(Charlie Williams pictured in the spring of 2021)

 

Valparaiso traveled to Carmel for a Wednesday afternoon tilt. Both teams are 4A contenders that should improve as the season develops.

 

Early on, the pace was slow, but that was not a surprise. It took more than three minutes for the first field goal – a Pete Suder three-pointer – to be scored. However, the scoring opened shortly after as Valpo’s Blane Dalton made two threes to get the Vikings going. William & Mary signee Charlie Williams scored or assisted on the first nine Carmel points for Carmel.

 

Senior point guard Breece Walls scored five of Valpo’s 11-first quarter points, including a late three. The Vikings’ three-point shooting made up a lot of ground on Carmel in the first period and kept Valpo in it. The Greyhounds held a 12-11 lead after one.

 

Junior wing Garwey Dual sparked Carmel in the second frame. The wiry, athletic forward pressured Valpo ball-handlers into turnovers and attacked the basket on the offensive end. Behind Dual, Carmel held Valpo scoreless for nearly five minutes in the second quarter. That stretch allowed Carmel to go on an 11-0 run.

 

Williams continued to play well for Carmel. He tallied ten points by halftime. In the first half after his early three, Suder did not score in the first half but recorded three rebounds and three assists in typical Suder fashion.

 

 Carmel led 26-14 at the break.

 

Josh Whack asserted himself for the Greyhounds in the third quarter. Williams found Whack spotting up for a couple of threes early in the third quarter. Late in the period, junior forward Jared Bonds drove through the middle of the Valpo defense for a two-handed dunk plus the foul. That pushed Carmel’s lead to 20 points. Whack fed Williams for a bucket to cap the third quarter and make the score 40-18.

 

Carmel’s offense shut down in the fourth with a healthy lead, but the Vikings kept fighting. Star junior Mason Jones only tallied one point in the first three quarters but stepped up in the fourth. He pressured ball-handlers and passing lanes to create steals, then finished on the other end. Jones also knocked down a three-pointer in the fourth.

 

Valpo made it an 11-point game with just under a minute to play, but Carmel’s lead entering the fourth was too big to overcome. Carmel clung to a 45-32 victory.

 

Williams led Carmel with 16 points and four assists. Whack finished with 11 points; Suder added three points, nine rebounds, and three assists. Dual recorded two points, seven rebounds, two blocks, and two steals. Sam Orme and Bonds each scored five points. Bonds added four rebounds too.

 

Jones led Valpo with 11 points and three steals. Walls added nine points and four steals, while Dalton finished with six points. Adler Hazlett scored five points.

 

Carmel moved to 7-2 and winner of five straight. The Greyhounds play at Anderson, an up-and-coming team, on December 29. Valpo dropped to 7-1 and plays in the Phil Cox Memorial Tournament in Kokomo on the 29th and 30th.