By Adam Rouse
Staff Writer
CARMEL â??? Class 2A No. 1 Heritage Christian made a valiant attempt
at erasing a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit Jan. 24 but came up just
shy as 4A third-ranked Carmel survived to win its third straight game,
44-41.
The visiting Eagles (16-3) completely turned around a game
controlled by the host Greyhounds during the first three periods by
limiting Carmel to just three points in the final eight minutes. Thatâ??s
not a typo â??? three fourth-quarter points.
Carmel (17-3) took a 41-28 lead into the fourth before Heritage
Christian began slowly chipping away at the deficit and getting stop
after stop.
Senior Melanie Thornton made one of two free throws to give the
Greyhounds a 42-34 advantage with 4:21 to go, but Carmel would not
score another point for over four minutes. The Eagles, meanwhile, went
on a 7-0 run and actually had a chance to knot the contest at 42.
Junior Courtney Turner connected on a pair of free throws to start
the run before freshman Kelly Faris went to work. The 5â??10â? forward
drove to the hoop and hit a layup while getting fouled to cut the
deficit to 42-38 with 2:22 left. Faris hit the free throw to make it
42-39, and suddenly it was a one-possession game.
Carmel continued to struggle from the field and couldnâ??t get any
offense going â??? the Greyhounds were 0 for 6 from the floor in the
fourth quarter. But neither team could score over the next 90 seconds
until Faris took the ball and went to the hoop again.
The result was the same as the freshman put in the layup and was
fouled to bring the Eagles within one at 42-41 with 47.2 seconds to go.
The only difference was the result of the free throw, as Faris was
unable to connect.
Forced to foul with under 20 seconds left, Heritage Christian sent
Carmelâ??s Kristin Craig to the line. Craig had been ice cold from the
field to this point (0 for 7), but the senior point guard stepped up
and hit two big ones to make it 44-41 with :13.2 on the clock.
The Eagles would get two opportunities in the final 13 seconds, but neither was successful.
Sophomore Kayla Skaggsâ?? 3-point attempt was blocked by Thornton,
but Heritage Christian retained possession with 2.6 seconds left. The
in-bounds pass went to junior Bre Jones, who was well beyond the arc on
the left side, but her fadeaway 3-pointer didnâ??t come close to sending
the game into overtime.
Sophomore Danielle Havel led Carmel with 14 points, while Thornton scored 13.
Heritage Christian did not put a player in double figures, but three players (Turner, Skaggs, and Faris) had nine points apiece.
Carmel stormed out of the gate to an 11-0 lead before the Eagles
finally got on the scoreboard at the 3:05 mark of the first quarter.
The Greyhounds led by five after one and by seven at halftime.
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