By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – Sectional environments are sometimes not easy for young players.
If a young team is also playing its main rival, that only adds to the nerves. A young Fishers team faced that situation on Tuesday, when the Tigers took on Hamilton Southeastern in the quarterfinals of Class 4A Sectional 8 at Carmel’s Eric Clark Activity Center.
But thanks to the leadership and maturity of Jalen Haralson, Fishers made it through. The Tigers used an 18-4 run during the third quarter to break out of a close game with the Royals and eventually win 68-49.
Southeastern led for most of the first quarter before Haralson pushed Fishers ahead 8-7 on a layin with 1:38 left in the period. Braeden Totten tied the game with a free throw seconds later, and that 8-8 score is where the first quarter ended.
Free throws from Keenan Garner and Haralson got the Tigers up 12-8. The Royals came back to tie it with baskets from Joe Karwowski and Donovan Hamilton. The back and forth continued throughout the second period, with HSE’s Reph Stevenson getting involved; he scored six points in the quarter.
Totten gave the Royals a 25-24 halftime lead with a layin. Hamilton, Karwowski and Stevenson all had seven points for the Royals, while Haralson had 21 points for Fishers at halftime.
“He really carried us in the first half,” said Tigers coach Garrett Winegar. “He had 21 of our 25. And then from there on, other guys started stepping up and making plays, and that’s when we went on our run.”
There was still some back-and-forth early in the third quarter. Karwowski’s layin put Southeastern ahead 28-25, but Garner answered that with a three-point play.
Fishers’ Keenan
Garner grabs the ball as Southeastern’s Joe Karwowski defends. (Kent Graham)
The Royals went up 31-28 after Totten hit a 3-pointer, but that’s when Fishers started its run. Taden Metzger got hot, nailing back-to-back triples to put the Tigers up 34-31. They would hold the lead from that point forward.
Winegar said that getting Metzger shots was a big focus Fishers wanted to have at halftime.
“We had to get him some shots,” said Winegar. “We had to find a way to get Taden some shots, so we went to a couple different actions. We just tried to put them in situations where they had to decide between stopping Jalen or stopping Taden.
Haralson maybe didn’t score as much in the second half, but Winegar pointed out that the sophomore was sending the ball to his teammates, who finished the plays with baskets. Millen McCartney helped out with a 3, and Metzger drained another triple before the quarter was finished.
“To Jalen’s credit, a lot of guys who have 21 in the first half are going to try to keep doing it. He just started making plays. Hitting Taden on the pop, hitting Keenan on the roll. He just made the right basketball play all night, whether that was scoring or passing. It was a heck of a performance.”
Fishers led 46-38 going into the fourth quarter, which Metzger opened by hitting his fourth 3 of the game. James Stasey helped out with a pair of baskets, then Haralson added five more points to get his team up 58-44. Parker Perdue’s layin got the Tigers up 60-44, and Fishers stayed around that margin until the buzzer. The Tigers’ Chris Rhodes came off the bench and made a fourth-quarter dunk, much to the delight of the Fishers crowd.
Haralson said his team used the phrase “return to zero” to get itself focused.
“Get back to zero really means just getting back to yourself,” said Haralson. “Getting back to your game, back to how you play.”
Haralson played outstanding, with 33 points and six rebounds. Metzger’s four 3s translated into 12 points, while Garner dished out four assists.
Hamilton led the Royals with 12 points and four rebounds, with Stevenson and Totten both scoring 11 points. Southeastern finished the season 7-18, but the Royals did have their moments throughout the season.
“It was really good for our younger guys to play a tough schedule like that and get some experience,” said Southeastern coach John Ashworth. “We were, I think probably the best seven-win team in the entire state. You look back, most of our games were hard-fought, tough games.”
Fishers is 14-11 and plays Zionsville Friday in the Sectional 8 semi-finals.
FISHERS 68, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 49
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Taden Metzger 4-7 0-0 12 3
Jalen Haralson 10-15 12-13 33 4
Aiden Zimmer 0-2 1-3 1 3
JonAnthony Hall 1-6 2-4 4 2
Keenan Garner 1-3 3-3 5 2
Millen McCartney 1-1 0-0 3 1
Parker Perdue 1-1 0-0 2 2
Justin Kirby 1-1 0-0 2 0
Grant Ables 0-0 0-0 0 1
James Stasey 2-2 0-0 4 1
Chris Rhodes 1-1 0-0 2 0
Totals 22-39 18-23 68 19
Fishers 3-pointers (6-12) Metzger 4-5, Harlason 1-2, McCartney 1-1, Zimmer 0-2, Hall 0-2.
Fishers rebounds (30) Haralson 6, Hall 4, Garner 4, Zimmer 3, Perdue 3, Metzger 2, Stasey 2, McCartney 1, Kirby 1, Haworth 1, team 3.
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Donovan Hamilton 3-9 6-8 12 4
Reph Stevenson 4-5 3-4 11 4
Myles Holman 0-2 1-2 1 1
Braeden Totten 4-9 2-4 11 1
Joe Karwowski 4-9 1-2 9 2
Deion Miles 2-6 1-5 5 2
Michael Griffith 0-1 0-0 0 3
Eli Robinson 0-1 0-0 0 0
Gavin Papandria 0-1 0-0 0 0
Christian Pfeifer 0-1 0-0 0 0
Jack Jacobs 0-0 0-0 0 0
Kameron Anthony 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 17-44 14-25 49 17
Southeastern 3-pointers (1-12) Totten 1-4, Hamilton 0-3, Karwowski 0-2, Miles 0-1, Holman 0-1, Robinson 0-1.
Southeastern rebounds (21) Hamilton 4, Stevenson 2, Holman 2, Pfeifer 2, Karwowski 2, Miles 1, Papandria 1, Griffith 1, Anthony 1, team 5.
Score by Quarters
Fishers 8 16 22 22 – 68
Southeastern 8 17 13 11 – 49