By RICHIE HALL
ARCADIA – A great season-opening win for the Hamilton Heights girls basketball team also turned into a special occasion.
The Huskies beat Danville 40-38 in their opener Wednesday at the Heights gym. Heights trailed by seven points in the fourth quarter before rallying, and that gave the Huskies their third season-opening victory in a row, dating back to 2020. It also marked the 100th victory for Heights coach Keegan Cherry.
“It feels great,” said Cherry. “I told the girls, though, at center court, not one time in seven years have I but the basketball through the net. I get to 100 because of girls like them, ones that have come before and then them tonight. They just compete, play hard. We were on the ropes tonight. Danville was great. (Coach) Kaley (May) does an awesome job.”
The Warriors led for most of the game, and seemed to have things in hand when they led 28-21 early in the fourth quarter. But Heights began to amp up its defense, forcing a handful of turnovers. The Huskies used that to go on an 13-0 run that took them to a 34-28 lead with 59.9 seconds left in the game.
Juniors Hadleigh Cherry and Ella Hickok nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to start the run. Junior Camryn Runner, who was already having a good game, helped out with two free throws to push Heights in front for good. Kaylee Rhoton added a free throw, then Runner and Hickok each made two more foul shots. (All of the above-mentioned Heights players have varsity experience from last season’s sectional championship team.)
Hamilton Heights’ Camryn Runner
scored 21 points for the Huskies. (Richie Hall)
With that, the Huskies had gone from being down seven to up six. Danville’s Isabelle Wooten ended the run with a layin, and the Warriors got within two a couple times. But Heights finished from the free-throw line, with Runner going 4-of-4 and Hickok 2-of-2 during the game’s final 44.4 seconds.
Keegan Cherry called the free-throw shooting huge, “and everybody that was out there, I’ve got confidence in all of them to step up and shoot them,” he said. “But when Camryn Runner has the basketball, I’m already calling my defense, because I’m pretty confident they’re going to go through the net.”
And that confidence is well-deserved. Runner was 13-of-13 from the line on Wednesday, finishing the game with 21 points.
The first half was pretty much all defense, with the two teams playing to a 7-7 tie after the first quarter and Danville leading 16-13 at halftime. Runner scored 11 points for Heights, including a score off a steal to end the half.
A large student section was on hand to cheer the Huskies in their season-opener. (Richie Hall)
The Warriors jumped ahead 22-13 midway through the third quarter. Rhoton hit a 3-pointer to cut into that lead, then she also made a buzzer-beating triple at the end of the period to get the Huskies within 24-21. Danville’s Emma Ancelet hit two free throws and Addison Davis made a basket to push the Warriors up by four, before Heights began its comeback.
“Really proud of all the girls,” said Cherry. He said they were “good enough in their role tonight to win. We’ll get to work tomorrow and clean some things up. Danville was really good defensively. They were. Credit to them. We were fortunate to win tonight.”
The Huskies go on the road for the first time this season Saturday night, playing at Clinton Prairie.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 40, DANVILLE 38
Heights FG FT TP PF
Ella Hickok 1 4-5 7 3
Camryn Runner 4 13-13 21 1
Kaylee Rhoton 2 1-2 7 3
Kassidy Schakel 1 0-0 2 2
Hadleigh Cherry 1 0-0 3 4
Katie Brown 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 9 18-20 40 13
Score by Quarters
Danville 7 9 8 14 – 38
Heights 7 6 8 19 – 40
Heights 3-pointers (4) Rhoton 2, Hickok, Cherry.
HEIGHTS ROSTER
Varsity
Seniors: Kaylee Rhoton, Jocelyn Wolfgang.
Juniors: Hadleigh Cherry, Ella Hickok, Morgan Ottinger, Camryn Runner, Kassidy Schakel.
Sophomores: Katie Brown, Taylor Harley, Vivian Lynch.
Freshman: Macie Smith.
Junior varsity
Juniors: Morgan Ottinger, Kelsee Powers.
Sophomores: Taylor Harley, Vivian Lynch.
Freshmen: Lillie Champion, Addison Gilmore, Norah Kelley, Vivian Rowland, Waverly Woolever.
HEIGHTS SCHEDULE
Nov. 5: at Clinton Prairie, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 8: at Frankton, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 11: Noblesville, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 12: at Jay County, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 15: Guerin Catholic, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 18: at Lebanon, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 30: North Miami, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 3: at Bishop Luers, 1:30 p.m.
Dec. 6: Northwestern, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 10: Concordia Lutheran, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 13: Kokomo, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 15: at West Lafayette, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 20: Lapel, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 22: Blackford, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 5: at Lewis Cass, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 7: Westfield, 1:30 p.m.
Jan. 10: at Western, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 14: at Tipton, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 20: at Hoosier Conference playoff game, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 26: at Heritage Christian, 7:30 p.m.