Robby Carmody scores 34 but Mars boys fall to Abington Heights in PIAA title game
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Tuesday, March 27, 2018 | 9:57 PM
HERSHEY — Mars’ Robby Carmody spent the final 86 seconds of his senior season on the bench at Giant Center, seated beside his brother Michael, who also had five fouls.
At times his jersey covered his face.
It was a tearful moment, but Mars couldn’t have asked him for much more.
Carmody scored 34 points Tuesday night and worked desperately to carry his Planets to a state title until his early exit sealed Mars’ emotional 67-55 loss to Abington Heights in the PIAA Class 5A final in Hershey.
Win or lose, Carmody knew this was the end of his remarkable run.
“I’ve been a part of this program basically since I was born,” said Carmody, whose father coaches the team. “It’s weird because this is kind of it for me. It’s going to be really tough. … I thought I was ready for it, but you can’t prepare for this.”
The Notre Dame recruit will graduate with 2,390 career points, seventh on the WPIAL scoring list.
When the Mars’ shooters went silent after halftime, Carmody became a one-man offense.
The 6-foot-4 senior scored 27 of his team’s 30 second-half points including all 13 in the third quarter to keep Mars in contention for its first state title. He made 8 of 12 shots after half and 12 of 15 free throws.
Carmody scored eight consecutive points in a 50-second span late in the third. He made a jumper, a 3-pointer and then a layup and foul shot to pull Mars to within 39-38.
“Only one guy was scoring and that’s not good,” Mars coach Rob Carmody said. “You’re not going to win a state championship when that happens. It’s a recipe for disaster.”
Mars had worked all season to not become a one-man offense, but Robby Carmody sensed trouble. Mars had led 24-25 at halftime but started the third quarter with a six missed shots and a turnover.
“You’ve poured your heart and soul into this program from the time you were born and now this is it,” Rob Carmody said. “This is the last time you’re putting on that uniform. I think he just said: ‘I’m going to go. I’m going to try to will this and hopefully someone will knock a shot down and we’ll get everybody going.’ Unfortunately, it just didn’t happen.”
Carmody’s teammates went 1 for 14 shooting in the second half.
“We weren’t hitting shots,” Robby Carmody said. “I wanted to try to make plays and have the defense collapse on me, so I could kick out to open shooters.”
George Tinsley scored 29 points for Abington Heights (27-3), which was making its first state championship appearance. The District 2 champion had four scorers in double figures. Jack Nealon scored 13 points, and Corey Perkins and Jackson Danzig added 11 each.
Nobody but Carmody reached double figures for Mars (25-5), which also was state runner-up in 2016. Andrew Recchia and Brandon Caruso each had nine.
“We played very good in the first half,” Rob Carmody said. “In the second half, it was too much standing and watching and waiting for Robby to do something. That’s just not good. That’s not how we’ve been constructed, but that’s what happened.”
Mars trailed by nine points when Robby Carmody was called for a reach-in foul with 1:26 left. The teams combined for 40 fouls, with Abington Heights’ Danzig also fouling out. Carmody thought his fifth foul was a clean steal, but was forced to take a seat.
Until that moment, he hadn’t lost hope.
“We came back from 10 points in 30 seconds earlier in the year,” Robby Carmody said, “so there’s always hope. Especially on big stages like this. It stung a little bit having to sit out for the end.”
With his 34 points tonight @robbycarmody23 finished his career 2.390 points, passed legendary Don Hennon tonight and finished as the 7th all time leading scorer in WPIAL history.
— MarsHSHoops (@MarsHSHoops) March 28, 2018
Thank you seniors for the most unforgettable year ever. I love all of you and I’m so proud to be able to say that I played alongside of you for a state championship. I know the outcome wasn’t what we wanted, but no matter what each and everyone of you is like a brother to me.
— Michael Carmody (@MichaelCarmod10) March 28, 2018
Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.
Tags: Mars
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