By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
In a basketball game where there’s not much between the two teams, any run is big and one run can make the difference.
So it was for Carmel in its semi-final victory over Hamilton Southeastern at the Class 4A Noblesville sectional Friday night at The Mill. The No. 10-ranked Greyhounds scored eight unanswered points in a run that bridged the second and third quarters, and that gave Carmel enough separation to get past the Royals, 62-56.
The ‘Hounds will play Fishers at 7:30 p.m. tonight for the Sectional 8 championship.
The game was tied at 10-all after the first quarter, with Cole Jenkins scoring seven points for Carmel and Chaz Birchfield chipping in six points for Southeastern. The Greyhounds jumped ahead 15-10 at one point in the second period, but the Royals were within one point on three different occasions late in the quarter, including after a Birchfield layin put HSE within 22-21.
Eddie Gill got the last basket of the half, a putback that put Carmel up 24-21. That would be the start of the Greyhounds’ 8-0 run, although they would have to wait until the second half for it to continue.
Once the half began, John Michael Mulloy scored on a basket, then Luke Heady made four consecutive free throws. With that, Carmel led 30-21.
“You talk about the six straight points, and yeah, we scored, but I think the biggest thing was we stopped them three straight times and that’s big for us,” said Carmel coach Ryan Osborn. “They have some firepower over there.”
Southeastern coach Brian Satterfield agreed that the Greyhounds getting that separation at the start of the third was a turning point.
“Then we’re having to play from behind a little bit,” said Satterfield. “When we tried to gamble a little bit, it didn’t pay off for us and they got some easy buckets. They were able to knock down free throws down the stretch.”
Aaron Etherington ended the run with a 3-pointer, and the game continued roughly basket-for-basket for most of the second half. The Royals got their closest with 3:50 left in the fourth period, after two Birchfield free throws got HSE within 47-43.
But the ‘Hounds went off on a 10-4 run to all but clinch the game. Mulloy converted a three-point play, then Heady added five more points, with a free throw pushing Carmel up to its biggest lead, 57-47 with 33.6 seconds left. The Royals threw in three 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds of the game, but the Greyhounds were able to neutralize those baskets at the foul line, making 5-of-6 free throws.
“I think our guys have matured a lot over the year,” said Osborn. “Just different situations, different environments. We’ve played some tough games against some really good teams with some different atmospheres. I think early we didn’t handle those situations very well. Now that we’ve gone through it as a group together, they’ve learned how to keep their composure a little better and that makes a difference.”
Jenkins led the way for Carmel with 19 points and six rebounds, while Heady’s 11-of-14 performance from the line was a big part of his 16 points. Mulloy added 14 points, along with six rebounds and two blocked shots. Osborn said Mulloy “played like a veteran” at the end of the game.
“And Cole Jenkins was a leader,” said Osborn. “He was a senior leader tonight that controlled the game and made great decisions and got everybody involved and knew when to back it out and take some time off the clock.”
Birchfield had a sensational game for HSE, with 23 points and four rebounds. Noah Smith added 13 points, while Etherington scored 11 (including three 3-pointers) and grabbed four rebounds as well.
“The thing that I love and admire about our guys is, we played hard,” said Satterfield. “We knew it would be a dogfight, but the kids played hard,” said Satterfield. “They didn’t give up.”
Carmel is now 17-7, while Southeastern finished its season 17-8.
Carmel 62, Southeastern 56
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Nick Bowman 2-5 2-2 6 5
Chaz Birchfield 7-9 7-8 23 4
Aaron Etherington 3-7 2-4 11 4
Noah Smith 4-11 5-6 13 3
Mabor Majak 1-4 1-2 3 4
Brandon Miller 0-1 0-0 0 1
Kole Hornbuckle 0-0 0-0 0 1
Delind Hooks 0-0 0-0 0 1
Bradley Beemon 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 17-37 17-22 56 23
Southeastern 3-point shooting (5-11) Etherington 3-4, Birchfield 2-3, Bowman 0-2, Smith 0-2.
Southeastern rebounds (22) