Senior guard Angelo Ciaravino had a rare Friday night off for Mount Carmel.
Instead, the versatile 6-foot-6 star took in his first Northwestern game in Evanston. The Wildcats, who were hosting him, seated Ciaravino and his family behind the bench.
“Man, I was jumping out of my seat,” he said of Northwestern’s shocking 92-88 Big Ten victory over top-ranked Purdue. “I just kept jumping and jumping. I was jumping out of my seat every second. I don’t think I sat down the whole second half.
“It was insane. It was my first game that I was able to get out to. It was my mom’s (Michelle’s) birthday too. We had a heck of a time. It was such a great game.”
Speaking of great games, Ciaravino had one of his own Tuesday night, chalking up 22 points, six rebounds and three steals for the Caravan in a 58-44 win over Providence in a Catholic League crossover in New Lenox.
Mount Carmel (7-1) also picked up 11 points from Lee Marks III, who added four rebounds and three steals. Providence (1-3) was led by Seth Cheney with 16 points.
Ciaravino found different ways to score Tuesday, including layups, slam dunks and a pair of 3-pointers. He scored 16 of the Caravan’s points in the first half.
“When he’s on, he’s the best player in the state,” Mount Carmel coach Phil Segroves said of Ciaravino. “He’s really, really good. He has the ability to take over. When he wants to get things done, he can do it inside and out.”
“He’s also a really good teammate and is a really good leader, which is more important than the points he scores on the basketball court.”
The Caravan breezed through the first six games of the season, beating opponents by an average of 32 points before being stopped by Vashon of St. Louis 58-51 at Saturday’s Chicago Elite Classic.
In that game, Mount Carmel lost the lead in the closing minutes.
So, when Caravan jumped out to big leads and Providence kept fighting back three times, they knew they weren’t going to win by 32 but they also weren’t going to let that happen again.
“I had faith and we all had faith in each other,” Ciaravino said. “We knew what we had to do. We made a mistake on Saturday and we’re not looking to make mistakes like that again. We just have to tough it out.”
“It’s a game of runs,” Marks said. “We just have to take that punch and come back.”
Segroves was relieved the Caravan were able to put some distance between his team and the Celtics in the fourth quarter.
“It’s hard to win a high school basketball game, and it’s never easy to win at Providence, no matter what sport it is,” Segroves said. “Although we might not have been able to put it away, we still win by 14 points and we look as if we are upset.
“But we’re not upset. That was a good win against a tough Catholic League school.”
Ciaravino, meanwhile, is happy with his commitment to Northwestern.
“When they reached out, it was an awesome feeling,” he said. “Having a hometown school right here looking at me and showing me love was special from the start.
“After my visit, it was a no-brainer.”
That was reinforced Friday night when he not only witnessed a wild game, he was allowed to go into his future locker room and take in all of the postgame chaos.
“They were throwing water and I got a little wet,” he said. “I was able to celebrate with them. It was amazing.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.