The mask comes off for Brother Rice’s Tre Dowdell. And everything else falls into place. ‘I was amped up.’

The mask came off Friday night. And Brother Rice’s Tre Dowdell felt like himself again.

He broke his nose in a late December practice when he was head-butted by a teammate.

After having surgery and missing the State Farm Holiday Classic, the junior guard returned in early January but struggled with wearing a mask to protect the nose.

“It was kind of hard to play, hard to get in a rhythm,” Dowdell said. “My minutes were low. I just got the mask off, and this was my first game I played without it.

“I was amped up. I was ready to go. I’m fully back now.”

Dowdell made that very clear, coming off the bench and knocking down four 3-pointers in the second quarter. He scored 18 points to lead the host Crusaders to a huge 63-57 win over Mount Carmel in a Catholic League Blue showdown in Chicago.

Khalil Ross scored 18 points and pulled down six rebounds for Brother Rice (24-3, 10-2). Peter McShane added eight points and Zavier Fitch finished with seven points and seven rebounds.

Angelo Ciaravino led Mount Carmel (21-4, 9-2) with 17 points. Ciaravino’s brother, Anthony, scored 12 points. Rich Zoller chipped in with 11.

Dowdell came into the game for the first time late in the first quarter after star guard Ahmad Henderson picked up his second foul.

In the second quarter, Dowdell unleashed his 3-point shot, burying four of them to help the Crusaders turn a 21-19 deficit with 4:30 left in the second quarter into a 34-22 halftime lead.

“The first one went in, it felt good, and I just kind of knew they were going to keep coming and coming,” Dowdell said. “I knew my teammates were going to find me and I was going to knock them down.

“I try to keep it balanced. I try to penetrate, hit midrange shots and then the 3-pointer. I’ve always had that.”

Brother Rice coach Conte Stamas saw Dowdell playing with a sense of confidence that had been lacking since the injury.

“I told him the other day, ‘You’re just not back yet. You’re just not the same player,’” Stamas said. “He told me, ‘Coach, it’s a real challenge wearing the mask. I get it off this week and you’ll see a difference.’

“He sure made a big difference. He was a big bonus.”

The game seemed poised to be a battle between the top two guards in the Catholic League, with Denver recruit DeAndre Craig of Mount Carmel squaring off for the last time in high school against Niagara-bound Ahmad Henderson of Brother Rice.

But Craig was held to 10 points and Henderson, who got in early foul trouble, finished with just four points.

The Crusaders showed they are more than just a one-man show.

“It shows how deep our team is,” Ross said. “All 16 of our guys can play. We know how to play basketball. We play defense. We play the game the right way.”

Down double digits for most of the second half, Mount Carmel closed strong but ran out of time on a valiant comeback attempt.

“From a scouting standpoint, we know who Tre Dowdell is,” Mount Carmel coach Phil Segroves said. “We weren’t expecting him to play much because he hadn’t the past four or five games, but he came out and knocked a bunch of shots down.

“This might have been the worst we’ve shot all year, but I couldn’t be more proud in the fight of our guys toward the end of the game. Hats off to Brother Rice.”

Dowdell, meanwhile, gave the Crusaders the lift they needed.

“Tre is probably one our best 3-point shooters,” Ross said. “He came back and secured the game for us.”

Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.