CATAWISSA RR - If you want a difference between Southern Columbia and Mount Carmel, it's depth.
At least it was Thursday, when the Tigers improved their record to 5-4 overall with a 62-44 win over the Red Tornadoes (3-5), in part because Southern's bench outscored Mount Carmel's, 17-2.
Southern's bench was largely the Michaels brothers, Doug, the usual sixth man, and Drew, who played his first varsity game and played well.
Doug scored 10 points and had seven rebounds, hitting 4 of 6 shots. Drew added six points and three rebounds, made a 3-pointer and played significant minutes spelling people in the backcourt.
Add in 16 points each from starters Walker Palacz and Mike Klebon, and the Tigers just had too much firepower.
"The two Michaels brothers played great," Southern coach Joe Britto said. "Doug has been pretty consistent. He comes in. plays hard and gives us everything he's got. Drew has been playing great on the JV team and practicing with the varsity and can really help us."
Palacz and Klebon combined to make six three-pointers and 12 of 16 foul shots. In addition, Klebon had nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Finally, Cody Olson had another good floor game, with eight assists.
"Our team chemistry is really good right now," Britto said.
Mount Carmel coach John Lazicki wasn't pleased with his team's effort.
"We can't catch the ball and we can't make layups," he said after a long postgame session with his team. "Our rebounding is terrible at times. It's been our Achilles heel all year. And there are times when we lack effort. We lose it mentally. We usually have one quarter when we lay an egg and then we're playing from behind."
That quarter was the second. Southern outscored the Red Tornadoes 23-9 in the period and by just four points the rest of the game.
Shooting isn't a strong point, either. The Tornadoes shot 14 of 52 (27 percent) overall, and that's counting 8 of 26 3-pointers.
Ben Scicchitano had four treys on the way to an 18-point game, and Zack Tocyloski made two in scoring 11 points.
"It's not the end of the world being 3-5 right now, but we have big games coming up that we have to play very well in," Lazicki said. "Hughesville tonight, then Central Columbia, which is 7-2 or something like that and playing well. We have to have a better effort."
Game Summary
MOUNT CARMEL (44) - Lynott 2 0-0 6, Tocyloski 4 1-2 11, Sullins 0 0-0 0, Bergan 0 0-1 0, Bettleyon 0 0-0 0, Mikulski 1 0-0 2, Scicchitano 6 2-2 18, Wasilewski 0 2-4 2, Amarose 0 0-0 0, Kelley 1 3-6 5, Fletcher 0 0-0 0, Bielski 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 8-15 44.
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (62) - Palacz 3 7-8 16, Klebon 4 5-8 16, Mostik 0 1-2 1, Rarig 4 1-3 9, Olson 1 0-0 3, Do. Michaels 4 2-2 10, Fegley 0 1-2 1, Brokus 0 0-0 0, Ciocco 0 0-0 0, Keiser 0 0-0 0, Dr. Michaels 2 1-3 6, Gennaria 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 18-28 62.
3-point FGs: Mount Carmel (8) - Lynott 2, Tocyloski 2, Scicchitano 4; Southern (8) - Palacz 3, Klebon 3, Olson, Dr. Michaels.