Five Takeaways: Mount St. Joe vs Mount Carmel (BCL Semifinal)
In the second semifinal game at Reitz Arena, the Gaels of Mount St. Joe faced off against the Cougars of Mount Carmel. The Cougars were coming off a two-point win in a thrilling finish over the no. 3 Archbishop Spalding.…
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Continue ReadingIn the second semifinal game at Reitz Arena, the Gaels of Mount St. Joe faced off against the Cougars of Mount Carmel. The Cougars were coming off a two-point win in a thrilling finish over the no. 3 Archbishop Spalding. Early on in this one, they showed signs of putting up another fight, but the Gaels eventually found their beat and went on to win by a final score of 73-60.
Here are five takeaways from the game:
Balanced attack from MSJ
The Gaels had five players record double-digits in the scoring column. 2020 Jason Edokpayi, 2020 Tyler Brelsford and 2021 D’Angelo Stines each finished with 14 points. Edokpayi and Stines got to work early while Brelsford scored all of his 14 in the final two quarters. It seems like every game this team has multiple players hovering around the same scoring numbers in the mid-teens to low-twenties. It’s a recipe for success as we’ve seen over the past few weeks in huge games.
Perry catches eyes
2022 Mount Carmel guard Deon Perry puts up nice per game numbers and it hasn’t been often that he gets to play on a bigger stage. Last night he took advantage by pouring in a game-high 27 points. 15 of the 27 came from the free-throw line. At 5-foot-8, Perry is lightning quick and understands how to put his defender in bad positions once he gets passed them. He seeks out contact on his way up and is a very efficient shooter from the line. He struggled to find his mark from deep, which has been his trademark all year, but did hit one well beyond the line in the fourth quarter.
Turk shows versatility
2021 forward Koralp Turk has been a name thrown around in conversations since he moved from Turkey last summer. He’s a 6-foot-7 forward who provides a big body inside while also being a legitimate pick-and-pop threat from deep. Turk finished with 16 points and converted on two triples that gave coaches in the stands a good feel for how he could be used at the college level. He finished strong inside and did a nice job of being a presence on the glass both offensively and defensively.
Gaels’ half court success
When the Cougars established an early lead, Mount St. Joe was out of sync offensively in the half court. They got out a few times in transition for buckets and after that, something clicked where they moved the ball more effectively and found open players. Mount Carmel’s coaching staff was well prepared for the sets that the Gaels ran, but solid screens by guys like Edokpayi and 2021 Sean Carr were able to free up cutting guards for lay ups or three’s. 2021 guard Ausar Crawley orchestrated it all as usual, but remained aggressive in the second quarter where he scored seven of his 13 points. 2022 guard Antonio Hamlin made great reads with the ball in his hands as he finished with 11 points on an efficient shooting night.
The rematch
Mount St. Joe advances to the BCL Championship where they’ll face off against St. Frances….again. St. Frances won the BCL title last year over Goretti, but the Panthers lost the MIAA A Conference crown this year to the Gaels and are coming in seeking revenge. Mount St. Joe has been the kryptonite to this St. Frances team and after winning the MIAA, they let them know about it. It’ll certainly be an entertaining game of high-level basketball.