Carmel gives top-seed DePaul battle in 3A title game loss
Bryce Smith delivered a powerful opening statement for Carmel against Class 3A state-title contender DePaul Prep on Friday night.
On the Corsairs' opening possession, the 6-foot-6 Smith saw the left baseline open up and stormed to the basket for an emphatic slam dunk. That quickly turned up the decibel levels from the home fans at Patrick Salvi Arena and was an inspirational boost to the underdogs in the 3A regional championship game.
"That gave us a little bit of energy," Smith said.
"Not only did it get us going as a group but our fans started roaring," said Carmel sophomore Ethan Matz. "We couldn't hear ourselves calling out our own plays. It gave us great energy."
The host fans' hopes of ninth-seed Carmel pulling an upset eventually dissipated but it didn't go quietly as it forced top-seed DePaul (30-2) to play its regulars the full 32 minutes in its 46-32 victory in Mundelein.
First-team all-Chicago Catholic League guard PJ Chambers had a game-high 19 points as the Rams won their 12th consecutive game and a regional for the ninth straight postseason. But it wasn't easy getting to their fourth 30-win season — and first since 1990 when coach Tom Kleinschmidt starred at what was then Gordon Tech — and Tuesday's 6 p.m. St. Viator sectional semifinal against Notre Dame (16-17), a 37-29 overtime winner over host Fenton.
"I watched 15 of their games and they play a heck of a schedule and they're coached very well," said Kleinschmidt, whose team won the 2A state title last year. "I have a lot of friends in the ESCC and my brother (Dave) is an assistant at Benet. Everybody warned me you'd better be careful. We tried to tell the team that but we didn't take it into account in the first quarter and they took it to us."
Smith (8 points, 4 rebounds) and Matz (12 points on 5-for-8 shooting, two 3-pointers) combined to put Carmel (12-21) up 9-6 midway through the first quarter. But 8 turnovers fueled an 11-0 run that put the Rams ahead to stay.
Carmel responded and the crowd erupted again when Matz drove the baseline and found Smith for a right-corner 3 to cut the deficit to 19-15 with 12 seconds left in the first half.
"He's been a beast the last few games," said Carmel coach Dmitry Pirshin of Smith. "In February the whole team became physical. Bryce was one of the key points for that."
Carmel was within 20-16 on a Noah LaMora free throw 1:05 into the second half. DePaul answered with a 17-2 tear that included consecutive dunks by 6-7 first-team all-CCL senior Jaylan McElroy (8 points, 8 rebounds).
One of the keys to DePaul breaking free was junior defensive stopper Rob Walls locking up Carmel senior and two-time all-ESCC pick Kaleb Jackson to 5 points on 2-for-6 shooting. Jackson didn't score until he hit a baseline runner with 2:42 left.
"We wanted to tag him and make him take tough shots," Kleinschmidt said.
But Jackson exemplified the Corsairs' effort as his 3 cut the 19-point deficit to 43-32 with 2:11 to play.
"It's just a huge testament to our team that we're never going to give up," Matz said. "We just gave it our best shot."
That included an impressive 48-17 semifinal victory on Wednesday against eighth-seeded Wauconda to get that shot at DePaul.
"Obviously it's not how we wanted our season to end," said Smith, who is considering North Central, Lake Forest and Ripon as playing options in college. "There are positives and we put up a fight. We really came together at the end of the season. We were just playing and having fun with each other."