Giant-sized barrage of 3s knocks out Carmel

Highland Park did not have one shooter advance to the next round of the IHSA 3-point shooting contest.

But all of the 17th-seeded Giants are returning to play in today's Wheeling Class 4A boys basketball regional semifinal contest after they turned Monday's quarterfinal with No. 16 Carmel into a long-range shooting gallery.

Highland Park was 12-for-23 on 3-pointers and hit five in the first 4½ minutes of the fourth quarter to break open a close game and pull away to a 55-42 victory.

"How ironic," said HP guard Jonny Stempel with a smile after he hit a pair of 3s and also delivered 4 of his 5 assists to shooters behind the arc.

And how demoralizing for Carmel (10-18) as its season ended and the Giants (13-14) moved on to a shot at top-seed Warren (25-3) at 7:30 p.m. today.

"We were a little slow on some rotations and gave them some 3s,'' said Carmel 6-foot-5 junior Brandon Motzel, who had 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting and 5 rebounds. "Every loose ball seemed to end up in their hands and that's what won them the game."

Tim Bowen, Motzel's own coach, and Stempel didn't disagree after Highland Park had just 8 turnovers against trapping pressure but Carmel committed 18 against an extended 1-2-2 zone.

"That was the difference tonight ... we felt like we were on the ground a lot more than they were,"' Stempel said. "Come tournament-time it's about those things, winning the loose-ball battle and getting offensive rebounds.''

At one point in the first half, as Carmel hit its first 7 shots but couldn't build a lead because of turnovers, Bowen implored someone from his team to get on the floor as Highland Park had three players flopping around to grab a loose ball.

"They had a lot of energy and played really hard,'' Bowen said. "It was pretty clear they wanted to play a little more than we did. They were flying around and diving for loose balls and making shots when they needed to make them."

Especially after a stretch of nearly 19 minutes where the biggest lead was 3 points and Carmel trailed just 38-37 behind seniors Tim Hendricks (9 points) and Dan Mooney (10 points).

An exchange of turnovers saw Stempel hit a 3 in transition with 5:54 left. Motzel scored off a miss but Jake Norcia (15 points) and Layne Gierke (12 points) each hit their fourth 3s on feeds from Stempel the latter as he was sprawled on the ground.

Motzel answered with a layup but Zach Zucker hit a 3 for a 50-41 lead at 3:30 and the Giants hope they didn't use up all their best shots for a shot at one of the state's top teams.

"They have a real good team and we know they're big and physical," Stempel said. "Obviously we're small and that will test our team - but we'll be ready to play."