By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
Defense at the beginning, free throws at the end. And in between, a few 3-pointers.
Add all that up, and the result was another win for Hamilton Heights.
The Class 3A No. 10 Huskies beat Westfield 44-31 at The Rock in a Saturday afternoon game. While the start was very slow – the Shamrocks led 3-1 after the first quarter – Heights turned it on during the second period and held off a late Westfield charge with stunning display of free-throw shooting in the fourth period.
Jade Shipley was the first scorer of the day, hitting a 3-pointer for the ‘Rocks with 4:20 left in the first quarter. Heights’ Bayleigh Runner made a free throw with 1:02 left in the period to get the Huskies on the board.
As it turned out, Runner’s foul shot was the beginning of a 12-0 run for Heights. That run included three 3-pointers, one each from Kayla Kirtley, Payton Dissett and Lexi Branham. Kirtley made a layin as well.
Westfield’s Megan Rops ended the run with a 3-pointer. The Huskies made one more long-range shot, this one from Runner, late in the period, and eventually lead 18-9 at halftime.
“We’ve got girls that can knock down shots and when they’re open, they got to shoot them with confidence,” said Heights coach Keegan Cherry. “I always tell them, ‘You’re going to make every shot that you shoot, and if you miss it, you’re going to make the next one. You’re going to make the next one.’ So I want them to shoot the ball with confidence. There in that second quarter, I didn’t realize that we made four of them there.”
The Huskies held their largest lead in the middle of the third period, when a 7-0 run put them up 25-11. Dissett drained her second 3-pointer of the day during that drive.
“Payton’s coming on and you’ve got to guard her now,” said Cherry.
A traditional three-point play from Kirtley gave Heights a 32-21 lead with 2:57 left in the fourth, but that’s when Westfield made a last push. Sophia Kreag and Ryann Bunting drained back-to-back triples to suddenly cut the lead to 32-27. Another basket from Kreag got the ‘Rocks within 33-29.
But Heights would let Westfield get no closer, embarking on an 11-0 run – with all points from the free-throw line. The Huskies went 11-of-14 during that stretch, with Lauryn Wiley and Kirtley both going 4-for-4 during that time.
“That’s one thing we talk about a lot is, our ability to convert at the free-throw line, especially late in ball games to close them out,” said Cherry. “And anytime you’re playing a program like Westfield, that’s coached by Coach (Ginny) Smith, who does a fantastic job with her team, free throws are big.”
Kirtley finished the game with 13 points, while Branham scored 12. Wiley pulled nine rebounds, with Ana Collar grabbing eight and Kirtley collecting five.
Shipley and Kreag both had eight points for Westfield, with Shipley draining two 3s. Freshman Gigi Eldredge, who helped spark the Shamrocks’ fourth-quarter run, had six rebounds, while Ava Henson and Annabelle O’Hair both corralled five.
“They played hard in the fourth quarter,” said Smith. “I guess for me it’s just a frustrating moment because, why can’t it be that way all the time? Why can’t that sense of urgency happen in the first quarter?
“We give up 18 points at the half, but the difference is, we only scored nine,” said Smith. “We’ve got to figure out how to score and score consistently. It can’t be just in the fourth quarter, or have a wave in the third quarter. We’ve got to do be able to do that all four quarters if we expect to beat a good team.”
Heights is now 10-6 for the season, and returns to the Husky Dome on Tuesday to play Western in a Hoosier Conference game. Westfield is 12-6 and also plays at home on Tuesday, hosting Greenwood.
Hamilton Heights’ Payton Dissett (1) looks for an opening during the Huskies’ game with Westfield Saturday at The Rock. Pictured for Westfield are Megan Rops (10) and Sophia Kreag (21). (Richie Hall)