Exactly one year from the date where the Scots played Hillsdale in their last tournament, the new year brought a change in the script. While Carlmont saw themselves take a 60-42 victory last time around, the Knights took charge in this one, earning a 54-40 win that advances them to the tournament’s next stage.
Senior William “junior” Cotton paved the way for the Knights with a game 27-point, ten rebound double-double effort on 12-24 shooting. Both his point total and rebound count were game highs. The Scots had three players with eight points: senior Abram Guldbech, junior Will Hesselgren, and sophomore Tim Netane.
The difference that one year in high school sports makes is shown in that Carlmont has just four players from last year’s varsity squad on this year’s roster. To put things in perspective, every basketball team has five players on the court at one time, leaving them one short of even a starting five of players with at least one year of experience at the varsity level.
“With each of these games, we’re gaining experience, and I love the fight we had for most of the game. I talked to them about playing all the way through, and I didn’t think we had the same fire in the last minutes that we have to have, but I’m proud of the effort we had in the other three quarters,” said Ron Ozorio, head coach of Carlmont.
The Knights took advantage of this, although the 14-point score gap is misleading, as it was anybody’s game throughout the first three quarters. At the start of the second quarter, the Scots went on a 9-0 run to put the score at 14-6. The Knights then went on a series of their own, closing out the half going on an 18-9 run to head into the locker room up 24-23.
“It was a game of runs for three and a half quarters, and they’re an excellent team. They’re difficult to contain and have guys who can create their own shots, and they let it fly quickly,” Ozorio said. “On their side, they can turn a four-point advantage into a ten-point advantage in 25 seconds if you’re not with it on every play. We just lost focus there.”
Things then ran away from Carlmont in the second half, in which Hillsdale’s leading scorer Cotton got hot and scored 20 of his 27 points.
“Shooters shoot; when you heat up, keep shooting shots. I just kept playing my game, and we played well as a team to get that win,” Cotton said. “Our coach also got us focused and energized in the locker room, so we just came out with a new mindset in the second half and just did our thing.”
After outscoring Carlmont 13-11 in the third quarter, the Knights quickly seized momentum in the fourth, scoring 17 to the Scots’ six, and winning the game.
“I believe it’s all about our team’s mentality. When we lose hope or doubt ourselves, even just a bit, it gives the other team a huge opportunity to take the lead and win the game,” Netane said. “That was one of the main points our coach talked to us about after the game so that we can change for upcoming games and stay cool, calm, and collected throughout the entirety of each game.”
The Scots’ lackadaisical fourth quarter was plagued by turnovers, which Carlmont hopes to cut down on before their next game.
“It’s still early in the season, but I know for sure that one way we can stop turnovers like that is by taking our time in our offense and not rushing anything. At the same time, we should also not go too slow,” Netane said.
Carlmont’s next game is an away battle versus Westmoor (2-1) on Tuesday, while Hillsdale will finish up the tournament playing Jefferson (2-1).
