12-14-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
FLORA – In a contest reminiscent of days of old, two former conference rivals played a physical back and forth contest on Saturday night at Conley Gymnasium.

Mount Carmel and Flora, at one time twice a year combatants in the now defunct North Egypt Conference, played a physical game that came down to the final two minutes of regulation to decide it.

A school known more for its football prowess than its hardwood heroics, the Golden Aces went on the road and picked up a big victory over Flora, 47-42.

Scoring the games’ final seven points to erase a 42-40 Wolves’ advantage, Mount Carmel improved to 5-2 overall in what has turned out to be a very tough schedule of early season games.

Senior leader Reece Metcalf (19-points) and junior backcourt mate Levi Laws came up clutch when needed and senior forward Riley Raber canned his only shot of the contest, a banked 3-pointer with :50 left.

Laws, who didn’t have a field goal in the match up, hit all eight of his free throws including four consecutive in the final :28.

The Wolves came up empty in the final few minutes as they fell to 3-2 on the season.

Coach Phil Leib saw his Flora club hit just 3-of-10 shots from the field in the final eight minutes.

Despite a solid defensive effort, the Wolves have now dropped two straight after a 3-0 start to the season.

Coach Tyler Buss has his club playing well, even after a double-overtime defeat the previous night before at the hands of Vincennes (IN.) Lincoln.

Even though neither offense shined on Saturday night, Mount Carmel was the team that won the eventual battle by hitting the important shots late in the game.

“We played a double-overtime pretty loss last night so I will take an ugly win tonight on the road,” said Coach Buss. “I think our man-to-man defense continues to get better and better. I thought we made Pearce and Leib work for their points. I was just proud of our guys’ effort tonight.”

After the 3-pointer by the 6-foot-3 Raber, Flora had a quick chance to get back the lead but turned the ball over, one of four in the final frame for the Wolves.

It was then Laws who toed the line and nailed a pair of free throws for the three-point lead.

Flora was led in scoring by 5-foot-11 junior guard Bryce Pearce with 18-points.

Pearce hit four 3-pointers in the game but number five didn’t come.

His fall away 20-footer from the left wing fell just short and Laws came up with the rebound.

After being fouled again, Laws hit both free throws with :03.2 remaining to seal the win.

With neither team holding more than a seven-point lead at any point in the game, Mount Carmel rallied for the win with the two best runs of the evening.

Prior to the 7-0 finish, the Aces mounted an early fourth quarter comeback with a 9-0 sprint.

Trailing 33-28 after Flora senior Ethan Leib nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the circle, MC got a steal and fast break lay in by senior Austin Thompson and a 3-pointer from the left wing by Metcalf.

Metcalf closed the run with a transition score on a pass from Laws to take back the lead.

Neither team shot the ball well on this night, as the two teams were as cold from the floor as the weather was outside.

Flora hit just 13-of-47 (27.6 percent) while making just 6-of-24 from beyond the arc.

Mount Carmel wasn’t much better as they made just 33.3 percent of its overall tries (16-of-48) while making 4-of-18 from deep.

The Aces had a 35-27 rebounding edge in this physical game, holding Flora to just three offensive rebounds.

Flora committed 14-turnovers compared to 15 by Mount Carmel.

The two clubs combined for a 5-of-29 shooting effort in the opening quarter, which ended with flora holding an 8-5 lead.

The Aces seemed on the brink of a blow out win as they made their top move of the game in the second quarter, opening the second frame with a 10-0 sprint.

A pair of free throws by Thompson started the run Sam Deisher getting in on the fun with a fast break score.

Thompson retrieved a Flora turnover for a reverse lay in right before Metcalf took another assist from Laws on a lob pass.

His made lay in made it 15-8 with 3:19 before the break.

Leib, Pearce and John Casolari each hit shots as Flora responded with an 8-0 move of their own.

Pearce and Casolari hit 3-pointers in the run and a free throw later by Pearce evened the match at 17-all at intermission.

Only one point separated the two teams heading into the final quarter.

Pearce hit two more 3’s and Metcalf scored twice more from the field setting the stage for the final finish.

Mount Carmel and Flora both struggled from the foul line but the Aces hit the ones in the final quarter (6-of-6 all by Laws).

MC was 11-of-19 from the stripe while the Wolves finished 10-of-17.

Besides the duo’s of Metcalf-Laws (19 and eight) and Pearce-Leib (18 and 12-points) no other player hit double-figures in scoring.

In a football sense, this contest was a “three-yards and a cloud of dust” type win for Mount Carmel, who will now prepare for Princeton (IN.) and Olney East Richland at home next week before playing in the Evansville (IN.) Toyota Classic, December 23-28.

“We have a lot of the same guys back from last year and that isn’t something that we were able to do consistently (close games) so I think going forward if we can guard with the effort and the energy we played with tonight, the sky is the limit for this group.”

Flora is the top seed at the Vandalia Holiday Tournament and they will now have 11-days before that event begins on December 26.

“I was proud of the way the kids stepped up and matched Mount Carmel,” said Coach Leib. “They are more physical than us but we held our own. It just came down to they made the shots late when they had to.”

Mount Carmel (47) – Laws 0 0 8-8 8, Metcalf 6 2 1-3 19, Raber 0 1 0-0 3, Deisher 1 1 0-0 5, Allen 1 0 0-0 2, A. Thompson 2 0 2-6 6, Kline 0 0 0-0 0, Diel 2 0 0-2 4. 2FG-12, 3FG-4, FT-11-19, PF-17.
Flora (42) – Pearce 2 4 2-4 18, Smith 1 0 0-0 2, E. Leib 1 1 7-11 12, J. Casolari 1 1 0-0 5, Allison 0 0 1-2 1, R. Casolari 2 0 0-0 4. 2FG-7, 3FG-6, FT-10-17, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – Diel - Mount Carmel.