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Carmel Catholic meets regional expectation

Carmel Catholic's girls basketball team set a goal, at the start of the season, of earning a regional championship.

That expectation was fulfilled Thursday, as the Corsairs claimed their first regional title since 2013.

Third-seeded Carmel knocked off sixth seed Woodstock North 48-27 in a Class 3A Northside Prep regional final in Chicago.

"I knew that this group would be talented and had enough to do it, but they're still really young," Carmel coach Kelly Perz said. "I knew from the very beginning of the season we had a shot. I think that they've grown up over the season. They're seasoned, and I don't think of them as young anymore."

Carmel (19-11) next meets No. 2 seed Johnsburg at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in a Johnsburg sectional semifinal. The Skyhawks rolled past host Richmond-Burton 75-38 to capture a regional title.

Ranya Jamison led the Corsairs with 15 points and Daija Pruitt added 8 points, 11 rebounds, 5 blocked shots and 3 steals.

"This is the best thing - we've worked so hard for it," Pruitt said. "It's been a long season and it paid off."

The Corsairs' defense had a good defensive effort across the board and steadily caused havoc for Woodstock North (13-16), which committed 24 turnovers.

"We play real well together, with a packed-in defense," Pruitt said. "We just all work hard to make the stop happen and get the offense the ball. The team worked really hard to get the win."

The beginning of the game was a bit sluggish on both sides, but the eventually the Corsairs got rolling by scoring the first 13 straight points. Jamison dropped in 3 at the two-minute mark before the Thunder got on the board.

Carmel led 14-2 after the opening quarter and extended its lead to 23-7 by the break.

"First couple of minutes, nobody scored but then they hit a 3," Woodstock North coach Mike Lewis said. "We then missed three wide open layups and fell immediately behind. That was pretty hard to come back from. (Carmel) did a much better job to take away those layups on the break after that. We had to make shots like that against a good team like this to stay in it.

"They were stronger and quicker and put us in some bad spots. They also have some big kids waiting for you underneath the rim. We did a poor job of going through bodies trying to score."

The Corsairs pulled away further in the third quarter with a 13-7 advantage and led 36-14 going into the final quarter.

"These girls are playing good basketball at the right time," Perz said.

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