By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – For the second consecutive year, the Carmel and Westfield boys basketball teams will battle it out for the Class 4A Sectional 8 championship.
The No. 2-ranked Greyhounds won the first of Friday’s semi-final games at the Eric Clark Activity Center, beating Hamilton Southeastern 46-33. In the second semi-final, the Shamrocks held off a late push by Noblesville to win a wild 81-74 contest.
Tonight’s Carmel-Westfield game tips off at 7 p.m., with the winner headed to the Logansport regional.
DEFENSE AND DUNKS
The Greyhounds put together another solid defensive performance on Friday. Carmel began to pull away late in the first quarter after battling the Royals for most of that first period, then used a second-quarter run to build a lead that it maintained in the second half.
The ‘Hounds also threw in some fireworks as well, making five dunks. The first one was by Charlie Williams, and his dunk gave Carmel a 7-4 lead. Not to be outdone, Southeastern’s Dalton Retzner threw down his own dunk, then Vinny Buccilla made a floater to put the Royals up 8-7.
That was to be HSE’s only lead of the game, as the Greyhounds went on a 7-0 run that stretched into the second quarter. Peter Suder and Connor Gioia made layins to finish the first quarter, then Suder scored to open the second. Brian Waddell put down a dunk to finish the run.
“I think defensively we did a good job,” said Carmel coach Ryan Osborn. “The kids carried out a good game plan. They locked in. They made shots difficult, limited some offensive rebounds.”
Retzner stopped that run with two free throws, but Carmel ended the half with a 9-2 stretch to take a 24-12 lead into halftime. Josh Whack scored five points, making two free throws and a 3-pointer.
“Trying to play from behind against them is always tough,” said Royals coach Brian Satterfield. “I got to give our guys a lot of credit. They came out here and they battled, they played hard. But Carmel’s a great team. Coach Osborn does a great job. They’re ranked where they are for a reason.”
The Greyhounds kept their lead at 10 points or above for most of the second half. There were two times the Royals got within nine, starting with the third quarter when Alex Totton hit a jump shot to get Southeastern within 25-16. Carmel responded with a 9-1 run; Waddell scored seven of those points with a triple, another dunk and a layin.
That pattern repeated itself in the fourth quarter. Jason Stutz nailed a 3 to cut the Greyhounds’ lead to 40-31 with four minutes left. But Carmel clinched the game with a 6-0 run: Suder and Whack both made two foul shots, sandwiched in between Waddell’s third dunk of the night. With that, the Greyhounds improved to 21-2 and were back in the sectional final.
“Just an opportunity to play in the championship game, you got to celebrate that,” said Osborn. “I’m proud of the kids for sticking with what we do.”
Waddell scored 13 points to lead Carmel, with Suder scoring 11 and collecting eight rebounds. Williams, who had two dunks in the game, also blocked three shots.
Buccilla scored eight points to lead the Royals, who finished their season at 12-11. Retzner added seven points and pulled four rebounds, while Sam Jacobs handed out four assists. Buccilla and Retzner are seniors, along with Stutz, Totton, Isaac Bowman, Mohammed Awad and John McCall.
For the seniors, Satterfield said, “I commend them for what they did in terms of the leadership of helping everybody stay connected and doing everything that we wanted to do.”
“It’s a group that has led things the right way and hopefully that gets passed along to the leaders that are going to take over next year,” said Satterfield.
SMITH AND SMITH STEP UP
The first half of the second semi-final was dominated by Smith, while the second half was also dominated by Smith.
Westfield’s Braden Smith put on a show in the first half, scoring 27 points. After Noblesville started the game by going up 5-0 on a Noah Harris layin and an E.J. Smith 3-pointer (more about him in a minute), Braden Smith quickly got the Shamrocks on top to stay. He made three free throws after being fouled while shooting a 3-pointer, then threw in a triple.
Cam Haffner then hit a 3, and Braden Smith’s layin finished an 11-0 run, getting the ‘Rocks up 11-5. After Harris scored a layin, Westfield blasted off on a 19-2 run that lasted well into the second quarter.
Braden Smith scored five more points in the first quarter, which ended with the Shamrocks leading 18-9. That lead swelled up to 30-9 at one point; Smith added eight more points, while Matthew Penley hit a floater and Haffner made a putback. The Millers began to chip away at that lead by halftime, but Westfield still led 38-19 at the break. Smith’s 3-pointer gave him 27 points at halftime.
“I’m sitting there and I’m glad that I’m his coach and I’m not coaching against him, that’s what it’s like,” said Westfield coach Shane Sumpter. “He’s a special kid and a special player.”
Noblesville pushed back in the third quarter, outscoring the Shamrocks 26-16 in the period. The Millers made six 3s during the quarter, and went on an 8-0 run early. Harris threw down a dunk, then David Lloyd and Luke Almodovar drained 3s.
Another Almodovar 3 got Noblesville within 48-40, but Braden Smith answered that with six straight points, a three-point play and a 3-point basket. E.J. Smith answered for the Millers with two free throws, and Almodovar struck again with his third triple of the period, which ended with Westfield up 54-45.
E.J. Smith opened the fourth quarter with a layin, then later made two free throws to get Noblesville within 57-52. Smith helped the Millers get within four twice; hitting a 3 to cut Westfield’s lead to 59-55, then his layin put the Millers within 63-59.
