Carmel tackles RL in opener
Carmel Catholic's boys basketball team started its season Monday night missing four of its players due to the football team's extended run through the Class 7A playoffs.
So the Corsairs were without Jack Baucus, Tim Cook, Ryan Kloss and David Venegoni in their season opener.
Other players needed to step forward in their place, and they certainly did.
Senior Jordan Sivertsen dropped in 16 points and pulled down 7 rebounds and sophomore Pat Cox had 12 points in leading the Corsairs past Round Lake 47-27 in the opening game of the Mundelein Thanksgiving tournament.
"I feel with the way this team is constructed we've got a nice blend of young players with some players with experience," said Carmel coach Jon Baffico. "It's a matter of getting ourselves to play together.
"I really didn't know what to expect out of them. We have to be able to hold our own, and this was the best defensive game we've had since I've been here."
Round Lake had a 10-8 advantage entering the second quarter, but Carmel outscored the Panthers 16-7 and took a 24-17 lead into halftime.
Sivertsen got hot, hitting three of his four 3-pointers, and Cox added 7 points in the outburst.
"I still feel like I'm a little behind," said Sivertsen, who played in his first game since sophomore year as he opted out of basketball last year in order to concentrate on baseball. "I did feel pretty good in making the shots, and the team played well."
The Corsairs opened up a 12-2 run in the third quarter for a 36-19 lead and led by 14 after three quarters.
The Panthers had a tough time making shots, going 12-for-48 for the game.
"Offensively, we've got a lot of work to do," Round Lake coach Jeremy Fischer said. "We didn't really stick to our game plan; that is what hurt us. Maybe it was first-game jitters. We took too many outside shots and had some poor decision-making. Hopefully we can work things out."
Jerome Brown led the Panthers with 11 points and Mark Mpokota chipped in 6 points and 9 rebounds.
The tournament resumes today with Barrington vs. Carmel at 4:30 p.m., Round Lake vs. Loyola at 6 p.m. and Mundelein vs. Prairie Ridge at 7:30 p.m.
After no games Wednesday and Thursday, the tournament resumes with games schedule for Friday, Saturday and Monday.