BOYS’ BASKETBALL DIVISION I SEMIFINALS

Whatever force had gripped Mt. Carmel in the past and kept the Sundevils from reaching the final of a section basketball game has been officially lifted.

Mt. Carmel quickly dispensed of Patrick Henry to advance to its first final. It had been to the semifinals seven times.

“I don’t think you can not think about it,” Mt. Carmel Coach John Marincovich said. “But every situation is a different team.”

But this team was the same one that had lifted the second-ranked Sundevils to its 22-3 record going into this game.

A run-and-gun contest this wasn’t. Mt. Carmel held the Patriots to 11 first quarter points, and seven apiece in the second and third quarters, while the Sundevils scored 13 in each of the first three periods.

Patrick Henry managed to pull a bit out of its horrendous shooting slump in the fourth period, and scored 21 points, but Mt. Carmel countered with its own 28 to keep the distance.