“They could have easily folded there after the first half,” said Noblesville coach John Peckinpaugh. “I think they came out and showed who they are as people. We just got in too big of a hole to get out of it.”
But the Shamrocks went on an 8-0 run, expanding their lead back to 71-59 with 1:58 left. Braden Smith scored on a floater, Penley made a layin, Benji Welch got an easy basket off a Smith steal, and Penley made two foul shots. Two more free throws from Penley got Westfield ahead 75-63 with 1:05 left, and the ‘Rocks held on from there, improving to 18-4 for the season.
“Credit our guys,” said Sumpter. “They didn’t panic and we just had to hang on and weather the storm. We told them it was going to be 32 minutes. I told them at halftime ‘This game’s not over,’ and it’s not. That’s a well-coached basketball team. They play hard, they play with a lot of energy, effort and a lot of heart.”
Braden Smith scored 41 points, a career-high, nailing four 3-pointers, and also dished out six assists, collected five rebounds and made five steals. Haffner added 17 points, including three 3s, and five rebounds, while Penley contributed 15 points. Nic Depasquale handed out four assists.
Noblesville’s E.J. Smith poured in 30 points, including four 3-pointers, and dished out five assists. Almodovar threw in three 3s while scoring 15 points while Harris added 10 points. Josh Durham had six rebounds and five assists for the Millers, who finished 11-11 for the season and graduated three seniors, Harris, Durham and Evan Wilson.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our guy’s grit and our three seniors, starting with Noah Harris,” said Peckinpaugh. “He’s had a great year. He’s improved more than any other kid in our program since I’ve gotten here. Josh Durham had a huge, huge year defensively for us, stepping up in a leader role as the season progressed. Then Evan Wilson, who sadly got injured. We thought he was going to have a really big year for us. Can’t ask for three better kids who helped us take steps forward in our program and the culture we want to build. ”
CARMEL 46, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 33
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Connor Gioia 2-2 5-7 9 2
Josh Whack 1-1 4-6 7 1
Peter Suder 4-10 2-2 11 1
Brian Waddell 6-10 0-0 13 3
Charlie Williams 3-6 0-0 6 2
Nick Frische 0-0 0-0 0 2
Wil Leary 0-0 0-0 0 1
Bryce Beery 0-1 0-0 0 0
Sam Orme 0-0 0-0 0 0
Josh Rauh 0-0 0-0 0 0
Burke Weldy 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 16-30 11-15 46 12
Carmel 3-point shooting (3-6) Suder 1-3, Waddell 1-2, Whack 1-1.
Carmel rebounds (20) Suder 8, Waddell 4, Williams 4, Whack 2, Gioia 1, Beery 1.
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Alex Totton 2-7 0-0 4 2
Dalton Retzner 2-6 2-2 7 0
Vinny Buccilla 3-6 2-2 8 3
Sam Jacobs 0-3 1-2 1 1
John McCall 0-2 4-4 4 3
Loudon Sundling 1-2 0-0 2 2
Jason Stutz 2-4 0-0 5 2
Isaac Bowman 0-0 0-0 0 1
Mohammed Awad 1-1 0-0 2 1
Deion Miles 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 11-31 9-10 33 15
Southeastern 3-point shooting (2-10) Retzner 1-3, Stutz 1-1, Totton 0-4, Sundling 0-1, Jacobs 0-1.
Southeastern rebounds (18) Retzner 4, Totton 3, Buccilla 3, McCall 3, Jacobs 2, Sundling 1, Stutz 1, Awad 1.
Score by Quarters
Carmel 11 13 10 12 – 46
Southeastern 8 4 12 9 – 33
WESTFIELD 81, NOBLESVILLE 74
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Josh Durham 0-0 0-0 0 4
E.J. Smith 8-16 10-10 30 3
Noah Harris 5-7 0-1 10 4
Luke Almodovar 5-11 2-2 15 3
Preston Roberts 2-5 1-1 5 1
Aaron Fine 2-2 0-0 6 4
David Lloyd 3-5 0-0 8 4
Cooper Bean 0-1 0-0 0 0
Totals 25-47 13-14 74 23
Noblesville 3-point shooting (11-27) Smith 4-8, Almodovar 3-8, Lloyd 2-4, Fine 2-2, Roberts 0-3, Harris 0-1, Bean 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (21) Durham 6, Lloyd 4, Almodovar 3, Roberts 3, Fine 2, Harris 2, Smith 1.
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Braden Smith 11-16 15-21 41 4
Cam Haffner 7-13 0-0 17 2
Benji Welch 2-3 2-2 6 2
Nic Depasquale 1-3 0-0 2 2
Matthew Penley 4-6 7-8 15 4
Luke Naas 0-1 0-0 0 0
Trey Dorton 0-1 0-0 0 0
Luke Van Dyke 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 25-43 24-31 81 15
Westfield 3-point shooting (7-21) Smith 4-9, Haffner 3-7, Depasquale 0-2, Welch 0-1, Naas 0-1, Penley 0-1.
Westfield rebounds (20) Smith 5, Haffner 5, Penley 4, Depasquale 4, Naas 2.
Score by Quarters
Noblesville 9 10 26 29 – 74
Westfield 18 20 16 27 – 81