Mount Carmel boys basketball goes coast-to-coast in 86-60 win over Pallotti to stay unbeaten
The Mount Carmel boys basketball team continued its hot start to the season by knocking off St. Vincent Pallotti, 86-60, on Monday night. Even more impressive was its ability to keep the lead the entire game.
Senior Toby Nnadozie had a game-high 25 points to lift the Cougars (7-0) to their seventh straight win. His team played relentlessly, attacking the basket at every opportunity and cleaning the glass with authority. Nnadozie believes this is the type of play that will allow Mount Carmel to continue its winning ways, which has the team on top of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference and the Baltimore Catholic League standings.
“Everything really starts from a defensive perspective,” Nnadozie said. “We play defense, we make them miss a shot and then after that, we go and get on the fastbreak and try to make quick buckets. We have to secure the ball by any means possible. That’s a priority that we make. We have to box out anyone who we’re guarding.”
Mount Carmel coach Trevor Quinn has been impressed with his team’s hustle. The players have risen to the occasion and pushed to achieve more, and it all begins with efficiency.
“We have some guys that have been in this league for a couple of years now and they’ve established themselves,” Quinn said. “Deon [Perry] and Toby were shooting it well and it kind of makes it difficult to guard us. The bench has been good in the first six games. Andrew Dixon has been a really good player as a freshman, Kevin Chinnia and Dominic Mackenna-George have been making plays off of the bench.”
Nnadozie was helped by strong performances from Kevin Kalu (14 points and 16 rebounds), Perry (14 points, six assists) and Chinnia, who added six points and four assists off the bench.
Pallotti’s Devon Williams was ejected in the third quarter after a flagrant foul, and the Panthers (3-3) ended the period trailing 68-35. The Cougars emptied their bench in the fourth quarter, allowing several young players to get ample minutes, and closed out the win with a 3-pointer and layup by Trey Dennis.
Limiting turnovers was a high priority after the game for Pallotti coach Dennis Kirkland. The Panthers had 20 turnovers, and Kirkland tipped his cap to the victors for their aggressiveness and ability to get good looks at the basket.
“They played very aggressively — they played well, they hit their shots and they played well as a team,” Kirkland said. “I think we turned the ball over 20 times and we can win if you turned the ball over that many times. That’s it — we didn’t play well and they did.”
MC (7-0): Nnadozie 25, Kalu 14, Perry 14, Chinnia 6, Trey 5, Gudonnis 5, Dixon 4, Mitchell 4, Williams 4, James 2, Mackenna-George 2
SVP (3-3): McCord 15, Maganda 10, Bright 9, Williams 8, Brown 6, Glover 5, Wolfe 3, Holston 2, Holiday 2
Half: 43-22, Mount Carmel
