AUBURN — St. Dom’s senior Gabe Carey has been battling wrist and shoulder injuries this season, and his jump shot hasn’t been as effective as usual.
Carey thrived in other ways Monday against Rangeley. He drove the paint, attacked the middle of the Lakers’ zone, scored in bunches and found open teammates to help lead St. Dom’s to a 63-25 boys basketball victory.
“He hasn’t been shooting the ball real well as of late, so it was nice to see him drive and attack the basket instead of settling for 3s,” St. Dom’s coach Josh LaPrell said. “That was good. He just brings leadership and intensity that most of the guys just don’t have yet. He’s played a lot of basketball here and in AAU, so he has big-game experience. He was looking to drive and make big passes when he needed to and was finishing at the rim.”
Carey led all scorers with 23 points on senior night at St. Dominic Academy. Eight of his points came in the first quarter, after which the Saints (11-4) held a 16-9 advantage.
“I’ve been dealing with an injured shoulder and wrist this season, so I’ve been trying to drive more, score and kick to teammates,” Carey said. “They played a 2-3 zone, so the goal was to get in the middle and hit the floaters.”
St. Dom’s press defense, meanwhile, produced six steals and forced several turnovers in the opening period.
“We let their pace dictate to us, and we didn’t settle down,” Rangeley coach Jeff Larochelle said. “We had like 20-something turnovers in the first half, and the other day we won and had 12 the whole game.
“We threw the ball over someone’s head, we threw the ball behind the guy, then we tried to start dribbling before we caught it and it goes off our foot. You can’t shoot a high enough percentage to overcome that.”
Boden Washington scored four of his team-high eight points in the first quarter for the Lakers (2-9).
In the second, St. Dom’s continued its aggressive offensive attack. Freshman Jonathan Tangilamesu scored eight of his 14 points in the quarter, and six of those second-quarter points came off of offensive rebounds.
Tangilamesu finished the game with nine rebounds.
“When he’s locked in he’s extremely active on the glass,” LaPrell said.
“In the first game of the season, he had like, 18 and 15 against (North Yarmouth Academy),” Carey added. “It’s just been incredible. When he’s thinking right we are unstoppable. He’s just a beast. I am excited to see him develop over the next three years.”
The Saints led 35-16 at halftime. Led by eight third-quarter points from Carey, their advantage grew to 51-25 after three quarters. St. Dom’s then shut out Rangeley in the fourth period.
The Saints’ other three seniors also contributed to the win. Noah Cyr scored four points, Michael Stowe finished with six and Riley Patriquin scored on a layup in the fourth quarter.
“It’s senior night, so it’s good all the seniors scored,” LaPrell said. “That was special. That was our 11th win, which is as many as we had in the last two years. We’re getting to where we’ve turned the corner and are starting to win games.”
A lot of games in a short amount of time has forced LaRochelle to attempt to find answers on the fly. Still, the Rangeley coach has confidence in the Lakers and has his sights set on the upcoming postseason.
“We get so discombobulated that we don’t have a floor balance,” LaRochelle said. “When we play teams like that, we don’t take a deep breath and settle down. Here’s the problem: Last week we had five games in six days and this week we have three games in four days. I need a practice where we can go watch video. … It’s not a situation my guys are wired for. They need to go back and look at it and they’ll get it.
“I’ve got some good young kids so my whole thing is let’s get a prelim, host it, maybe win and see what happens.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
