One last hurdle for Mars, Carmody
Robby Carmody has had about as big of a senior season as a high school player could have.
Among his accomplishments the past few months have been leading Mars to its first WPIAL title, topping all WPIAL players in scoring, surpassing 2,000 career points and being named the Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year.
But his sensational senior season nearly didn’t happen — at least at Mars. Carmody seriously considered attending a prep school before moving on to play at Notre Dame this fall. He had a list of suitors, but ultimately decided to stay home.
“We were at the [Cancer Research Classic in Wheeling in January] and were watching a few of the schools that we talked to,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody, Robby’s father. “We were watching a team with 7-foot guys, and I said to him, ‘How much fun would it be playing with those guys?’ He goes, ‘Not as much fun as playing with the guys I grew up with.’”
Robby and his buddies, some of whom he’s been playing with since the second grade, will try to help Mars win a PIAA championship for the first time Tuesday when the Planets (25-4) play Abington Heights (26-3) in the Class 5A final at Giant Center in Hershey. This will be the second appearance in the final for the Planets, who lost to NeumannGoretti two years ago.
For Carmody, the allure of playing at a prep school like some of the players he plays with and against on the AAU circuit was strong. He would get to play with other Division I-bound players, face stiffer competition, and focus heavily on strengthening his body for college. But Carmody couldn’t bring himself to make the move. And for him, it has paid off.
“It’s been a special ride this year,” he said.
Carmody has matured a lot this year, according to his father. He’s become more of a leader, has been eating healthier and getting more sleep, and has been working out frequently with a couple of trainers — former Highlands and Duquesne star Micah Mason, and Bill Nichol of Outer Limits Training.
Carmody, a 6-4 guard, averages 31 points per game and has scored 2,356 in his career. But as he and his father will be quick to tell you, this Mars squad is no one-man team. Andrew Recchia is a talented junior guard and the team’s second-leading scorer. Mike Carmody, Robby’s brother, is a 6-6, 265-pound sophomore center who has been a force down low. The other two starters, senior guard Cade Hetzler and junior guard Brandon Caruso, have both been big contributors. Hetzler made the
winning basket with nine seconds left to give Mars a 62-61 win against Milton Hershey in Monday’s semifinals.
As thrilling of a win Mars had in the semifinals, it didn’t compare to the one that Abington Heights secured to reach its first final. Abington Heights led Bonner-Prendergast, 48-45, in the final seconds of regulation. Bonner-Prendergast missed a 3-pointer, but Abington Heights was called for a loose-ball foul with one second left. By that time, some Abington Heights fans were showering the court with Hershey’s Kisses, believing the game was over. A technical foul was assessed, giving Bonner-Prendergast four free throws. The first three fell through. The fourth rimmed out. Abington Heights eventually avoided heartbreak by pulling out a 56-51 overtime win.
Abington Heights, located near Scranton, won the District 2 championship. In addition to beating Bonner-Prendergast, one of the top teams in the Philadelphia Catholic League, the Comets defeated perennial power Chester, 49-48, in the second round. Jackson Danzig, a 6-6 senior guard, scored the winning bucket against Chester and had 38 points in a quarterfinal win against Northeastern. He and 6-5 junior forward George Tinsley average 17 points per game.
“They have a couple of nice-sized kids in Danzig and Tinsley,” Rob Carmody said. “Danzig can really shoot the basketball. He made eight or nine 3s in a game recently. The Tinsley kid is a really well-rounded player. He can step out and shoot and get to the rim. Their other guys are good players. You don’t beat the regular-season Philadelphia Catholic League champion unless you’re really good.”
But as it has showed all season, Mars is really good, too. And for Robby Carmody, finishing his career leading the Planets to a state title would make his senior season perfect.
“It would be the cherry on top,” he said. “All of us have put everything that we can into this program since we started playing second and third grade in the youth program. We’ve all worked to get to this point. It’s a really big thank you to the people that came before us, that paved the way and made it possible, showed us that we can come out from a little school from Mars and really make a splash in the WPIAL and the state.”