Carmel makes a winning memory at St. Viator

The memories were still vivid from a year ago at this same time.

"It was a horrible feeling sitting in that locker room (at Johnsburg) after our regional championship game," said Carmel senior Kathleen Felicelli. "We were the No. 2 seed and they (North Chicago) were No. 10. It was a game we should have won.

"We definitely wanted to redeem ourselves from last year."

Redemption was found on Friday night in the Class 3A St. Viator regional championship.

Felicelli scored a game-high 19 points followed by classmates Cassidy Kloss (18) and Leah Lach (12) as No. 3 Carmel pulled away in the final quarter to a 61-42 victory over No. 6 St. Viator (15-16).

The Corsairs (22-8) advance to the Ridgewood sectional where they will meet No. 2 Antioch at 6 p.m. on Monday.

Carmel made 17 of 20 free throws in the final quarter to clinch its second regional crown in three seasons and sixth in school history.

"We made our free throws and I thought we shared the ball well," said Corsairs coach Kelly Perz. "We found the open person and were able to convert,"

A rebound layup by Molly Murphy got Viator to within 13-11 late in the first quarter.

But Carmel scored 5 unanswered points on a fastbreak layup by Felicelli, a, 17-footer by Nicole Bitter (6 points) and a free throw by Lach to take an 18-11 lead.

Three free throw by Felicelli in the final 41 seconds of the half sent the Corsairs into intermission with a 23-15 lead. The closest St. Viator got in the second half was 6 points when Maggie Leazer made a steal and layup to make it 29-23.

But Carmel answered with 2 free throws by Felicelli and got back in front 34-25 after three quarters. The Lions never got closer than 8 points.

"It was like there was a lid on the basket," said Lions coach Christina Jost. "We didn't help ourselves out at the free throw line either (20-of-35). We'd make a little run at them, then we'd loose our heads on defense or make a turnover. We couldn't quite get over the hump."

Erin Fabbri was the only Lion to get over double figures with 12 points. She finished her career with close to 1,050 points.

Teammate Jessica Hohlweg chipped in 9 points followed by Kelsey Trimble 6 and Susie Moynihan 5.

"We tried our hardest and played hard to the end," said the senior guard who joined Denise Walker, Lauren Weber and Susan Hohenadel in the Lions' 1,000-point club. "We loved the support we got from everyone who came out. The game just didn't come out the way we wanted."

But Jost was proud of her Lions and seniors Fabbri, Trimble and Sam Hogan.

"These seniors were special kids," Jost said. "All our kids came in every day and did everything I asked of them."

Fabbri came back from a broken ankle suffered on Dec. 6.

"Not many student athletes would be able to do that," Jost said. "But it just show how impeccable her desire to play and dedication to the game is. She had a tremendous career."

Coincidentally, her 1,000 point came against the same Carmel team a month ago in Mundelein.

"I've played against her for a long time going back to when I was at St. Francis (in Lake Zurich) and she was at Saint Emily," said Felicelli. "She's a great player. We just happened to come out on top this time."

The Lons won the first game 54-51.

"We're a different team," Perz said. "We are sharing the ball a lot more on offense and we are playing better half-court defense."

The Corsairs were ready for the challenge Friday.

"We knew this would be a tough game and she (Fabbri) is a great player," said Kloss, whose sweeping move to the basket for layup gave Carmel an 8-4 lead. "We really had to play tough defense on her (Fabbri) because she is a huge part of their team."

The Corsairs finished with a huge final quarter, scoring 27 points.

"We realized how close we were to winning and getting a regional championship and plaque," Kloss said. "We knew we had to buckle down and finish off the game."