10 points apiece.
“We don’t have a single player averaging double figures, and seven or eight guys are all averaging between about five and nine points,” Les said. “Based on how far we are into the season, my guess is we won’t have anyone average in double figures.”
The win for Notre Dame came on the heels of a double-overtime, one-point loss to ESCC rival Benet and Les was happier with the energy his side brought to Friday’s game.
“We played harder and were more aggressive,” Les said. “Against Benet we were tentative and didn’t go to the basket or create anything for our three-point shooters. Today we attacked and made the simple pass. Then we hit two or three and it gets contagious; everybody thinks they can hit them.”
Of the Dons’ 26 field goals made, 11 came from beyond the three-point line.
Carmel got 10 points from Joe Molloy and nine from Nickai Poyser. Joe Ferrici also scored eight for Notre Dame to go with seven rebounds on the night.
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