Robby Carmody leads Mars to fourth straight PIAA quarterfinal

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, March 14, 2018 | 9:03 AM

As Mars' Robby Carmody walked to the bench with three first-half fouls, the Trinity student section chanted with delight.

The strategy on the court and in the stands was to bother him, one way or another.

“Daddy's princess?” a bemused coach Rob Carmody asked later. “I wish every princess was that tough. You'd never have to call the knight in to beat the dragons.”

“They were trying to do anything they can to get me off the court,” Robby Carmody said. “I've just got to keep my cool and keep an iron face.”

After an all-around frustrating first half, the Notre Dame recruit scored 18 of his 24 points after halftime to slay Trinity, 48-40, in the second round of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs at Moon. Carmody also had 18 rebounds.

The victory carries WPIAL champion Mars (23-4) to the state quarterfinals for the fourth year in a row. The Planets face Highlands (20-5) on Friday.

“Obviously, it wasn't pretty,” coach Carmody said. “It wasn't how we would like it to go. We did not shoot the ball very well in the first half. We were in foul trouble. We just couldn't seem to get our legs moving.

“You survive and you advance.”

The teams combined for 47 fouls in a game that turned aggressive from the start. Mars always plays a physical style, but Trinity was ready to push back and tried often to frustrate Carmody with senior Dausen Marry.

“(Marry) is pretty tough,” Trinity coach Tim Tessmer said. “Put him in his face as much as we can and try to annoy him. It works. Obviously getting him off the floor some helps limit his points. But he's going to score, he's a good player.”

Carmody and Marry fouled out on a double technical with 16 seconds left, but Mars' victory already was sealed. Key was Carmody's consecutive 3-pointers late in the third quarter that turned a four-point deficit into a lead the Planets never lost.

“I just kind of decided that I needed to step up for my team and try to make some plays,” Robby Carmody said. “Thankfully, the shots were falling tonight.”

Mars had led 12-4 after one quarter but scored just four points in the second with Carmody and his brother Michael both on the bench with three fouls apiece. Robby Carmody drew his third foul with 5:34 until halftime and Mars ahead 12-9.

He sat for more than four and a half minutes and watched Trinity take the lead. He later revived Mars' offense with 10 points in the third, and had his own 8-0 run with two 3s and two free throws to lead 32-28 after three.

“He hit two really, really tough shots and kind of gave them some life,” Tessmer said. “They were struggling. Without him in the game, they don't know what to do. He made those two 3s, and you could see the whole team lifted up.”

Cade Hetzler added 13 points for Mars.

Joey Koroly led Trinity (21-6) with 15 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. The Hillers were trying to avenge a 59-36 loss to Mars in the WPIAL semifinals, but they made just two shots in Tuesday's fourth quarter.

“We haven't made a shot since the turn of the month, so that showed up again tonight,” Tessmer said. “We had a lot of good looks, I thought, but just didn't make enough of them. We had a handful of 3s that I think would have broke that thing open and given us a little bit of confidence, but we didn't make any of them.”

Trinity had led 19-16 at half.

The lead would have been larger, Rob Carmody said, if not for the defense of Mars junior Brandon Caruso. With Robby and Michael Carmody on the bench, Trinity scored 15 points in the second quarter with eight on free throws.

“Not allowing their guards to get to the lane was huge, because 19-16 could have been 30-16,” Rob Carmody said. “Brandon didn't allow that to happen. He didn't score a point, but that's how you impact the game. You find a way.”

With 2:18 left, Robby Carmody scored a driving layup and a foul shot to lead 41-34. He added a breakaway dunk with 41 seconds left.

As the state's Gatorade Player of the Year, all eyes are always on Carmody. The situation can be frustrating, but he's come to enjoy the student section taunts.

“It's a lot of fun, actually,” he said. “It's not like they're doing it to be completely rude or anything. They're having fun. They're high school kids. We do the same when I'm in the football student section. You want to try to get in the best player's head as best as you can.”

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

Tags: Mars, Trinity