Sterling Brown Steps Up, Leads Carmel Past Zionsville

<p>When you lose a Division 1 basketball player from your team, things are bound to change.  Add to that the loss of multiple key players and the next year you are really going to be a different team.  </p><p>That was the situation that both Carmel and Zionsville found themselves in on Tuesday night.  In the first game of the new season, Carmel is now without <strong>Ryan</strong> <strong>Cline</strong> and <strong>Keegan</strong> <strong>Culp</strong>.  Zionsville, they were without <strong>Derrik Smits, Braden Hall, Jake Mann,</strong> and a few others.  Things were going to be different.</p> <p>Zionsville got out to an early lead on the back of freshman point guard <strong>Isaiah</strong> <strong>Thompson</strong>.  Isaiah, the younger brother of Purdue and Brebeuf Jesuit standout <strong>P.J. Thompson</strong>, looked great in his first game of his high school career.  However, the first quarter belonged to <strong>Preston</strong> <strong>Flamion</strong>.  He had 9 points in the opening eight minutes and kept Carmel within 2 after the first quarter.</p> <p>Fouls began to mount up for both teams as the referees called a tight game.  Carmel senior <strong>Trenton</strong> <strong>Richardson</strong> had been effective in the post but he had four fouls heading into halftime and sat.  This forced Carmel to change their plans a bit and go small with Flamion playing more inside.</p> <p>With Cline now gone, Carmel was looking for someone to step up and take control of the team.  Starting the game, that was a bit unknown.  By the end, it looked like this would be <strong>Sterling</strong> <strong>Brown&#39;s</strong> team.  The junior guard took the reigns at the point and really controlled the flow of the game.  His free throw shooting, especially down the stretch, came up huge as he went 10/11 from the line. Heading into the half, Brown had hit 4/5 from the line in the second quarter and helped to give the Greyhounds a 28-27 lead.  </p> <p>The difference in the game came in the third quarter when Carmel&#39;s defense was able to step up and force Zionsville into bad situations.  With Zionsville having a very young backcourt, a sophomore and a freshmen, they had issues at times with decision making.  Last season, they had shooters around the perimeter that could take some of the pressure off.  This season, Zionsville doesn&#39;t have much in the way of a lights out shooters but rather guys that can make a shot.  They found that out in the third when were only able to muster four points.  Zionsville went 2/4 from the field and 0/4 from the free throw line.  </p> <p>Carmel got up into a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter but <strong>Isaiah</strong> <strong>Thompson</strong> found his groove again at the end.  The talented freshmen went 4/7 from the field for 12 points in the final eight minutes of the game including a three to pull them within four with less than two minutes to go.  But, it wasn&#39;t enough as Carmel&#39;s <strong>Sterling</strong> <strong>Brown</strong> had his best quarter of the game and helped to hold off Zionsville, 57-53.  Brown was perfect hitting a pair of field goals and going 6/6 from the free throw line for 10 points and finishing with 21 for the game.</p> <p><strong>Isaiah</strong> <strong>Thompson</strong> finished with 19 points on 7/12 shooting.  Carmel transfer, now Zionsville guard <strong>Dominic</strong> <strong>Genco</strong> had 13 points.  <strong>Preston</strong> <strong>Flamion</strong> had 14 points.</p>