HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Mt. Carmel Evens the Score With Victory Over Poway

John Marincovich, the Mt. Carmel boys’ basketball coach, has this theory.

He is convinced that Poway’s field-goal accuracy has been dramatically higher against his team than most other Titan opponents this season.

“Poway always has very good games against us,” Marincovich said. “I’m not really sure why that is.”

Thursday night at Mt. Carmel in a Division I quarterfinal, Marincovich was determined this wouldn’t happen a fourth time. Poway held a 2-1 edge going into the season’s final meeting between these two Palomar League teams.

Mt. Carmel evened that record with a 76-56 victory in a gym that was so crowded that fans were warned that they wouldn’t be readmitted if they left at the half.

There were few takers.

Mt. Carmel used a simple-but-effective zone defense that cut off Poway’s Greg Sorrell from the outside and Frank Garrett and Kyle Milling from the inside.

“I ws concerned about their post play,” Marincovich said of Garrett and Milliny. “And you always worry about Sorrell.”

Sorrell finished with a 20 points. Five were three-pointers, four of which came in the second half when Poway was down by an average of 12 points. He started shooting in desperation.

“Tonight their shooting percentage was down,” Marincovich said, “and I’d like to think our defense had something to do with it.”

There was a major contrast in shooting percentages. Poway shot 38% to Mt. Carmel’s 64%, most of which came from the inside.

Shane Knight, Mt. Carmel’s 6-foot-9 forward, defending his territory.

He finished with 18 points, a game-high 13 rebounds and seven assists.

Knight’s rebounds explained the rest of Poway’s woes. He had two fewer than Poway had as a team. Mt. Carmel outrebounded the visitors, 40-15.

“We were outrebounded terribly,” Poway Neville Saner said. “They’re big, they’re good, and their offensive boards hurt us.”

Mt. Carmel will play the winner of tonight’s Patrick Henry-Rancho Buena Vista game in the semifinals Tuesday at Mira Mesa.