The long bus ride from Chicago didn’t deter North Lawndale (2-0) from delivering a convincing 72-50 win over Carmel (1-1) Tuesday night at the Grant Thanksgiving Tournament.
Freshmen Ronald Chambers led the Phoenix with with 21 of his 23 points in the second half. “He was frustrated that he couldn’t get to the basket in the first half, ” observed coach Eric Moore. “I reminded him that he is contributing even when he doesn’t score.” His teammate, Victor Evans, picked up the slack in the first half, scoring 12 of his 18 points before intermission. Evans and Darontae Peterson pushed the Phoenix to a 16-3 lead out of the gate. But the Corsairs slowly chipped away at it.
Their comeback was fueled by Ben Lamora who came off the bench with a bucket and an assist midway through the second quarter. General Schoefield drained a three pointer from the corner with 2 minutes left in the half. Then Asher Jackson’s 3 pointer with 4 seconds left cut the lead to 30-25 at the break.
In the third quarter Carmel abandoned their man to man defense with a 1-2-2 zone. It initially produced turnovers and easy layups for Luke Nalewajk (10 points) and Mike Matz (9 points). Carmel tied the game at 32. But the Phoenix made their own changes. Starting with a full court press and moving into a high-pressured man to man defense, the Phoenix went on a 10-0 run, ending the third quarter with a 54-36 lead. In the end, Carmel could not stop Chambers and Evans. They look to rebound from their loss in the tournament finale against Grant on Wednesday night.