Game Takes: Carmel 35, Zionsville 28

Carmel's largest lead was 10 points after the first basket in the second half, 22-12 and again at 26-16.  Zionsville started chipping away, scoring 7 in a row, in a defensive struggle.  Carmel pushed the lead back to 8, and Zionsville never got closer than 5 the rest of the game.

• Both teams are excellent defensively, and here's a word not always associated with defense, patient.  Quips about low scoring games and 'holding' the ball.  There was no holding the ball.  Neither team is going to force up bad shots, and both teams will make their opponent work for good shots.
• Rylon Gore led Zionsville with 11 points, 8 coming in the first half.  After a couple of early 3PTers, Carmel was able to contest more and push catches farther away from the basket.
  • Not much of an offensive threat last night for Zionsville, but Camden Moore, at 6'6", is a versatile offensive matchup.  He did a lot of Zionsville's ball handling last night, and a couple of his baskets were finishing in space on smaller defenders.
• Cash Daniels, 5'10" junior point guard, who transferred in from Cathedral, led all scores with 13 points.  He was a constant downhill threat on offense, connecting with Evan Harrell a couple of times off ball screens, and an irritant on defense.
• Harrell's best talents are scoring off cuts and driving mid-range catches, both typically get him to the glass.  He has improved his range to the 3PT line and is a threat to drive from there as well.  The 6'8" senior had a couple of hook shot opportunities last night that didn't go, and he struggled to carve out space in the paint, both in the low post and scoring off rebounds.
• Both teams struggled to find offense from other sources.