By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – Before a top 10 and all-county girls basketball clash with Carmel Tuesday night, Tigers coach Lauren Votaw had a challenge for her team.
“We haven’t come out and started well in the last few games and I really challenged our kids to make tonight different,” said Votaw.
Challenge accepted. Fishers was up to the task big time: The Tigers got off to a tremendous start, held off runs by the Greyhounds in the middle of the game, then finished strong to score a 65-44 win at the Tiger Den, ending Carmel’s nine-game win streak.
The game became a top 10 matchup when this week’s Class 4A coaches poll came out, with Fishers ranked No. 4 and Carmel tied for ninth with North Central. The Tigers had played the Panthers on Jan. 11, with North Central handing Fishers its only loss of the year, and the lessons of that game came up in Tuesday’s contest.
“We talked about the fact that when we faced adversity against North Central, we struggled a little bit,” said Votaw. “We struggled in the face of adversity, and so I was proud of them for when those runs came at us, they stayed together and they fought together.”
Fishers ran away with the first quarter, leading 22-7 by the end of the period. Six different players scored for the Tigers, including seven points for Tamia Perryman and five for Audra Emmerson. Both players included a 3-pointer in their first-quarter totals.
Carmel began to make a run in the second period, eventually cutting Fishers’ lead to 25-20 with 2:20 to go. Kate Clarke and Bridget Dunn each had five points, with both making a 3. But Perryman stepped up for the Tigers in the final minute of the half, nailing two triples to give Fishers a 33-24 lead at the break.
The Greyhounds came out lightning fast in the third quarter, scoring three points in the first 19 seconds on a Dunn steal and a free throw from Kiara Gill. Fishers took a timeout, then responded with a 6-0 run. Perryman started it with a layin, Hailey Smith scored off a steal and Katie Burton’s layin made the score 39-27.
Carmel went on one more run, scoring eight unanswered points to get within 39-35. Dunn drained a 3 before making a putback, and Gill hit a 3-pointer. But Fishers held off that run as well, getting the last five points of the period to lead 44-35 after three.
Clarke opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer, putting Carmel within 44-38. But after that, it was all Fishers. Burton nailed a 3 to get the Tigers’ lead back to 49-39. Clarke answered with a jumper, but Fishers took care of business after that, outscoring the ‘Hounds 16-3. Burton added eight more points during that run.
Votaw was happy with her team’s energy and communication on the defensive end.
“I was just really proud of our kids and how they weathered the storms, because they put a lot of runs on us,” said Votaw. “It felt like a lot of runs. And our kids weathered the storm. They stayed together. They stayed tough. I was just really proud of them.”
Perryman finished the game with 21 points, including three 3-pointers, while Burton scored 18. Perryman collected five rebounds, while Smith had four steals.
Dunn led Carmel’s scoring with 19 points, also hitting three 3s. Clarke scored 12 points.
“Fishers is such a good team and they really expose some of your weaknesses and they did a great job defensively on us in limiting our movement and the things that we can do,” said Greyhounds coach Erin Trimpe. “So it’s a lot of credit to them and it just shows us what we need to get back to work on.”
The Tigers are 18-1 for the season. Fishers will play another home game Saturday afternoon, taking on Avon in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game. The Tigers are on top of the conference standings with a 5-0 record.
“Our kids have done a really good job of buying in to the ‘one game at a time’ mentality,” said Votaw. “And as a staff, that’s what we try to do. The next game is the only one that matters. So we’re really trying to focus in right now on coming back tomorrow and getting ready for Avon.”
Carmel is 12-7 and also plays a conference game for its next contest. The Greyhounds play at Pike Friday in a Metropolitan Conference game.
“We’ll get back into the gym tomorrow and work on some stuff and hopefully improve on what we saw tonight,” said Trimpe.
FISHERS 65, CARMEL 44
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Kiara Gill 1-4 3-4 6 4
Bridget Dunn 7-13 2-2 19 2
Riley Pennington 1-3 2-2 4 2
Kate Clarke 4-12 2-2 12 2
Hannah Lach 1-4 0-0 3 0
Gracie Collins 0-0 0-0 0 1
Fatima Valiente 0-2 0-0 0 0
Emily Roper 0-1 0-0 0 2
Laura Valiente 0-0 0-0 0 0
Evan Spidel 0-0 0-0 0 0
Mahalet Zeruesenay 0-0 0-0 0 0
Mackenzie Thomas 0-0 0-0 0 0
Sophie Kuchik 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 14-39 9-10 44 13
Carmel 3-point shooting (7-22) Dunn 3-8, Clarke 2-8, Lach 1-3, Gill 1-2, F. Valiente 0-1.
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Audra Emmerson 4-7 0-0 9 4
Kaitlynn Feagan 1-3 0-0 3 2
Tamia Perryman 8-11 2-4 21 1
Lydia Stullken 1-2 0-0 2 0
Katie Burton 6-9 5-6 18 1
Katie Howard 0-0 0-0 0 0
Hailey Smith 3-4 2-3 8 2
Olivia Smith 2-2 0-0 4 1
Charlotte Gaffin 0-0 0-0 0 0
Kaiya Walker 0-0 0-0 0 0
Olivia Stewart 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 25-38 9-13 65 11
Fishers 3-point shooting (6-16) Perryman 3-5, Emmerson 1-3, Feagan 1-2, Burton 1-2, Howard 0-4.
Fishers rebounds (17) Perryman 5, Stullken 3, Burton 3, H. Smith 2, Emmerson 1, Feagan 1, Howard 1, O. Smith 1.
Score by Quarters
Carmel 7 17 11 9 – 44
Fishers 22 11 11 21 – 65
Fishers’ Lydia Stullken (left) guards Carmel’s Hannah Lach during the Tigers-Greyhounds game Tuesday at the Tiger Den. Fishers won 65-44. (Richie Hall)
Tamia Perryman led all scorers with 21 points. (Richie Hall)