Mount Carmel has a star. Northwestern-bound senior Angelo Ciaravino is one of the state’s most talented, productive players. There are only a handful of teams with a true, established senior standout this year.
So for the Caravan, the early part of the season will be figuring out everything else. Friday at De La Salle was a major step forward. Talented sophomore point guard Noah Mister, a transfer from Kenwood, was finally eligible to play.
“Those few weeks felt like three years,” Mister said. “Especially when I missed that Chicago Elite Classic game. I really wanted to play in that.”
Mister made an immediate impact. He came off the bench to score nine points but it was his poise on the ball and his ability to run the team that made the key difference. No. 5 Mount Carmel trailed by eight at the half but came back to beat No. 12 De La Salle 59-46.
“We’ve seen it in practice and we couldn’t wait for him to get on the court,” Ciaravino said. “He’s huge for our team.”
Ciaravino had 17 points and eight rebounds for Mount Carmel (8-1, 2-0). De La Salle (6-1, 1-1) was physical with him and had a defender face-guarding him for most of the game.
“I’m used to it by now,” Ciaravino said. “I’m not forcing anything and I’m trusting my teammates. I know they have my back.”
Junior Grant Best (13 points, six rebounds) certainly did. He followed a three from Ciaravino with one of his own to give Mount Carmel its first lead at 26-25 midway through the third quarter. Best scored seven points in the third quarter and hit two key three-pointers in the fourth as well.
The Caravan outscored De La Salle 21-7 in the fourth quarter. The Meteors led 39-38 after three.
“[Mister] played tremendously unselfish,” Mount Carmel coach Phil Segroves said. “He really got down hill and found open guys and was able to expose their defense. That’s what we need from him.”
Tre Marks added six points and eight rebounds for the Caravan, which has only lost to St. Louis power Vashon this season.
Richard Lindsey led De La Salle with 20 points and eight rebounds and senior Bryant Hedrick added 16 points off the bench. The Meteors started three sophomores: Morgan Travis, Remi Edwards and Charles Barnes.
Mount Carmel’s Angelo Ciaravino (33) tosses the ball up toward the basket during the Caravan’s win over De La Salle.
Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times
Expectations are high for both teams and both started well. The Catholic League Blue is the area’s top conference this season after several years of the Public League Red-South/Central dominating the headlines.
The first major showdown of the season lived up to the hype. The gym was packed and the level of play was high.
“It’s the highest compliment to De La Salle that we don’t want lose here,” Segroves said. “We knew we were going to come in here and get a knockout punch from them. We weren’t just going to take it. We were going to give it back.”
Ciaravino, who fought through the Meteors’ physical defense to lead his team to a crucial win, threw down a slam for Mount Carmel’s last basket.
“That was awesome,” Ciaravino said. “My teammates saw me up and got me the ball. I’m going to finish whatever way I can and it just happened to be a dunk right there.”