Robby Carmody scores 27, No. 1 Mars holds off No. 2 Moon

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 10, 2018 | 6:42 PM

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Mars’ Robby Carmody dominated the first two minutes and the final 30 seconds Tuesday night.

The Planets’ star senior finished with 27 points, including the game’s first nine and the last six, as top-ranked Mars defeated No. 2 Moon, 72-64, for first place in Section 2-5A.

But in the roughly 29 minutes between his hot start and clutch finish, a span where Carmody wasn’t dominant but still very good, his teammates showed their talents as two other scorers reached double figures.

“A lot of people are coming in thinking if they can stop me, they’re going to stop us and they’re going to win,” Carmody said. “It should be pretty scary to some teams that I don’t have to go score a lot of points and we can still put up high numbers.”

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Mars junior Andrew Recchia scored 20, including a driving layup with 2:17 left to break a 61-61 tie. Recchia drew a foul on the play and added the free throw, finally turning back a furious second-half rally from Moon, which had trailed by 16.

Mars sophomore Michael Carmody added 10 points.

“We are not a one-man basketball team,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody, who has four scorers averaging double figures. “Obviously, Robby get a lot of (defensive) attention. … If you’re going to put three guys around Robby when he has the ball, the ball should move and we should get great looks.”

The loss was the first for Moon (9-1, 2-1).

Mars (8-2, 3-0) had led 55-39 with two minutes left in the third quarter before Moon switched to a full-court press that caused the Planets trouble in the fourth. Four quick Mars turnovers in 3-minute span sparked a 13-3 run to tie.

“We were back on our heels and they were attacking us so much and doing whatever they wanted,” Moon coach Adam Kaufman said. “… So more than anything, (the defensive switch) was out of necessity. You have to kind of stand up and fight back or they’re just going to blow you out of the gym.”

Under that heavy pressure, Mars labored to advance the ball across midcourt.

“We have the players that can do that,” Robby Carmody said. “It just caught us off guard a little bit. I think it’s going to be a great learning experience.”

The teams rematch Feb. 2 at Moon.

Connor Ryan scored 26 points for Moon while Austin Ryan and Taru Jones each added 11. The Ryans combined for 11 points in the game-tying run. A layup by Austin with 2:51 left made it 61-61, but the rally stalled there and Moon never led.

With Mars ahead 64-62, Recchia added two free throws with 90 seconds left, and then Carmody scored a driving layup and four consecutive free throws to clinch the win.

Carmody finished 8 for 21 from the field and 3 for 12 from the 3-point arc. He scored 19 points in the first half and just eight in the second.

“It happens sometimes,” Carmody said. “I didn’t shoot any short, I was hitting back rim, so that’s all you can really ask for. They weren’t falling tonight.”

The Notre Dame recruit had started hot with two free throws, a put-back basket, a 3-pointer and then two more free throws to lead 9-0.

Mars led 23-15 after one quarter and 45-36 at half.

Carmody was held to one basket in the second half until his driving layup with 24 seconds left that sealed the win.

“You could do a really good job on Robby and he could get 30,” Kaufman said. “I thought we did the best we could. He’s going to Notre Dame. He’s an ACC player. He’s the best player in the area. What can you do with him?”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Mars, Moon