Carmel Christian coach Joe Badgett, whose team is No. 1 in the Sweet 16, knew that to beat No. 4 Victory Christian Tuesday night, the Cougars had to keep the Kings out of transition.
“They’re a good team, and If it’s a track meet, it’s to their advantage,” Badgett said. “If it’s a basketball game, I like what we can do against anybody.”
Carmel Christian won 72-57 after Cougars assistant coaches Chavis Holmes and Irvin Williamson convinced Badgett to skip his traditional man-to-man defense and do something he almost never does:
Carmel Christian played most of the game in a 3-2 zone.
“I’m a Coach K dude” Badgett said. “I ain’t trying to play zone, but even he has been playing it lately. Bu after scouting them last week, my assistant coaches told me that the zone would give them trouble. They didn’t know what to run against it and it slowed them down.”
Victory (17-6) lead 28-26 at halftime, but Badgett stuck to the plan, buoyed by the fact that many of the Kings points came on run-outs after Carmel turnovers.
In the second half, Carmel (19-1) took better care of the ball, playing like a team that hasn’t lost since the day after Thanksgiving. Ben Burnham and Justin Taylor combined for 42 points, but Badgett was just as excited by the play of Glenn Bynum, Julian Arias and Kyle Bean, who combined for 14.
“They are good defensively, and when they just play they’re really good,” Badgett said of his whole team. “The toughest thing for them is they’ll settle and play to the level of the competition, but they’ve shown if they just go play, they can guard. They’re a bad match-up most nights because you’ve got too many people that can do things.”
Carmel Christian has won two state championships in three seasons, but this year has moved into the N.C. 4A class, the state’s largest and where the heavyweights tend to congregate. In three of the past five years, a team from the N.C. Independent’s largest class has qualified for the GEICO national high school championships in New York.
Badgett said he’s looking forward to challenging some of the best coaches and teams, public or private, in North Carolina.
“I’m excited to see what happens with this group,” he said. “And moving up, it’ll be fun with the coaching strategies and film prep you have to do, because they’re all going to do it.”
“They’re a good team, and If it’s a track meet, it’s to their advantage,” Badgett said. “If it’s a basketball game, I like what we can do against anybody.”
Carmel Christian won 72-57 after Cougars assistant coaches Chavis Holmes and Irvin Williamson convinced Badgett to skip his traditional man-to-man defense and do something he almost never does:
Carmel Christian played most of the game in a 3-2 zone.
“I’m a Coach K dude” Badgett said. “I ain’t trying to play zone, but even he has been playing it lately. Bu after scouting them last week, my assistant coaches told me that the zone would give them trouble. They didn’t know what to run against it and it slowed them down.”
Victory (17-6) lead 28-26 at halftime, but Badgett stuck to the plan, buoyed by the fact that many of the Kings points came on run-outs after Carmel turnovers.
In the second half, Carmel (19-1) took better care of the ball, playing like a team that hasn’t lost since the day after Thanksgiving. Ben Burnham and Justin Taylor combined for 42 points, but Badgett was just as excited by the play of Glenn Bynum, Julian Arias and Kyle Bean, who combined for 14.
“They are good defensively, and when they just play they’re really good,” Badgett said of his whole team. “The toughest thing for them is they’ll settle and play to the level of the competition, but they’ve shown if they just go play, they can guard. They’re a bad match-up most nights because you’ve got too many people that can do things.”
Carmel Christian has won two state championships in three seasons, but this year has moved into the N.C. 4A class, the state’s largest and where the heavyweights tend to congregate. In three of the past five years, a team from the N.C. Independent’s largest class has qualified for the GEICO national high school championships in New York.
Badgett said he’s looking forward to challenging some of the best coaches and teams, public or private, in North Carolina.
“I’m excited to see what happens with this group,” he said. “And moving up, it’ll be fun with the coaching strategies and film prep you have to do, because they’re all going to do it.”
