Hamilton Southeastern notched its biggest win of the early season on Saturday, upsetting Class 4A No. 2 Fort Wayne North Side 75-67 in an overtime game at the Royals’ gym.
Aaron Etherington made a 3-pointer with four seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 61-all and send it to the extra period. The Legends made the first basket of the overtime on a 3-pointer, but HSE went on a run to take the lead and also made some key defensive stops.
North hit one more 3-pointer to cut Southeastern’s lead to four with 30 seconds left, but the Royals hit their free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
“Our guys were resilient tonight,” said HSE coach Brian Satterfield. He credited his team with fighting back when it got down, playing together, moving the ball and getting quality shots.
Four different players scored at least 15 points for the Royals. Noah Smith led the way with 21 points, followed by Etherington with 16 and Nick Bowman and Mabor Majak with 15 each.
“We know that we got different guys that can step up,” said Satterfield.
The Royals totaled 43 rebounds on the night, with Chaz Birchfield collecting nine boards. Etherington had eight rebounds, Majak grabbed seven, and Bowman and Smith both had five. Birchfield also handed out five assists.
“The biggest thing was what we did on the boards,” said Satterfield.
Finally, the Royals totaled eight blocked shots on the night. Majak, a 7-foot-1 sophomore made four blocks, with Etherington and Smith both making two.
“We got some length,” said Satterfield. “That’s one thing we like about this team.”
The Royals are now 3-0. They will play at 4A No. 7 North Central next Friday, then host Center Grove on Saturday.
Fast start leads ‘Hounds to win
Carmel took control early and then rolled to a 59-28 victory over Pendleton Heights Saturday at the Eric Clark Activity Center.
The Greyhounds led 12-2 after the first quarter, then got past a defensive second period to lead 18-5 at halftime. Carmel put the game away with a 24-point fourth quarter.
Luke Heady blasted in five 3-pointers on his way to a game-leading 19 points. Cole Jenkins added 15 points, including four 3-pointers, with Andrew Owens scoring 12. Owens and John Michael Mulloy both pulled seven rebounds, with Jenkins and Heady both grabbing five. Jenkins dished out six assists and Jackson handed out four. Mulloy blocked two shots.
Carmel is now 2-1 and hosts two Hamilton County rivals next weekend: Noblesville on Friday and Fishers on Saturday.
Another tough loss for Fishers
Fishers lost another tough one on Saturday, as Fort Wayne Snider beat the Tigers 63-61 at the Tiger Den.
It was a close game throughout. Fishers led 16-15 after the first quarter and 35-29 at halftime, but the Panthers worked their way back into the contest in the third period.
Willie Jackson had a solid game, scoring 22 points and making 14 of 17 free-throw attempts. Jeremy Szilagyi drained two 3-pointers on his way to 15 points.
The Tigers are now 1-3 for the season and will play at Carmel next Saturday.
No. 10 ‘Blazers zoom past Speedway
Class 1A No. 10 University used a strong defensive outing and 22 points from senior David Howard to score a 61-36 win over the Speedway Sparkplugs Saturday evening.
Howard scored 12 points in the second quarter on a trio of three pointers and an old fashioned three point play as the Trailblazers stretched a 12-8 first quarter lead to a 29-17 halftime advantage.
Josh Watson, who scored University’s first five points of the game, helped break the game open in the third quarter scoring eight points in a two minute span as the Trailblazers opened up a 21 point lead late in the period to remove all doubt.
Trailblazers coach Brandon Lafferman was pleased to get a road win and a good defensive performance. “This was a great road win for us in a front of pretty full road crowd. Our guys handled that situation really well. Defensively we were great. This was the fourth game in a row our defense was fantastic and tonight it really led to a lot of transition baskets. Tonight was our most fast break baskets of the season.”
The Trailblazers have held three opponents under 40 points a game and are giving up just 39.3 points per game. Along with strong defense, the Blazers have become known for sharing the basketball and Saturday night was no exception. University had 17 assists on 25 field goals, with seven players having at least one helper. Zack Hodgin and Sam Mervis led with four assists each.
University won the rebounding battle with Sparkplugs, 25-19. Foster Flamion had seven caroms, while Howard pulled down six.
The Trailblazers improved to 4-0 on the season and will be off until next weekend. Friday University travels to Brownsburg for a game with Sectional 58 rival Bethesda Christian, before travelling to Anderson on Saturday evening for a PAAC North game with Liberty Christian.