02-28-14
BY JACK BULLOCK
MOUNT CARMEL – It was a contest for the ages and the old-time fans of the now defunct North Egypt Conference would be proud.

It was a battle between two long-time rivals in front of 1,400 fans at Mount Carmel.

The game had a little bit of every sort of basketball drama.

The contest had 19-lead changes.

It had a technical foul and an in opportune personal foul, each of which could have sent the Golden Aces of Mount Carmel home with a loss.

However as it turned out, it just added to the lore.

On Friday night in the championship contest of the 2A Mount Carmel Regional, the hosts woke up some NEC ghosts and survived a scare to win their second consecutive regional crown, 92-87 in double-overtime to advance to the Du Quoin 2A Sectional.

“This was a game for the ages. The people who were here will talk about this game for years to come,” said Flora head coach Phil Leib. “Pearce just stepped up and carried us tonight. We just couldn’t get stops in the first overtime. We were hitting shots but they (Mount Carmel) kept scoring. Metcalf, Laws and Diel are tough match ups.”

Head coach Tyler Buss saw the “beauty and the beast” on this night, getting stellar play by his two leaders Reece Metcalf and Levi Laws.

He also saw mental mistakes by two of his other players that nearly cost his club the contest.

But when the dust had settled finally, Mount Carmel was the victor and improved to 21-8 on the season (14-2 against Illinois schools).

“It felt like we played three games tonight instead of one. Pearce and Metcalf and Laws were just trading shots. It was wild. I’m just so proud of my guys again. We got to a breaking point, but we didn’t break,” said Coach Buss. “That is the biggest thing about these guys this year, they just won’t quit.”

Metcalf topped the Aces with 30-points while Laws added 24.

But a technical foul by Riley Raber and a “head scratching” personal 75-feet from the basket with just moment’s left in regulation by Thomas Allen nearly doomed Mount Carmel.

Flora lost this heartbreaking game, after having a “golden” chance of its own to win the game in regulation time.

The game that junior guard Bryce Pearce had can’t be measured in just the stat sheet.

This 5-foot-11 shooter was in a zone on Friday night as he canned eight 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 40-points in the loss as the Wolves closed their season at 23-9.

Ethan Leib, the son of head coach Phil Leib, closed his prep career with 16-points with 13 of those coming in the second half.

Both teams were tight at the outset but the heat in the packed house must have loosened things up in the second half.

In the opening period that saw six of the lead changes; the Aces grabbed a 12-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, thanks a pair of inside scores from center CJ Diel and a late basket by Austin Thompson.

Flora could have put some distance between themselves and MC but they didn’t shoot the ball early, either.

Coach Leib’s club got its biggest lead of the night in the second quarter with Pearce doing the damage.

He canned a pair of 3-pointers and his assist to 6-foot-5 senior Pedro Mendoza gave the Wolves a 25-18 lead at the 4:05 mark.

Despite missing 18-field goal attempts in the first half, Mount Carmel managed to rally to get the lead at intermission.

Metcalf converted a pair of conventional three-point plays on drives to the basket and a 3-pointer from the right corner by Thomas Allen gave the lead back to the Aces briefly.

After another Mendoza score, Mount Carmel’s Sam Deisher ended the first half with a made trey for a 30-28 lead.

Scores by Diel, Raber and Metcalf got the Aces a five-point lead early in the second half.

When Metcalf hit his first of three trifectas, Mount Carmel led 39-34 with 6:08 left.

But Flora again rallied late in the third with Pearce again getting loose for some open long-range looks.

Pearce added two more treys, with his second one (followed by two free throws by Robert Casolari) getting Flora back to within 49-48 heading into what turned out to be an eventful fourth quarter.

Laws scored 10 of his points in the frame and his drive to the basket down the middle of the lane with 2:30 remaining put the Aces up 63-59.

This seemed to be a dagger type shot for Mount Carmel, but a pair of mental errors nearly handed the game to Flora.

After Pearce was fouled attempting a 3-pointer from the left wing, Raber let his emotions get the better of him and he was (rightfully so) assessed a technical foul.

With three free throws to shoot, Pearce nailed the trio to even the score at 63-all with 1:38 left.

To shoot the technical fouls, Coach Leib sent 92 percent free throw shooter John Casolari to the line to shoot the pair.

