Bowman, Notre Dame crush Steinert to start season
LAWRENCE » Over the summer, Cartier Bowman watched as one star player transferred. Five others decided to do the same. But rather than follow a trail started by someone else, the senior wanted to carve his own path.
Bowman’s fateful decision to stay at Notre Dame for his final high school season is already paying dividends.
The 6-foot-4 athletic forward erupted for a careerhigh 33 points to lead the Irish to an 80-49 seasonopening romp of Steinert at home Friday night.
“I was considering going, but then me and my mom sat down, talked about it,” Bowman said. “Why leave? It could be me and my teammates. I could be the leader, finally be able to lead a group throughout my years. So nah, I feel like me staying here was better.”
Juniors Qai Kellman and Mike Kane combined for 25 points, and five different players totaled 10 3-pointers for Notre Dame.
Using his length and leaping ability to bully the Spartans underneath the basket, Bowman converted 14 field goals and went to the foul line five different times. He scored 18 points in the first half, which included a thunderous dunk on a lob from Kellman in transition.
That bucket put the Irish up 32-20 with 1:14 remaining before halftime. Steinert called timeout as the newlook Irish began to settle in and pull away.
“That dunk got me very energized,” Bowman said. “Usually I try to play my game on the wing now since I’m trying to advance my game. But I saw here I was having an advantage down low, so I just stayed down low.”
As one of only three seniors and the only returning player with significant varsity experience, Bowman recognizes that he needs “to make sure everybody’s on track.”
“That means he’s a leader. It means he’s a Notre Dame guy,” head coach Rich Roche said. “And that’s what we have — we have Notre Dame guys right now. You’ve got a bunch of kids that are willing to be led by him, and he’s proven to be an exceptional leader so far. I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s really been a pleasure to coach.”
Roche, the school’s athletic director, assumed the helm of the program last month when Bob Turco resigned after seven seasons.
The last three Irish teams went a combined 73-15, and Roche said he understands why Mercer County fans would expect the Irish to drop off this season given this is an unproven roster after all the transfers.
But Notre Dame showed Friday that even though they are undersized, they have plenty of guards who can shoot, penetrate the lane and finish at the rim. And if they continue to space the floor and share the ball how they did against Steinert, a surprise season could be in store.
“Sometimes teams like this are more fun to coach because no one has any expectations for them, and they know that,” said Roche, who has 20-plus years of high school and college coaching experience. “They come in every day and kind of put their nose to the grindstone. But if you told me the first win was going to be over Steinert by this many, I would’ve said, ‘No way, no way.’ I wouldn’t have believed it. They’re a muchimproved team, Kyle (Flanagan) is a good coach.”
Mario Mazur led Steinert with 12 points, Matthew Jean-Mary added eight points and Samuel Cohen tacked on seven points.
Aidan Callahan and Justin Yu each buried a pair of 3-pointers for Notre Dame. Maybe you haven’t heard of them, but they are two more fresh faces eager to keep the Irish’s winning tradition alive.
“We say this all the time: No one’s going to feel sorry for us, so we can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Roche said. “It’s not about the kids that aren’t here. It’s about the kids that are here.”
Mazur 5-0-12, Jean-Mary 4-0-8, Cohen 2-1-7, Giordano 2-2-6, Morrison 3-0-6, Knab 2-0-5, Meszaros 1-0-2, Tella 1-0-2, Pittaro 0-1-1.
20-4-49.
Totals —
Bowman 14-5-33, Kellman 5-0-13, Kane 5-0-12, Callahan 2-0-6, Yu 2-0-6, Campion 2-0-4, Weber 1-0-3, Feretic 1-0-3.
29-5-80.
Totals — Steinert (0-1) 10 NotreDame (1-0) 15 3-point goals — 12 23 12 22 15 — 20 — 49 80
Mazur 2, Cohen 2, Knab (S). Kellman 3, Kane 2, Callahan 2, Yu 2, Weber (ND).