Mount Carmel has a star. Northwestern-bound senior Angelo Ciaravino is one of the most talented, productive players in the state. There are only a handful of teams with a true, established senior standout this season.
So for the Caravan, the early part of the season will be spent figuring out everything else. Friday at De La Salle was a major step forward. Sophomore point guard Noah Mister, a transfer from Kenwood, was finally eligible to play.
‘‘Those few weeks felt like three years,’’ Mister said, ‘‘especially when I missed that Chicago Elite Classic game [last weekend]. I really wanted to play in that.’’
Mister made an immediate impact. He came off the bench to score nine points, but it was his poise with the ball and his ability to run the team that made the difference. No. 5 Mount Carmel trailed by eight points at the half but came back to beat the No. 12 Meteors 59-46.
‘‘We’ve seen it in practice, and we couldn’t wait for him to get on the court,’’ Ciaravino said. ‘‘He’s huge for our team.’’
Ciaravino had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Caravan (8-1, 2-0 Catholic League Blue), even though De La Salle (6-1, 1-1) was physical with him and had a defender face-guarding him for most of the game.
‘‘I’m used to it by now,’’ Ciaravino said. ‘‘I’m not forcing anything, and I’m trusting my teammates. I know they have my back.’’
Junior Grant Best (13 points, six rebounds) certainly did. He followed a three-pointer from Ciaravino with one of his own to give Mount Carmel its first lead at 26-25 midway through the third quarter.
Best scored seven points in the third and made two key three-pointers in the fourth, as well.
The Caravan outscored the Meteors 21-7 in the fourth after De La Salle led 39-38 after three.
‘‘[Mister] played tremendously unselfish,’’ Mount Carmel coach Phil Segroves said. ‘‘He really got downhill and found open guys and was able to expose their defense. That’s what we need from him.’’
Tre Marks added six points and eight rebounds for the Caravan, who have lost only to St. Louis power Vashon.
Richard Lindsey led the Meteors with 20 points and eight rebounds, and senior Bryant Hedrick added 16 points off the bench. De La Salle started three sophomores in Morgan Travis, Remi Edwards and Charles Barnes.
Expectations are high for both teams, and both started well. The Catholic League Blue is the top conference in the Chicago area this season after several years of the Public League Red-South/Central dominating the headlines.
The first major showdown of the season lived up to the hype. The gym was packed, and the level of play was high.
‘‘It’s the highest compliment to De La Salle that we don’t want to lose here,’’ Segroves said. ‘‘We knew we were going to come in here and get a knockout punch from them. We weren’t just going to take it, we were going to give it back.’’
Ciaravino threw down a dunk for Mount Carmel’s last basket.
‘‘That was awesome,’’ Ciaravino said. ‘‘My teammates saw me up and got me the ball. I’m going to finish whatever way I can, and it just happened to be a dunk right there.’’
