By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – The near-capacity crowd at the Tiger Den was prepared for excitement as the Fishers boys basketball team opened its season Wednesday by hosting Ben Davis.
But it’s safe to say no one was prepared for how dominant the defending Class 4A state champion Tigers would be. In a re-match of the 2024 state championship game, Fishers played incredible basketball as it took down the Giants 71-36.
The Tigers were in control from the beginning. They scored the first 10 points of the game: Cooper Zachary sandwiched two 3-pointers between a JonAnthony Hall steal and dunk. Jason Gardner Jr. finished the run with a layin.
Gardner
In other words, Fishers was ready to go from the beginning. Coach Garrett Winegar said the team was “ready to play somebody else” after what he called a long fall with the players going against each other.
“Our practices have been really competitive,” said Winegar, who started his fifth year as the Tigers coach on Wednesday. “I’ve been on them pretty hard, just about some maturity things, and things I felt like we needed to get better to have a chance to get back to where we want to be.
“And I feel like we were ready to go, ready to play somebody else. I think we saw a lot of the growth and maturity that these guys have done in their game, and how hard they’ve worked over the offseason with some of those guys and how much they’ve improved since we finished last year.”
Three of the five starters from last year’s title team are back: Hall and Millen McCartney, both seniors and the sophomore Zachary. Gardner, also a sophomore but often first off the bench last year, is also starting, along with senior Nathan Baker, another returning varsity player. Senior Justin Kirby also returns; he had several big games for Fishers last season.
Kirby was one of five Tigers to score in the first quarter, which finished with Fishers ahead 20-11. Millen McCartney became the sixth Tiger to get points, opening the second period with a 3. McCartney made two more triples in the quarter, with his third pushing Fishers ahead 40-20.
Ben Davis’ JaShawn Ladd threw in a 3 at the halftime buzzer, so the Tigers went into the locker room ahead 40-23. Fishers had to guard against the Giants making a run in the second half.
“It’s a heck of a program,” said Winegar. “We talk all the time about, when we first started here, about becoming like Ben Davis, how hard they play, how good coach (Don) Carlisle does with those guys. We really respect what they do, so we knew they weren’t going to quit. So, it was just really emphasizing winning those first four minutes.”
Winegar said if the team came out in those first four minutes and “really put our foot on the gas,” the Tigers would be okay. And Fishers did just that: the Tigers began the half on an 11-0 run, denying the Giants any points until the 4:01 mark of the third quarter.
Gardner played brilliant during those first minutes. He made a layin and a dunk, then made two assists to Hall: a layin and a dunk. Baker got into the act with two 3s. Zachary and Kirby also made 3s in the quarter, which finished with Fishers up 63-32. Kirby began the fourth quarter with an and-1, then Gardner added a free throw and a layin, the latter of which instituted a running clock.
Gardner scored 23 points, while Kirby finished with 11. McCartney and Zachary both made three 3-pointers for nine points.
Fishers hosts Arsenal Tech on Saturday.
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