By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
In an all-county battle at the Tiger Den, the Carmel girls basketball team won its seventh straight game by beating Fishers 79-52 on Tuesday.
The Tigers started the game strong, with Tamia Perryman hitting consecutive putbacks to put Fishers up 4-0. But the Class 4A No. 1 Greyhounds got their offense going after that, embarking on a 20-2 run that monopolized most of the period and put them ahead 20-6.
“Early on when we were having a little trouble scoring, we just had great looks and didn’t make anything,” said Carmel coach Tod Windlan. The coach said once his team started making baskets and getting turnovers, which led to the ‘Hounds getting easy transition baskets. Windlan said the way his team “shared the ball in transition was fun to watch tonight.”
The run ended with a flourish, as Tomi Taiwo hit a 3-pointer, then Amy Dilk scored easy baskets off back-to-back steals. The Tigers cut the lead to 20-10 by the end of the quarter; Toni Grace scored on a layin, then Ali Gerka made a basket off a Grace steal.
Carmel rolled through the second period, leading 45-21 at halftime after opening the quarter with a 17-13 run. Dilk poured in nine points during the period, including a 5-of-5 effort from the free-throw line. Fishers did get its first run during the middle of the quarter, with six straight points. Kenedi London scored and Katie Burton added four points.
The Tigers made another 6-0 run in the third quarter, with Grace scoring four points. That got Fishers within 51-33. But the ‘Hounds answered with a 15-5 run of their own that lasted well into the fourth period and gave them a 66-36 lead. Blake Smith got a pair of layins in the third quarter during that run.
Taiwo helped out with four foul shots during that time, finishing up an outstanding foul shooting performance: The senior went 10-of-10 from the line for the game. Dilk also did well, making all seven of her free throws. Reagan Hune was 4-of-4.
Dilk finished with 25 points, eight assists and seven steals. Taiwo added 17 points. Jasmine McWilliams led on the boards with five rebounds. Smith blocked three shots.
“Carmel’s very good and they’re very good at what they do,” said Fishers coach Lauren Vail. “They force us into a lot of first-half turnovers, and that really hurt us.
“I thought our kids played really hard. We were able to handle their pressure a little bit better as the game wore on, which is all I could ask. But you got to give credit to Carmel. They’re No. 1 in the state for a reason and they played very well.”
Grace scored 21 points for Fishers, with Perryman playing strong by collecting nine rebounds. Lydia Stullken had two blocks.
Carmel is now 20-1 for the season, clinching its third consecutive 20-win season. The Greyhounds will go back on the road Friday for a huge Metropolitan Conference game at Pike, the No. 2 team in 4A.
The Red Devils are 6-0 in the MIC, so they have already clinched a share of the title. Carmel is 4-1, so the ‘Hounds are still in contention for a share of the championship as well.
“We haven’t won the MIC in a long time at Carmel, so it’s something we got our eyes set on. So hopefully we’ll come ready to play. We got to rebound better than we did tonight.”
Fishers is 10-10 and hosts Avon Saturday afternoon for its final Hoosier Crossroads Conference game of the season.
Carmel 79, Fishers 52
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Amy Dilk 9-17 7-7 25 1
Blake Smith 3-5 1-2 7 2
Tomi Taiwo 3-8 10-10 17 1
Jasmine McWilliams 2-6 0-0 4 1
Reagan Hune 1-4 4-4 6 1
Maddi Sears 2-3 0-0 5 4
Mackenzie Wood 2-2 0-0 4 2
Macy Berglund 2-3 0-0 4 1
Molly Gillig 1-2 0-0 3 2
Vanessa Mullins 1-2 0-1 2 1
Sophie Bair 0-0 2-2 2 0
Molly Kracht 0-1 0-0 0 0
Totals 26-53 24-26 79 16
Carmel 3-point shooting (3-16) Taiwo 1-4, Sears 1-2, Gillig 1-2, Dilk 0-6, Hune 0-1, Berglund 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (23) McWilliams 5, Smith 3, Berglund 3, Dilk 2, Wood 2, Hune 1, Sears 1, Gillig 1, team 5.
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Toni Grace 8-12 4-5 21 3
Ali Gerka 1-5 0-0 2 0
Tamia Perryman 4-8 1-3 9 4
Kenedi London 2-5 1-1 5 4
Lydia Stullken 0-1 2-2 2 1
Briana McGee 0-0 0-0 0 3
Skylar Fulton 0-3 0-0 0 0
Casey Walker 1-1 0-0 2 1
Lauren Emmerson 0-0 0-0 0 0
Katie Burton 3-5 0-1 6 3
Cierra Tolbert 0-3 2-2 2 0
Audra Emmerson 1-1 0-0 3 0
Totals 20-44 10-14 52 19
Fishers 3-point shooting (2-11) Grace 1-3, A. Emmerson 1-1, Fulton 0-3, Gerka 0-2, Burton 0-1, London 0-1.
Fishers rebounds (17) Perryman 9, McGee 3, Stullken 2, Burton 1, London 1, Tolbert 1.
Score by Quarters
Carmel 20 25 16 18 – 79
Fishers 10 11 10 21 – 52
ABOVE: Carmel’s Blake Smith (21) and Fishers’ Lydia Stullken go up for the tipoff at the Greyhounds-Tigers basketball game Tuesday at the Tiger Den.
BELOW: Fishers’ Kenedi London (25) and Brianna McGee (3) guard Carmel’s Tomi Taiwo (22) as she takes a shot during the Tigers-Greyhounds girls basketball game.
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