Full roster involvement as Carmel rolls past Carver Military

Over the past couple of months, the Carmel Catholic boys basketball team has experienced a thorough overhaul of its roster.

You wouldn't know it at all, though, after the way the Corsairs performed Saturday afternoon in Mundelein as they manhandled a formidable team from Chicago's Carver Military Academy to the tune of an 83-54 nonconference victory.

"We've moved a lot of kids up during the season, so lots of new faces," said Corsairs coach Zack Ryan, whose team shrugged off a tough home loss to Nazareth Academy the night before and improved to 10-11 overall with the win over Carver. "It's all about how well and how fast everyone can adjust to the intensity and pace of varsity basketball."

These guys certainly looked like a well-oiled machine on this day, something freshman forward Lukas Galdoni can definitely get used to.

"It was huge for us to come back re-focused (after losing the previous night). Everyone just came together," said Galdoni, who was brought to the varsity roster back in December. Early in the year, my 3-point shot wasn't too good so I've been working hard on that. I stayed and practiced for a while after the game last night."

That practice paid nice dividends as Galdoni pumped in 9 points on 3 three-pointers in the second quarter as Carmel Catholic was pulling way ahead. He wound up netting a season-best 11 points to accompany 8 boards.

Overall, Ryan has brought up five players from the JV squad, including Galdoni, freshman forward Jalen Snell, freshman guard Austin Green, sophomore forward Brandon Evans and sophomore guard Zion Kilpatrick, who popped for 8 of his 10 points in the third frame with Carmel Catholic comfortably ahead.

Both teams opened a little tentatively, with the Corsairs taking the lead on what turned out to be for good at 7-6 after a pair of free throws by senior center Sean Foster.

Carmel Catholic got the inside game going thanks to the 6-foot-8 Foster, who poured in 12 points, including 6 points in the first and 6 again in the third period. He also had his way muscling around the Challenger players by grabbing 14 rebounds, including 8 in the opening period when Carmel Catholic got the inside game cooking.

"He has been getting into great basketball shape the past few weeks," noted Ryan of Foster. "He's strong and athletic and getting better and better every game."

After Carmel Catholic grabbed the lead for good, it was time for senior guard and Western Illinois commit C.J. Duff to do his thing. Duff scored 10 points in a 16-2 run that put the Corsairs ahead comfortably at 21-8 after the opening act.

Duff was hitting from all over the place and finished with a season-high 31 points.

"We were able to run our break, and when we push the ball we're pretty effective," said Ryan. "I can't explain it. It was just the opposite of last night. Today we just had the fire and that flare, and the energy was outstanding."

After that blitzing to close the first period, Carmel Catholic stayed the course and kept up the pressure all game long.

The Corsairs' biggest lead was 62-37 after a layup by Foster with 2:05 left in the third.

Carver Military mounted a brief comeback but the Corsair lead was too much to overcome.

Freshman guard Jonathan Roeser popped in all 9 of his points in the second half, while senior forward Matthew Stephens finished with 7 points and junior guard John Barr 2 points to help keep the Challengers at bay.

"We shared the ball and everyone contributed," said Ryan, whose bunch faces Chicago Tech at home on Tuesday. "I couldn't be happier."

Carmel Catholic got to the foul line 32 times and converted on 20 free throws. The Corsairs also earned a 43-28 rebounding advantage.