Picking up his third foul early in the third quarter of the regional championship, Mt. Carmel junior guard Angelo Ciaravino knew he had to be careful.
Another call against him would likely send Ciaravino to the bench as the Caravan worked to pull away from Bogan.
Ciaravino stayed aggressive, but he was careful about it.
“Keep your head on straight, keep pushing and play through it,” Ciaravino said. “How are you going to do that now that you have three fouls? I took that as a positive and played my game.”
Ciaravino scored 11 straight points to start the third quarter, and he finished with 34 points to power host Mt. Carmel to a 74-48 victory over Bogan on Feb. 24 in a Class 3A regional championship.
He added 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
Mt. Carmel (26-6) advanced to play Hyde Park (22-6) on March 1 in a Glenbard South sectional semifinal. The game is a rematch of last season’s sectional semifinal that Hyde Park won, and Mt. Carmel wants revenge.
Against Bogan, senior DeAndre Craig (Beverly, Sutherland) added 20 points.
It is the Caravan’s second straight regional crown. Mt. Carmel had last won a regional in 2019.
“It means a whole lot to us. We won last year, but it had been a while since the last time Mt. Carmel won a regional,” said Craig, a University of Denver recruit. “It’s a big moment for us and the school.”
Mt. Carmel led 45-33 early in the third against a stubborn Bogan squad. Ciaravino already had a fast-break bucket to his name off an assist from Richie Zoller in the quarter.
Then, he scored 9 unanswered points, scoring on a fast-break layup, a pull-up baseline jumper, a two-handed dunk on an inbounds play from his older brother, Anthony, and last, a corner three off a Craig assist.
“It’s just ‘in the zone,’” Ciaravino said. “It’s like I put my headphones on, and I’m listening to my favorite song before the game. It’s doing what I do, seeing my teammates and finding them, doing whatever I need to, hitting shots, getting boards, whatever I can do to help get the win.”
The 6’6” guard saved the highlight of the night for late in the game.
With Mt. Carmel well in control and leading 69-40 in the fourth, Anthony Ciaravino swooped in for a steal and raced up the court leading a fast break.
With several teammates following right behind, he put up a perfect alley-oop pass behind him, and little brother Angelo went up for the ball and threw it down for an emphatic dunk.
“On that one, I kind of saw him in the rearview,” Anthony said with a laugh. “I kind of just threw it up. Most of the time he’s yelling, ‘Throw it up!’ I let him go up and get it. Most of the time, he’s pretty good at it.”
The Ciaravino brothers, Bridgeport residents, have been fixtures in the starting lineup for the last two seasons for the Caravan.
Now in his senior year, Anthony is relishing the opportunity.
“It’s great. It’s big for the family to see us,” Anthony said. “We’ve been playing together our whole life. We were just glad that we were able to play in high school and keep competing together. It’s been fun. As a young kid, you never think you’ll be able to do this at the high school level. It’s crazy.”
The brothers were teammates growing up, both at the AAU level where they played in a program run by their dad, Tony, and also in elementary school when Angelo occasionally played up a grade.
Teammates, yes, but the brothers are also fierce competitors when it comes to their frequent one-on-one battles under the hoop at their house.
A junior, Angelo said they’ve tried to make the most of their last season together before heading off to college.
“We’re trying to make the best out of it,” Angelo said. “We’ve been playing since we were little kids. It’s a huge thing. We’ll be going our separate ways, so we want to keep having fun and keep playing the right way.”
Anthony Ciaravino finished with 3 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.
Zoller (Christ the King) and junior Lee Marks added 6 points apiece. Zoller chipped in with 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
Typically doing the dirty work that doesn’t always show up in stat lines, Zoller has been a starter all season for the Caravan.
“It’s not tough. I have great teammates,” Zoller said. “They really help me out. It’s a group effort. We’re always working hard in practice. I’m trying to play hard, play my role and do it to the best of my ability. It means a lot to contribute. Winning a regional championship is big for us, but it’s not our end goal.”
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.