By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – Since the Carmel girls basketball team is nursing injuries and doing the usual early-season fine tuning, the Greyhounds are figuring things out as they go through the first few weeks of their 2021-22 campaign.
Of course, Carmel’s schedule isn’t one that allows any leeway. But the Greyhounds fight as they always do, and they fought a good Zionsville team Tuesday at the Eric Clark Activity Center before falling to the Class 4A No. 9 Eagles 40-39.
Both teams made fourth-quarter comebacks. Carmel was down 34-31 with five minutes left in the game before going on an 8-0 run. Mackenzie Woods made a layin, Jamie Elliott hit a 3-pointer and Hannah Lach was good on a three-point play. Just like that, the ‘Hounds led 39-34.
But the Eagles answered that with their own 6-0 run that finished the game. Allie Caldwell started it with a free throw, then Emma Haan drained a 3-pointer. Haan later scored off a steal to put Zionsville in front. Carmel got the ball back and called a timeout with 7.9 seconds left, but a last shot didn’t go.
“I thought we were in control,” said Greyhounds coach Erin Trimpe. “I felt pretty good and I felt like they understood needing to take care of the ball. We’ve got the lead. Unfortunately we just made some early-season bad decisions and it’s just about getting back in the gym and hopefully fine-tuning everything. It was a great game. A lot of fun. I’m sure it was a lot of fun to watch. It was a lot of fun to coach. But we just didn’t have enough to put it away in that last minute.”
Carmel led 7-4 in the first quarter, with Lach scoring five of those points. After that, the Eagles’ star Laila Hull took over, pouring in the next seven points to give Zionsville an 11-9 lead. Caldwell nailed a 3 for the last basket of the quarter, and the Eagles led 14-9.
Zionsville held the lead for the entire second half, although the ‘Hounds stayed close. Lach’s tripe at the end of the half kept Carmel wtihin 19-18.
In the third quarter, Mackenzie Thomas got the Greyhounds in front 24-23 with a putback. A Haan 3 put Zionsville back ahead, but Thomas tied it up with a layin.
“Mackenzie Thomas has just been phenomenal for us the past couple games and really creates an inside presence that people really have to pay attention to,” said Trimpe. “Getting other girls to be able to hit shots from the perimeter is going to be a really big part of being able to balance our offense a little bit better.”
The Eagles led 29-26 after three periods, but Woods opened the fourth quarter with a 3 to tie things up. Hull answered that with a three-point play, then answered a Lach layin with a basket of her own to give Zionsville a 34-31 lead.
Lach finished the game with 13 points, while Thomas scored nine and collected eight rebounds. Emily Roper had six rebounds while Woods pulled five. Carmel has been without senior and Michigan commit Kate Clarke for the first few games of the season.
“She’s good,” said Trimpe. “She’s still a little while out. We’re just nursing it a little bit, taking care of her, getting her some reps and hopefully we’ll see her in December.”
Hull led all scorers with 17 points, while Haan had 13.
Carmel is 1-2 and hosts Noblesville next Tuesday.
ZIONSVILLE 40, CARMEL 39
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Mackenzie Woods 2-6 0-0 5 1
Laura Valiente 0-0 0-0 0 3
Hannah Lach 5-14 1-2 13 2
Mackenzie Thomas 4-8 1-2 9 3
Emily Roper 1-7 2-4 4 3
Taryn Fisher 0-1 0-0 0 2
Jamie Elliott 2-4 0-0 6 0
Bethany Ducat 1-2 0-0 2 0
Totals 15-42 4-8 39 14
Score by Quarters
Zionsville 14 5 10 11 – 40
Carmel 9 9 8 13 – 39
Carmel 3-point shooting (5-21) Lach 2-9, Elliott 2-4, Woods 1-3, Roper 0-2, Fisher 0-1, Ducat 0-1, Thomas 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (23) Thomas 8, Roper 6, Woods 5, Fisher 1, Valiente 1, Elliott 1, Lach 1.