NCN Girls’ Basketball/Baseball Blog

Carmel topped visiting Lakeland, 55-42, handing the Hornets (8-1) their first loss. Lakeland was without Vanderbilt-bound center Tori Jarosz, who is out with an ankle injury. Lakeland Head Coach Steve Fallo told me Jarosz is due back next Friday (Jan. 22) against rival Walter Panas.

The Rams (9-2) featured a balanced scoring effort, led by Brittany Horne’s 14 points and 20 rebounds. Two days prior Horne (right), a double double machine, posted a monster game with 30 points and 18 rebounds in a win over Brewster.

“She’s becoming very consistent without forcing a lot of things,” Carmel Head Coach Dan O’Hare said. “She’s learning the flow of the game.”

Nicole Oliver netted 11 points, while Sabrina Diaz (left)  added nine.

According to O’Hare, Oliver is the most improved player on the team.

“She gets better with every practice,” O’Hare said. “She’s becoming solid, she’s not fancy.”

Carmel was well aware coming into the game that Jarosz wasn’t playing. Horne and Jarosz are good friends off the court, and Jarosz told Horne she wouldn’t be playing. O’Hare told his Rams to go out and play their game, and not to think they could just step on the court and be handed a win.

“Lakeland is going to step up and try to prove that they can win without her,” O’Hare told his squad before the game.

And Lakeland almost did.

Marie Mullen knocked down a 3-pointer with five seconds left in the third quarter to stretch Carmel’s lead to 40-30 heading into the final frame. O’Hare said that Mullen has been in a bit of a shooting slump, but she is slowly coming out of it.

Mullen and the rest of the Rams need to continue to be effective from the outside for Carmel to be successful.

“That’s important for us because teams will pack it in on Horne,” O’Hare said. “We’re not used to seeing a lot of zone, and to get that shot from Mullen was real big.”

Lakeland’s Kristin Pappalardo was absolutely on fire in the first half, scoring 18 points (12 in first quarter). The senior guard keept the Hornets within striking distance, as they only trailed 27-23 at half. She cooled off in the second half, but still finished with 26.

“She’s been absolutely great all year,” Fallo said. “She’s given me an effort every single night. The last two games where Tori hasn’t been in she’s taken the role as the leader on the floor. She’s done everything I can ask for.”

Carmel switched to a defense they call the “13 special” and they shadowed Pappalardo effectively in the second half. Catie Grace and Alyssa D’Apice were assigned to Pappalardo.

Lakeland’s Vicky Kowalski was plagued by foul trouble, but managed 10 points.

Outside of the duo, however, the rest of the Hornets only managed six points.

“We need somebody else to step up,” Fallo said.

The Hornets were very much in the game and cut the deficit to two points on a Pappalardo (right) bucket with 4:51 to play. Carmel, however, went on a 15-4 run over the final 4:39. Fallo was pleased with the effort, considering they were missing their most dominant player.

“The effort that we gave, I have no complaints,” Fallo said. “We came here ready to fight, ready for a great game. I don’t think the score is indicative of what went on.

“It just showed what type of team we’re made of. We’re a good basketball team. Tori makes us a very good basketball team.”

The rematch between Lakeland and Carmel will take place Feb. 5 at Lakeland High School.

“I told my kids they’re coming to us next time when we’re at full strength,” Fallo said.  “We’ve got to play with the same type of intensity, except this time we’ll have [Tori] on the floor.”

Carmel will look to further prove it is a big-time contender in Class AA when they take on Ossining on Sunday at SUNY Purchase. O’Hare and Ossining Head Coach Dan Ricci are very close friends, and both know each others tendencies.

“It’s kind of a signature game for us,” O’Hare said. “We just want to make sure we go down there and compete.  It should be a battle. Hopefully we can withstand the frenetic nature of Ossining basketball.”