By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – The Westfield girls basketball team picked up its third straight win on Friday.
The Shamrocks, ranked No. 7 in the one-class coaches poll and No. 6 in the Class 4A ICGSA poll, broke out of a close all-county and Hoosier Crossroads Conference game with Hamilton Southeastern at CSI Gymnasium at the beginning of the second half. Westfield won 49-37, improving to 5-1 in the conference. It was also the Shamrocks’ Pink Out game, where they honored survivors of breast cancer once the contest was finished.
The Royals led for most of the first quarter, with Maya Makalusky and Zoe Bolding scoring the first baskets to put Southeastern up 4-0. Westfield was held without a score until the 3:46 mark, when Alyssa Crocket made a 3-pointer.
The first quarter ended in a 9-9 tie; Makalusky drained a triple for the Royals, while Emmrey Collinsworth also hit a 3 for the ‘Rocks. Southeastern’s Olivia Brown opened the second period with a 3, after which Westfield went on a 6-0 run to gain its first lead at 15-12.
The back and forth continued until halftime, when Collinsworth made her second 3 of the game to get the Shamrocks up 22-20 at the break. Brown, meanwhile, totaled nine points in the second quarter.
Collinsworth’s triple started a 9-0 run for the Shamrocks. Crockett started the second half with a 3, then Collinsworth hit another 3. Westfield was then up 28-20 and wouldn’t trail again.
“Obviously you always hope that at some point, shots will start to fall if you do the right things, continue to run your offense and stay disciplined within it,” said ‘Rocks coach Ginny Smith. “And that was kind of what I felt like we were trying to do. HSE does a nice job defensively. They switch everything, so if you’re not making good reads and you’re timing’s off, it can make it difficult. So it took us a good quarter to just adjust and settle in.”
Westfield never let its lead drop below five points during the second half. A 3 from Olivia Robey turned out to be the last basket of the third quarter, and it gave the Shamrocks a 33-25 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Riley Makalusky scored eight points for Southeastern, including a basket to get HSE within 39-31. But Robey got hot, making three 3-pointers during the quarter. After Robey drained that third 3, Westfield stayed ahead by at least 10 points from the remainder of the game.
“All in all, we were fortunate tonight and we came out ahead of a really good ball club,” said Smith.
Crockett and Robey both finished with 14 points, with Robey totaling four 3-pointers. Collinsworth hit three 3s for nine points. Crockett reached double-double status with 12 rebounds, while Chesney Tebbe had nine rebounds, seven points and two blocked shots.
Brown led the Royals with 15 points, five assists and five steals. Both Maya and Riley Makalusky each scored nine points. Bolding led the rebounds with five.
Westfield is 16-3 overall and plays another HCC game next Friday, Jan. 21 at Brownsburg. The Royals are 3-3 in the conference and 11-7 overall, their next game is Tuesday at Lawrence North.
WESTFIELD 49, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 37
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Maya Makalusky 3-10 2-2 9 2
Mikayla Hinshaw 0-1 0-0 0 2
Riley Makalusky 4-10 1-2 9 2
Olivia Brown 7-13 0-1 15 3
Zoe Bolding 1-3 0-0 2 0
Teegan Acres 1-4 0-0 2 0
Lauren Stewart 0-3 0-0 0 2
Caleigh Scott 0-1 0-0 0 0
Totals 16-45 3-5 37 11
Southeastern 3-point shooting (2-11) M. Makalusky 1-3, Brown 1-1, Stewart 0-3, Acres 0-2, Scott 0-1, R. Makalusky 0-1.
Southeastern rebounds (22) Bolding 5, Hinshaw 4, R. Makalusky 3. M. Makalusky 2, Acres 2, Brown 2, Stewart 1, team 3.
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Ellie Kelleher 1-3 3-3 5 0
Alyssa Crockett 6-11 0-0 14 2
Chesney Tebbe 3-7 1-4 7 0
Olivia Robey 5-8 0-0 14 4
Hailey Remaks 0-2 0-0 0 2
Emmrey Collinsworth 3-7 0-0 9 1
Mikayla Rudolph 0-4 0-0 0 0
Aubrey Crockett 0-0 0-0 0 0
Lindsey Van Dyke 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 18-42 4-7 49 9
Westfield 3-point shooting (9-22) Robey 4-6, Collinsworth 3-5, Al. Crockett 2-4, Rudolph 0-3, Remaks 0-2, Kelleher 0-1, Tebbe 0-1.
Westfield rebounds (33) Al. Crockett 12, Tebbe 9, Kelleher 2, Collinsworth 2, Robey 2, Remaks 2, Au. Crockett 1, Rudolph 1, team 2.
Score by Quarters
Southeastern 9 11 5 12 – 37
Westfield 9 13 11 16 – 49