Carmichaels’ Williams wins 500th game
CARMICHAELS 鈥� Coach Don Williams has been on the sidelines for Carmichaels boys basketball the past 43 years, but Friday night was likely his most memorable night, as the Mikes pulled off a 71-55 upset of Bentworth for Williams鈥� 500th career win.
鈥淚t (getting 500 wins) was on my mind a little bit today,鈥� Williams expressed. 鈥淏ut I knew we had a game in us and tonight was the night. We have been playing well the last month and I kind of sensed this type of performance coming. It feels good to get this win with so many of my ex-players and family in attendance.鈥�
Williams, who is a graduate of Connellsville High School, is quick to point out that all of the credit goes to his players, his coaches and the school.
鈥淚 just can鈥檛 take all the credit,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淚 love these kids and they always play with passion and hustle for me. I have great assistant coaches in Tim Jones and Tyler Aeschbacher. I still enjoy coaching as much as I did my first day on the job. I love seeing these kids grow and develop. I just want to thank everyone for the encouragement and the support tonight.鈥�
Throughout his four plus decades at Carmichaels, Williams has won seven section titles, has made 21 playoff appearances and has coached several stellar players in the Blue & Gold.
With the win, the Mikes (10-9, 2-8) avenge an earlier 59-41 loss to Bentworth on Jan. 9.
Matthew Barrish scored 22 points, while Dylan Wilson added 18 and Al Cree finished with 15 for Carmichaels.
鈥淎s a team, we just wanted to get the win,鈥� Barrish said. 鈥淏entworth beat us pretty bad the last time we played and we were hoping they would take us lightly. We came out with a strong start and we fed off all of the emotions in the gym. It feels great to give coach this milestone. We all have been thinking about it.鈥�
Levi Jordan led the Bearcats (11-7, 6-5) with 23 points and Steven Harner chipped in with 15.
Bentworth has its five-game winning streak stopped with the loss. The Bearcats defeated first place Chartiers-Houston during that run.
鈥淲e just couldn鈥檛 get things rolling tonight,鈥� Bentworth coach Bob Kennedy said. 鈥淭hat first quarter stunned us and we couldn鈥檛 recover from it. We were better the rest of the way and got our offense in sync, but we were just sluggish those opening eight minutes.
鈥淒onnie did an outstanding job of coaching them up tonight and there鈥檚 a reason he has 500 wins. It was like a surgical knife the way they were able to rip through our defense. We got outplayed and I got outcoached. We just got beat and we have to regroup for next week.鈥�
Carmichaels was rolling from the get-go, scoring the opening 12 points. Barrish had a pair of 3-pointers in the early run.
鈥淲e had to jump on them early,鈥� Barrish said. 鈥淚t seemed like every shot for us was going in. I know I had a couple of threes that really got me going. I knew I was going to be on tonight. Tonight was probably our best offensive game of the season. Everyone made their shots.鈥�
The squads scored four points apiece the rest of the first quarter, as the Mikes held a 16-4 edge.
The Bearcats started the second quarter with a 9-4 rally to cut the deficit to 20-13.
Sandwiched around a bucket by the visitors were 3-pointers by Barrish and Wilson that stretched Carmichaels鈥� lead to 26-15.
Bentworth cut the deficit to single digits before halftime with an 11-4 spurt that made the score 30-26. Jordan tallied 12 points in the second quarter.
Just like the opening quarter, the Mikes started the third period on fire from the floor with a 14-2 run. The teams exchanged buckets the rest of the quarter, as Carmichaels led 49-35 going into the final eight minutes of play.
Bentworth got as close as 60-48 midway through the fourth quarter before Carmichaels iced the game away with some clutch free throw shooting. In the final 4:33 of the game, the Mikes shot 11-of-14 from the foul line.
鈥淲e did a good job of identifying their shooters and contesting their shots,鈥� Barrish said. 鈥淲e had to be mindful of them cutting to the hoop and I thought as a team we did a nice job of packing it in on the inside. We had better help-defense and we stayed on their shooters.鈥�
Both teams will be back in Section 2-AA action on Tuesday, as Bentworth hosts California and Carmichaels travels to Frazier.
鈥淭he defense carried us tonight,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淲e stifled them a little bit to start the game and I thought we did a really good job of guarding them man-to-man. We had to stay in front and be able to get in the way of their drives. We definitely frustrated them on offense.鈥�
Section 2-AA
Bentworth 4 22 9 20鈥�55
Carmichaels 16 14 19 22鈥�71
Bentworth: Levi Jordan 21, Steven Harner 15. Carmichaels: Matthew Barrish 22, Dylan Wilson 18, Al Cree 15. Records: Bentworth (11-7, 6-5), Carmichaels (10-9, 2-8).