Somers Hangs Tough in 58-53 Loss to Carmel

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After falling to Put Valley in the first round of the 28th annual Mike DePaoli Tournament, the Tuskers laced up for the consolation game versus Carmel. A lot on the inside and almost as much to contend with on the outside, Somers still measured up. But the enthusiastic home crowd was hoping for just a little bit more.

Despite serving up some pretty good Saturday afternoon basketball, Somers fell short by a score of 58-53.

And Carmel played inside out to start. First a big and wide King Mercer took a bounce pass down low for a 2-0 lead, and Aidan Luciana and Joey Loughlin dropped a pair of triples for an 8-0 lead.

Timeout for Somers, the Tuskers returned and got on the board. After Ben O’Brien ripped down the rebound under the Carmel boards, Leo Keimig came around a Chris Spano pick and made a perfect one handed bounce pass to an open O’Brien.

The easy layup going down, out followed in for the Tuskers. On a bounce pass from Phil Santore, Nico Quinones took what they gave him. All alone above the arc, the guard calmly buried the three.

9-5 at 2:34, Mercer finished the quarter strong. Taking the pass outside the paint, he backed down Spano for the bucket off glass, and in the final seconds, he turned an initial miss from the same spot into a put back at the buzzer.

Return didn’t have Mercer trying to avoid contact either. Loughlin lofting high between two Somers defenders had the big center out leaping and out muscling converging defenders for a 15-6 advantage.

The tough matchup didn’t deter Spano, though. A lane provided at the key, the forward bolted for a finger roll, and then with a little post up of his own, Spano dropped a baby hook for a 15-10 game.

Not done, he had some nifty help next. Santore drove baseline, and the closing defense left Spano open in the paint for his third straight basket.

5:05 remaining in the half, Loughlin put the brakes on his counterpart. Stopping on the dime with a dribble behind his back, the guard let fly and landed Carmel with a 18-12 lead.

Pushback yes, Timmy Monahan came off the bench and pushover was not in the reserve player’s lexicon. First, the senior had two blocks on subsequent possessions, and after Spano sank two from the line and Quinones buried another triple, Monahan stood tall on consecutive charge calls.

A 20-17 score left in the forward’s wake, the teams went back and forth to close the half. Nick Kreatsoulas scored on a fast break, Keimig answered from the corner and another inside move by Mercer yielded two free throws.

Onto the third. Carmel stayed big to start. The pass coming inside. Mercer dribbled, backed down and spun for a 26-20 lead.

Even so, his much smaller counterpart had some moves and muscles too. On the way back, he lost Mercer for an interior pass that led to an easy layup and blocked the big man from behind on defense. Unfortunately, the ball went out of bounds to Carmel ,and Luciana’s eventual three opened a seven point lead.

7:07 left in the third, Spano continued to defer his slim disadvantage and moving without the ball was the difference. Keimig twice and Santore once, the guards delivered the passes and three Spano layups had Somers trailing 31-28.

So Carmel went inside, where the Tuskers learned the big man could pass too. Mercer drew a double and dished to Connor Murphy for the layup.

The lead went up to eight on a Loughlin triple, but Somers still hung tough with O’Brien doing the flexing. After pulling down three offensive rebounds on the same possession, he got two from the line and then drained a three to close the score to 36-34.

The uplift quickly came down, though. Somers did not get back, and Nick Kreatsoulas connected with Murphy for an uncontested layup at 2:27.

Six more points followed, and Carmel began the fourth like the first, second and third. Into Mercer, the behemoth went up and off glass. The 12 point lead mostly held. But two late threes by O’Brien and a one each by Quinones and Santore kept the game in reach and showed the team’s mettle in a respectable loss.