MCA falls, but has another shot

SUNBURY — Mount Carmel showed it was down but not out in the second half, turning a an early, sizable deficit into an eight-point game.

That was all the closer the No. 4 Red Tornadoes got, though, in a 58-42 defeat to top-seeded Lewisburg in the District 4 Class 4A boys basketball semifinals Tuesday night.

That style of play the Tornadoes (15-9) displayed to start the second half, outscoring the Green Dragons (20-4), 13-7, after halftime, is what coach John Lazicki is hoping they’ll play with four quarters.

Especially with a spot in the state tournament on the line.

“You can do one of two things — you can sulk and pout, or you can focus on tomorrow and Thursday’s practice to get in the state tournament,” Lazicki said. “You can’t go backwards; you can only look forward. The only silver lining from tonight is you get another game.”

That’s not entirely true. Jude Lazicki scored 19 points and Logan Pizzoli added 10. Jude Lazicki was instrumental in leading the comeback attempt, but it was Danny Snyder who drained a pair of 3-pointers in ‌6 ½ minutes, including to start the half’s scoring. His first 3 ignited the loudest ovation from both the bench and the cheering section all night.

Unfortunately, the good times weren’t meant to last. The Red Tornadoes, which were getting beat under the hoop all night by Cortland Michaels (11 points), Nazir Meredith (15) and Rebira Jemama (13) could only do so much to slow down the trio.

After forcing the Green Dragons to beat them from beyond the arc, where several shots were off target all contest long, LJ Tucker II finally sank one. That was all the momentum Lewisburg needed, again, getting things to open under the hoop and end the frame on a 4-0 run.

“They were really killing us and getting under the rim too easily,” John Lazicki said. “We had to take something away. We did a good job of limiting their layups [in the second half], but we just didn’t get the key stop and turnover.”

Lewisburg’s style of play also got the Red Tornadoes in foul trouble early and often. By halftime, Jude Lazicki, Jaylen Delaney and Michael Kaleta each had multiple fouls, with Lazicki and Kaleta finishing with four in the game. No Green Dragon posted more than two.

The Tornadoes give credit where it is due, with Lewisburg, which opened the game on a 13-4 run, being the No. 1 seed. However, Lazicki knows that what he saw wasn’t the best foot forward by the team, either.

“We had a ton of unforced turnovers and we played extremely sloppy and out of character,” Lazicki said. “We were better than that first half. They’re a very good team — well coached, great players — but we really played poor. We didn’t take care of the ball. We got stops and we turned it back over, and we didn’t shoot particularly well in the first half, either.”

Now the Tornadoes get one last chance to clean it up and see where they rank with the rest of the state.

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