Carmel's best shot is no shot

As the second quarter dragged on at a speed only those lovable turtles Bill and Karolyn Slowsky of TV commercial fame could appreciate, Annie Basic lost her patience.

Then her cool.

Frustrated by host Carmel's strategy Saturday to slow the pace of a game it had no chance of winning if played at normal speed, Marian Catholic's girls basketball coach started pacing in front of her bench. She shouted encouragement to her players on the court, then talked demonstratively to her assistant coach and then the referee standing near her.

At halftime, an aggravated Marian Catholic team marched into its locker room -- leading 10-4.

Carmel not only didn't score in the second quarter, it didn't take a shot.

"I'm not saying he shouldn't use strategy, but let's play," Basic said of Carmel coach John Ryan. "Why did we drive an hour and a half, you know what I mean?"

Answer: to win a basketball game.

Which Marian Catholic did, 33-13, to improve to 8-0 and 1-0 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.

"She can be as upset as she wants to be, but I'm out there to help my kids win the game," Ryan said. "I'm going to try to put them in position to win. I'm going to do what I have to do."

Carmel (5-3, 1-1) had scored fewer than 40 points in four of its first seven games this season and then learned Saturday morning that it would be without two of its top scorers in guard Caitlin Hendricks and forward Lauren Lehocky.

Hendricks injured her ankle in practice Friday and Lehocky woke up sick Saturday.

"As a result, our strategy was to shorten the game," Ryan said. "We figured if we could shorten the game, we could have an opportunity. But if we let the game get up in the 50s, 60s, 70s, there's no way we'd have a chance."

Carmel actually scored first, on a long jumper by Tiffany Hendrickson, and was deliberate against the Spartans' 2-3 zone. But the visitors scored 8 unanswered points and enjoyed an 8-4 lead after eight minutes.

Midway through the second quarter, trailing 10-4, Carmel spread the floor. Basic had her players sag, arms by their sides, and let Corsairs guards Aubrey Simmons and Kelly Schoen play catch near midcourt for a couple of minutes.

"That was interesting," Carmel forward Danielle Prigge said. "But he (Ryan) had a really good point. We like to play a slower, more controlled game, where (Marian Catholic) is more fast, get the ball down the court. He had a strategy. It was confusing at first but eventually we all figured it out, and it completely made sense."

"Carmel's kids play hard," Basic said. "I thought it was unfortunate that they were instructed to play that way (slowed-down pace)."

When Marian Catholic finally unleashed a full-court press in the third quarter, it overwhelmed the shorthanded Corsairs. Carmel committed 8 of its 18 turnovers in the quarter and got outscored 20-2, scoring its only points on a pair of free throws by Hendrickson (6 points).

Marian Catholic's Jasmine Matthews came off the bench to score 7 of her game-high 9 points, including a 3-pointer, in the third.

Ryan, who had only 8 players available, made his first substitution late in the third.

Carmel actually almost held Marian Catholic without a point in the fourth quarter, as the Spartans didn't score until Simone Law hit a free throw with 1:06 left.

For the game, Carmel finished 3 of 12 from the floor.

"To me, the game was a lot closer than the score indicated," Prigge said. "We were playing 110 percent. We had intensity throughout the whole (game)."