Carmel Gets First Win Ever Against Lourdes

CARMEL—The Carmel High girls basketball team reached a milestone— of sorts—last Thursday when the Rams notched their first-ever win over Our Lady of Lourdes, beating the Warriors, 53-47, on their home court.

BASKETBALL
CARMEL 53
Lourdes 47

Marie Mulled led Carmel with 13 points, Nikki Oliver had a strong allaround game with 11 points, nine rebounds and four steals, Kim Broccoli had eight points and Sabrina Diaz came up with seven points to go with three assists.

Carmel’s Marie Mullen led the Rams with 13 points last Thursday in Carmel’s first-ever win over Lourdes. SKIP PEARLMAN Tamika Whittaker and B. Wegdischeide each had 12 points to pace Lourdes, which fell to 0-3.

Carmel (3-1) led 15-9 after one quarter, 24-19 at halftime and 38-31 at the end of three.

Rams coach Dan O’Hare said his team’s perseverance on the boards was a key in the victory, particularly on the offensive end, where Carmel snatched 17 offensive rebounds to OLL’s 10.

“We did a good job on the offensive boards,” O’Hare said. “This was a big win for us. Lourdes is a tough place to play, and they’re a solid team. Rebounding was a key, and Brittany (Horne) was in early foul trouble and had to sit significant minutes in the first half, then turned her ankle in the fourth and did not play for the last six minutes.”

The coach pointed to a strong game from Mullen, as well as Carmel’s balanced stat sheet, as being keys in the win.

“We got a wonderful contribution from Marie Mullen in the fourth quarter,” said O’Hare. “She hit on 9-of-10 free throws in the game, and Oliver had six points in the fourth that were big for us. She’s been a pleasant surprise, and continues to be solid.”

O’Hare had to adjust his lineup in the fourth, and found a combination that worked.

“In the fourth we went small,” he said, “and Diaz handled the point guard position well.”

Four games into the season and the Carmel’s only loss has come at the hands of Mount Vernon. “I like where we’re at right now,” O’Hare said. “I’d like to see a little harder play on the defensive end, but we’ve improved the turnover situation. We’ve been more consistent. But I still would like to see us tighten up the defense.”

Carmel was set to travel to Florida to play in the KSA Disney World Holiday Classic in Orlando on 12/28, 29 &30.