By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – With a share of the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship in sight, the Westfield girls basketball team sprinted to the finish line.
The Shamrocks used a solid defensive effort to beat Fishers 54-33 Thursday night at the Tiger Den. With the victory, Westfield finished conference play at 6-1, giving the ‘Rocks at least a share of the title. This is the second time that Westfield has won an HCC championship, the first time was in 2016.
“I’m so proud of the kids, I’m so proud of their effort,” said Shamrocks coach Ginny Smith. “I just couldn’t be more pleased with the direction of this team. From a culture perspective, everything is really in a great place. They care about each other and they’re putting each other above themselves, and that’s just what you would hope to see as a coach. And I couldn’t be prouder.”
Westfield scored the first nine points of the game, starting with a basket by Chesney Tebbe. Olivia Robey took over after that, pouring in the next seven points. The ‘Rocks didn’t allow Fishers to get on the scoreboard until Hailey Smith made a free throw with 1:20 left in the first quarter.
Westfield led 11-3 after the first quarter. A jump shot by Katie Burton got the Tigers within 13-5, but the Shamrocks answered that with a 7-0 run. Hailey Remaks made a 3-pointer, then Gigi Eldredge scored back-to-back baskets. The momentum carried Westfield to a 26-9 lead at halftime.
“There’s no question, Fishers is a fantastic basketball team,” said Ginny Smith. “We probably caught them coming out of quarantine, so maybe for us the timing was right. But defensively, we were locked in. We did some really great things and I think we played well together as a team. It was a really great team effort.”
The Tigers, ranked No. 4 in Class 4A, had not played a game since Jan. 2. Fishers coach Lauren Votaw said the layoff did affect her team, although she didn’t want to use that as an excuse.
“This was our first game in a few weeks,” said Votaw. “We tell our kids every day that everything that happens to me today is an opportunity to learn and grow. And so that’s what today is.”
Votaw also credited Westfield with playing well.
“They came out and were ready to play,” said Votaw. “They knew they were playing for a conference title tonight. Their kids were locked in and focused from the beginning. They handled our 1-3-1 really well. So, I got to give credit to them there. They had a nice balanced attack. I think (Alyssa) Crockett only had 10. They were ready to play.”
Westfield stayed comfortably ahead in the second half, using timely baskets to stop the Tigers anytime they began to get some momentum. The Shamrocks had four 3-pointers in the third quarter: Two from Crockett and one each by Jessica Castor and Robey.
“We didn’t shoot it great, but we were able to still ‘inside out,’ it’s kind of our thing,” said Ginny Smith. “And I think we were able to get some buckets early on the inside, which opened up some stuff for us on the outside.”
Fishers made its biggest run late in the third, scoring six consecutive points. Burton had four of those points on a putback and a jumper, then Hailey Smith made a layin. But Crockett followed that up with her second 3 of the period, and Westfield was up 46-22 after three.
Eldredge went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to help keep the Shamrocks’ lead above 20 points. The Tigers got some good minutes out of Karina Scott in the fourth quarter, with four points.
“I thought as the game wore on, we came back into our own,” said Votaw. “I thought our bench energy at the end was really good. I thought our floor energy at the end was really good. I saw some positive things. We had some kids diving on loose balls and things like that.”
Robey led the Shamrocks with 14 points, followed by Eldredge with 12 points and Crockett with 10 points. Eldredge and Crockett both had outstanding defensive games, with Eldredge collecting nine rebounds and blocking three shots, and Crockett pulling six rebounds and getting four blocks.
Burton scored 14 points for Fishers and pulled eight rebounds. Hailey Smith scored seven points and collected seven rebounds.
Westfield is 16-4 overall and completed its regular season with its Thursday game. (The Shamrocks’ game with Greensburg next week has been canceled.) Westfield will now await the draw for Sectional 8, which will be revealed on Sunday night.
“We will wait for our sectional draw and just be prepared to go play in a sectional,” said Ginny Smith.
Fishers, meanwhile, is 2-1 in conference play and 13-3 overall. The Tigers will be busy for the next week making up HCC contests, starting with a Saturday trip to Avon. Fishers then plays at Brownsburg on Tuesday and at Hamilton Southeastern on Thursday, then will finish the season at home next Friday against Franklin Central.
WESTFIELD 54, FISHERS 33
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Alyssa Crockett 3-10 2-2 10 1
Chesney Tebbe 3-7 0-0 6 3
Jessica Castor 1-4 0-0 3 4
Olivia Robey 6-10 1-1 14 4
Gigi Eldredge 4-8 4-5 12 1
Jadeyn Hammes 0-0 0-0 0 0
Hailey Remaks 1-4 0-0 3 0
Ellie Kelleher 2-3 0-0 4 1
Emmrey Collinsworth 1-2 0-0 2 1
Madi Kerrigan 0-1 0-0 0 3
Alli McEvoy 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 21-49 7-8 54 18
Westfield 3-point shooting (5-15) Crockett 2-5, Remaks 1-4, Castor 1-3, Robey 1-2, Collinsworth 0-1.
Westfield rebounds (35) Eldredge 9, Crockett 6, Tebbe 4, Robey 3, Collinsworth 3, Kelleher 1, Castor 1, Remaks 1, Kerrigan 1, McEvoy 1, team 5.
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Audra Emmerson 0-6 0-2 0 1
Katie Howard 1-4 0-0 2 1
Hailey Smith 3-7 1-5 7 1
Olivia Smith 1-2 1-2 3 0
Katie Burton 7-15 0-1 14 2
Joirdyn Smith 0-1 0-1 0 3
Haley Gausepohl 0-3 0-2 0 0
Jordan Imes 0-0 0-0 0 0
Kaiya Walker 1-2 1-2 3 1
Karina Scott 2-4 0-0 4 1
Emily Gausepohl 0-2 0-0 0 0
Totals 15-46 3-15 33 10
Fishers 3-point shooting (0-15) Emmerson 0-3, H. Gausepohl 0-3, Howard 0-3, E. Gausepohl 0-2, Burton 0-2, Scott 0-1, H. Smith 0-1.
Fishers rebounds (31) Burton 8, H. Smith 7, Walker 4, Scott 2, E. Gausepohl 2, O. Smith 2, J. Smith 1, Emmerson 1, Imes 1, team 3.
Score by Quarters
Westfield 11 15 20 8 – 54
Fishers 3 6 13 11 – 33