Carmel used a last-second shot from Andrew Owens to beat New Castle, 61-59. It was the first loss of the season for New Castle.

The first half between Carmel and New Castle was played at an extremely high level. Each team executed crisply in the half court. New Castle lit up the scoreboard from the outside early. Mason Gillis, 2019 forward, doesn’t usually look for his outside shot but he knocked down two early triples. New Castle buried eight three-pointers in the first half. Gillis was a dominant force in the first quarter. He scored 12 points and also had three assists.

Carmel relied on ball movement, cuts to the basket and offensive rebounding in the first half. John Michael Mulloy was able to get a couple early offensive rebounds which made New Castle switch Gillis on to him. Mulloy finished with 10 points and nine rebounds but also did a good job passing out of double teams, especially in the first half. His passing kickstarted the Carmel offense.

Once the ball started to move, Andrew Owens was a beneficiary as he cut to the basket on a few occasions for layups. Owens mixed in outside shots after getting started near the rim. He finished with 26 points.

After a slow start, Luke Bumbalough was more aggressive in the second quarter. He scored eight points in the period including a stop-and-start move off the dribble to get a layup. Bumbalough had to work for all his points as Carmel senior Eddie Gill blanketed him all over the court.

Gill had a major impact on the game while scoring nine points. He had the task of defending Bumbalough for most of the game. He also grabbed seven rebounds, created three steals and dished out a couple of assists. It was a strong effort from start to finish.

Carmel looked like it was going to pull away early in the second half. New Castle’s offense slowed down a bit while Carmel kept clicking. Carmel clamped down on Bumbalough and Gillis in the second half. After the duo scored 23 in the first half, they were held to two points in the third quarter. Carmel had a three-possession lead midway through the third, but New Castle was able to stay in the fight.

Gillis was able to get a powerful dunk after trailing a fast break. It made it a three-point game. After Carmel worked the ball, the Greyhounds turned it over with 26 seconds left. Bumbalough took the challenge and connected on a three-pointer from the right wing to tie the game with 15 seconds left.

On the final play, Carmel worked a couple of weave actions at the top of the key which led to Andrew Owens pulling up from 17 feet. The shot hung on the rim for a second before falling through. New Castle was out of timeouts and the clock ran out while inbounding the ball.

Owens was 11-13 from the field including 7-7 from two-point range to record his 26 points. John Michael Mulloy had 10 points and nine rebounds. Eddie Gill scored nine. Cole Jenkins and Luke Heady each had seven points. Karsten Windlan had two points.

Bumbalough finished with 19 points on 5-11 from three-point range. Gillis added 14 points and 12 rebounds. Niah Williamson added 10, Blake Burris had six. Mason Hardwick tallied five, Nick Grieser three and Bryce Webb two.

New Castle is now 16-1. Carmel is 11-5 after beating Ben Davis and New Castle this weekend. Carmel is rounding into form as the season heads down the stretch.