By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – Fishers was locked in a tough battle with Delta in the Tiger Den Wednesday night, and coach Lauren Vail challenged her team in the beginning of the second quarter.
The Tigers responded to that challenge very well – to the tune of a 21-0 run. Fishers didn’t stop there, but continued its momentum through the second half on its way to a 67-36 victory over the Eagles.
While the Tigers led early, Delta proved to be a formidable challenge in the first quarter. Fishers led 8-4 thanks to six points from Tamia Perryman, then 10-6 after Katie Burton scored on a layin.
But the Eagles came back to lead 11-10; Madison Delaney’s 3-pointer gave Delta the lead. Both teams traded 3s during the final couple minutes of the period: Kaitlynn Feagan hit a long-range shot, then Burton’s 3 in the quarter’s last few seconds put the Tigers on top 16-14.
The Eagles opened the second quarter with five straight points from its two freshman players: Addie Chester scored off a steal and Gracie Gilland drained a 3. That put Delta up 19-16 and Fishers called a timeout with 6:54 left in the period.
Following the timeout, the Eagles didn’t score again for the remainder of the half. As for the Tigers? Katie Howard scored on a floater, then Skylar Fulton’s 3 gave Fishers the lead for good, at 21-19. Feagan and Emmerson both hit 3s during the run, then Fulton nailed her second 3 late in the period.
“We know we have kids that can shoot the ball, but we’ve really had to talk to them about when the best times to shoot those are,” said Vail. “And tonight we showed that when we get those off of kickouts and good ball movement, our percentage increases even more.”
Emmerson also had a nice under-the-basket layin, while Feagan scored off a steal, then converted the and-1 opportunity. That was the last score of the first half, and Fishers led 37-19 after that.
“We got contributions from a lot of different players tonight and that’s also something that I really like about this group,” said Vail.
Delta ended the run by scoring the first basket of the third quarter, but Fishers kept itself solidly in control in the second half. The Tigers’ defense played very strong, stealing practically at will; at times not allowing the Eagles to get past the half-court line.
“That’s something we’ve been talking about doing more,” said Vail. “That was one of our keys to success in the comeback win that we had over Pendleton Heights last week, was that we really picked the pressure up and were able to turn them over a little bit. And so we talked about that tonight and I was pleased with how our girls came out and did that.”
Delta got to within 43-26 midway through the third, but a quick six-point run took care of that. Perryman made back-to-back baskets, then Feagan scored off a steal. The Tigers then held the Eagles to six points in the fourth quarter. Feagan and Cierra Tolbert each added four points in that period.
Three players hit double figures: Feagan scored 15 points, Perryman added 14 and Fulton contributed 11. Perryman reached double-double status with 10 rebounds, while Lydia Stullken grabbed seven and Emmerson collected five.
Feagan dished out four assists. The Tigers totaled 16 steals as a team, with Emmerson making five steals.
Fishers is 9-4 for the season and will go on the road for the next month, starting with a Friday game at Hamilton Heights.
Fishers 67, Delta 36
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Katie Burton 3-10 0-0 7 0
Audra Emmerson 3-7 2-4 9 1
Skylar Fulton 2-3 5-6 11 4
Tamia Perryman 7-9 0-0 14 2
Lydia Stullken 1-4 1-2 3 1
Cierra Tolbert 3-4 0-0 6 1
Kaitlynn Feagan 6-8 1-1 15 1
Katie Howard 1-3 0-0 2 1
Addison Arena 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 26-48 9-13 67 12
Score by Quarters
Delta 14 5 11 6 – 36
Fishers 16 21 16 14 – 67
Fishers 3-point shooting (6-14) Fulton 2-3, Feagan 2-2, Burton 1-3, Emmerson 1-3, Howard 0-2, Stullken 0-1.
Fishers rebounds (29) Perryman 10, Stullken 7, Emmerson 5, Burton 3, Tolbert 2, Fulton 1, Howard 1.
Fishers’ Lydia Stullken gets control of a ball during the first quarter of the Tigers’ game with Delta Wednesday night at the Tiger Den. Fishers beat the Eagles 67-36, making a 21-0 run in the second period. (Richie Hall)