Crowley, Volovic lead Carmel in semistate rout of Merrillville
By CRAIG DRAGASH
ISL Correspondent
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Prior to the start of Saturday’s Semistate contest, there was a buzz in the Marian Crawley Activity Center among the crowd that had assembled on the Merrillville side of the arena at Lafayette Jefferson High School. It certainly appeared by the body language of the players on the floor that they were ready to accept the challenge of keeping the 4A #1 Carmel Greyhounds from playing in their second consecutive state finals contest at Bankers Life Fieldhouse next week.
Carmel’s James Crowley had other ideas, as he scored 12 of the Greyhounds’ 15 points in the first quarter en route to a 22-point night in leading his team to a dominating 66-36 victory. Carmel used runs of 10-0 in the 2nd quarter and 12-0 in the 3rd to build a lead that would prove to be insurmountable in the end as the Greyhounds outscored the Pirates in all of the four quarters played. The Greyhounds employed their trademark patient motion offense with near flawless execution, as they shot 60% in the first half and 58% for the game, including 6 of 12 from 3-point range.
Michael Volovic sank 12 of 14 free throws, including 11 of 12 in the fourth quarter to match Crowley’s 22 points. Jelani Pruitt was the only Pirate in double figures, finishing with 10. Merrillville shot just 33% for the night, and the Pirates shot only six free throws, hitting four. The Pirates finish their season with a 22-4 record.
Carmel will take on Cathedral in next Saturday’s 4A state final contest. The Greyhounds defeated the Irish 60-54 back on January 9th. Cathedral’s Collin Hartman had just returned from an injury at the time of that contest. They followed that up with a 4-point loss to Detroit Romulus, and since that game the Irish are on a 19-game winning streak, setting up what should be a very entertaining state final game.
