Ok, so I figured we’d sit down and talk about last wednesday before I lost all my thoughts about it. I wanted to wait for the emotions of the game to settle, and after I had my wisdom teeth out so I had a clear head to think about this game. Here’s what I’ve settled on: a fully healthy Carmel team cannot and will not be beaten, and it is the number one team in the state (and it’s not close).

Wow. That’s all anyone had to say after the Hounds beat Cathedral in the Welch Center at Cathedral for the first time since 2014. We all expected a close game and one that would go down as a huge game in this season, what we didn’t expect was for the Hounds to ROMP the Irish. In our pregame coverage, we discussed that the only way the Hounds won this game is if the final was in the 40s and 50. Um, the Hounds scored 71 points. 

The Greyhounds had their Big 3 Senior Trio of Whack, Williams, and Suder back and it helped greatly. Not only did Pete Suder have 26 points, Charlie Williams shut down Xavier Booker, and Josh Whack created matchup nightmares all game long. Pete Suder’s 26 points in front of his future college coach who was in attendance looked way too easy, and Cathedral just simply had no answers. It felt nice once again to have Suder control every aspect of the game, something he hadn’t done in several games. While the senior trio was amazing, it did have help from some unlikely sources. 

Jared Bonds started over Burke Weldy which was slightly unexpected, but when facing a very size-advantaged Irish squad, it made sense. The first man off the bench? Garway Dual. Again, no shock in Dual being the first one to come off the bench and he shined in the role. The surprise of the evening? Jake Griffin! His statline doesn’t pop off the sheet, but in his minutes, he made a huge impact on the team. My favorite play was him recovering a loose ball and slinging it out to Pete Suder for an open 3. Griffin cut the lane, found the ball, and crashed out of bounds throwing the ball, it was a play that Carmel Basketball is all about. 

In conclusion, I don’t know what else to say other than this year’s Carmel Men’s Basketball team is the most talented there has been in recent memory. D1 bound guys, D1 type talent, and lots of guys who are buying into the system, and playing well together when it matters. People questioned me after last week when I was so positive after a loss, and I told them all the same thing “Just let it click, they’ll get there.” It seemed in one night the Hounds proved me right in showing just how good this talent is mashing with the system that Coach Osborn has. Man this team is good.