By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – Hamilton Southeastern had to grind its way to the title game at its own sectional Friday night.
The Class 4A No. 1 Royals got past their biggest rival, a fired-up Fishers team, 36-27 in the second semi-final game of Sectional 8. Southeastern improved to 22-1 with the win and will take on Carmel at 7 p.m. tonight for the championship.
It wasn’t easy. Although the Royals never trailed in the game, the Tigers tied it up five different times, including three times in the third quarter, which ended at 24-24. But Southeastern outscored Fishers 12-3 in the fourth period, thanks to solid defense and perfect free throw shooting.
Despite the close game and tense situation, Royals coach Chris Huppenthal trusted his team would pull it out.
“When they were coming down there towards the end, and you just saw Tayah Irvin get in her stance, and she was ready,” said Huppenthal. “I’ve said this all year about our kids and to Tayah Irvin. Everything starts and ends with her defense. We had talked at some point in the year, and we said ‘At some point, our defense is going to have to win us a game.’ It won us a game tonight. Our kids just played outstanding defense.”
Southeastern senior Malea Jackson scored the first two points of the game on a layin, which Fishers junior Tamia Perryman answered with a rebound basket. Junior Sydney Parrish made two free throws to put HSE up 4-2, then sophomore Katie Burton tied it up again with a layin. That set the tone for the game.
Parrish scored four more points in the first quarter, which ended with the Royals ahead 8-4. The Tigers cut it to 10-9 midway through the second when senior Skylar Fulton made a 3-pointer, but a quick 6-0 run put Southeastern ahead 16-9. Senior Amaya Hamilton made a hook shot, then Parrish added two more baskets.
Cierra Tolbert hit two free throws with two seconds left, and that kept the Tigers within 16-11 at halftime.
“You got to give them a lot of credit,” said Huppenthal. “This is a rivalry game. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. They left their hearts out on the floor. (Fishers coach) Lauren Vail, she had those kids well-prepared. They came out with a belief to them. It was a great basketball game.”
The Royals led 20-14 midway through the third, but the Tigers quickly tied it up by nailing back-to-back 3s, from sophomore Audra Emmerson and Burton. Parrish put HSE back on top with a layin, but a Fishers steal led to a Burton basket, tying the game again.
Hamilton made two free throws with 36 seconds left to get HSE ahead 24-22. The Tigers answered again, as Burton’s floater knotted the game going into the fourth quarter.
The Royals ramped up their defense, and got timely baskets early, with Hamilton making two layins to get her team up 28-24. Those would be the last baskets, but Southeastern got it done from the free throw line, going 8 of 8 in the quarter. Parrish hit the first two foul shots to get the Royals up 30-24.
Sophomore Katie Howard hit a long 3-pointer with under two minutes left to keep the Tigers within 30-27, but Southeastern wouldn’t allow its rival another point. Junior Jackie Maulucci went 4 of 4 from the line in the game’s final 1:10, with Jackson making both her attempts.
Parrish led all scorers with 18 points, also pulling eight rebounds and getting three blocked shots. Maulucci had five rebounds.
Burton had nine points for Fishers, Fulton drained two 3-pointers for six points, and Perryman collected eight rebounds.
“Our kids played exceptionally hard,” said Vail. “And they did all year. We knew that we were playing our best basketball coming down the stretch. Obviously Hamilton Southeastern is a very talented basketball team. I thought that our kids went out and played really, really hard.”
The Tigers finished their season 15-10.
“I thought, really, we did a lot of great things,” said Vail. “We won some that I didn’t have on paper that we’d win, we lost some that I didn’t have on paper that we’d lose. But man, the growth that these kids showed, especially in the way that they came together as far as learning how to be teammates, learning how to play hard for one another and growing in how they understand the game, is all stuff that we’re most definitely going to build on for next year.”
Hamilton Southeastern 36, Fishers 27
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Malea Jackson 1-3 2-2 4 0
Jackie Maulucci 1-5 4-4 6 1
Amaya Hamilton 3-6 2-2 8 0
Tayah Irvin 0-3 0-0 0 2
Sydney Parrish 6-12 6-7 18 2
Lydia Self 0-0 0-0 0 1
Molly Walton 0-2 0-0 0 3
Totals 11-31 14-15 36 9
Southeastern 3-point shooting (0-6) Maulucci 0-2, Jackson 0-1, Hamilton 0-1, Irvin 0-1, Parrish 0-1.
Southeastern rebounds (21) Parrish 8, Maulucci 5, Self 3, Hamilton 3, Walton 1, Irvin 1.
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Katie Burton 4-17 0-2 9 4
Audra Emmerson 1-4 0-0 3 2
Skylar Fulton 2-7 0-0 6 3
Tamia Perryman 2-6 0-0 4 5
Lydia Stullken 0-3 0-0 0 2
Cierra Tolbert 0-0 2-2 2 0
Katie Howard 1-1 0-0 3 1
Kaitlynn Feagan 0-0 0-0 0 0
Regan Newman 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 10-38 2-4 27 17
Fishers 3-point shooting (5-16) Fulton 2-5, Burton 1-5, Emmerson 1-4, Howard 1-1, Perryman 0-1.
Fishers rebounds (16) Perryman 8, Burton 3, Stullken 3, Fulton 2.
Score by Quarters
Southeastern 8 8 8 12 – 36
Fishers 4 7 13 3 – 27
Fishers’ Katie Burton (3) tries to work around three Hamilton Southeastern players: Sydney Parrish (left), Malea Jackson (second from right) and Jackie Maulucci during the Royals-Tigers girls basketball sectional game Friday at Southeastern. The Royals won 36-27 and play Carmel in tonight’s championship game. (Kent Graham)
Southeastern’s Tayah Irvin (right) looks to pass the ball while being guarded by Fishers’ Tamia Perryman. (Kirk Green)