Someone on one of the many radio stations must have put the “whammy” on him because he missed the first chance.

When the second throw found the bottom of the net, Flora had the lead back and possession at 64-63.

If you want more drama, there was more.

After the two teams traded turnovers, Leib drove to the lane for what would have been a backbreaking score but was whistled for a charging foul.

It was his fifth personal, disqualifying this senior from what turned out to be his final prep basketball chapter.

Leib, who netted over 1,200 points and grabbed over 900 rebounds for his career, went to the bench with :49.7 left in regulation.

Laws scored on a drive to the basket just seconds later to reclaim the lead for Mount Carmel and he added a pair of free throws after Pearce turnover for a lead at 67-64.

However another 3-point bomb, this time from J. Casolari, knotted the game and set up some unexplained craziness.

Laws got the ball on the next possession and his drive to the basket resulted in a foul called on a R. Casolari with just :03.8 left.

He calmly made the first free throw.

But then the strategy was to miss the next free throw with the philosophy of not giving Flora a chance to get a shot off in that little of time without having a timeout.

This plan would have came up “Aces” had Allen not fouled Flora’s Seth Logan.

Logan got the ball from Mendoza after rebounding the miss and Allen accidentally bumped into Logan near the Mount Carmel bench.

This error could have been disastrous.

But Logan didn’t make the first shot and, after a Mount Carmel timeout, he converted the second with just :00.8 to go, sending the game into the first overtime.

For two very tired teams, the second wind blew in like an artic blast when the OT began.

The two squads combined to hit an earth-shaking 12-of-15 field goal attempts in the four-minute overtime.

Pearce hit two consecutive 3-pointers to open things up, answered in between by 3-pointers by Laws and Metcalf.

Pearce nailed hit third 3-pointer in the extra stanza and his 1-of-2 trip to the foul line gave the Wolves an 80-76 advantage.

But Mount Carmel quickly rallied behind Laws and Metcalf.

Two steals and fast break scores by Laws were sandwiched around a back door lay in by Metcalf to push MC to an 82-80 lead.

A drive to the basket by Logan evened things for a second overtime.

Laws had a wide-open look for a game ending 3-pointer at the buzzer that missed the mark, sending the teams to another four-minute battle.

The war was finally won by the Aces, with Laws dishing out a trio of assists in the early going of the session, finding Diel three times underneath the basket for easy lay ups.

When Diel laid in his third shot, Mount Carmel led 90-83.

Flora failed to threaten after that and following a pair of charities from R. Casolari, the Aces ran out the final seconds to secure a spot in the sectional next week.

Diel followed Laws and Metcalf with 15-points while Flora’s Mendoza and Logan added 10-points each to the totals.

The stat line was nearly as close as this match up was.

Mount Carmel finished 32-of-60 from the field overall after a rough start.

Flora was 29-of-61, and thanks to Pearce, was 10-of-28 from beyond the arc.

Each team was turnover prone, with Flora finishing with 17-turnovers compared to 16 from the hosts.

The telling stat, especially in the early going, was rebounding as Mount Carmel held a 37-25 edge.

The Aces will face Carterville on Tuesday night in Du Quoin after the Lions won the Anna-Jonesboro 2A Regional with a win over Murphysboro Friday night.

“He (Pearce) is a great player and we made him work for those 40-points,” said Coach Buss. “Leib is a great player, too, and he has been a thorn in our side also. But we battled through it and we have two regional championships in a row.”

Flora (87) – Pearce 4 8 8-11 40, Smith 3 1 1-2 10, Leib 6 0 4-5 16, J. Casolari 0 1 2-4 5, Allison 0 0 0-0 0, R. Casolari 1 0 4-4 6, Mendoza 5 0 0-2 10.
2FG-19, 3FG-10, FT-19-28, PF-20.
Mount Carmel (92) – Laws 8 1 5-6 24, Metcalf 8 3 8-10 30, Raber 3 0 2-3 8, Deisher 1 1 0-0 5, Allen 0 1 4-4 7, Thompson 1 0 0-2 2, Kline 0 0 0-0 0, Diel 7 0 1-2 15.
2FG-26, 3FG-6, FT-20-27, PF-23.
Fouled Out – Leib - Flora; Raber - Mount Carmel, Kline - Mount Carmel.
Technical Fouls – Raber - Mount Carmel.