Cougars hold off Lakers, 61-56

Our Lady of Mount Carmel had three players in double figures as they defeated a feisty Boys’ Latin squad, 61-56  in Roland Park on Monday. The Cougars raced out to a 17-11 first quarter lead, and they added to it in the second stanza to take an 11 point half-time lead (33-22).  The Lakers, who made a dramatic comeback last Saturday at St. Vincent Pallotti to defeat the Panthers at the buzzer, staged another comeback against the Cougars, but it fell short.

BL closed to within two at the end of the third quarter, and they took the lead twice in the fourth quarter, once on a big three by Mac Pons at 7:15, and again on a layup by 
Greg Pyke with just over a minute to go in regulation.

Gedas Juozapavicius hit a clutch bucket for coach Tom Rose, just seconds after Pyke’s layup, to give OLMC a 58-54 lead with 1:10 to go, and the Lakers could get no closer.

Juozapavicius finished with 11 points for the Cougars.  Gabe Yuille lead Mount Carmel with 15 and Lucas Gallina added 10.

“I thought Gabe and Malachy Onwudiegwu did a great job of stepping up tonight,” said Rose. “They got some good offensive rebounds, and some penetration.”

Yuille said that the Cougars played well as a team.  Onwediegwu said it was all about the defense.  “Coach says to think defense first, and our defense was the key.”

Wells Stanwick, who hit a last second shot to beat Pallott on Saturday, led the Lakers with 16 on Monday.  The senior was 12-for-14 from the line, and he hit 9-of-10 from the stripe in the second half.  

“I tip my hat to Mount Carmel,” said BL coach Jeff Parsons.  “They jumped out on us early but we continued to fight.  Any road win in this league is going to be tough, and they got one today. It was definitely a good job by Coach Rose and those guys today.”

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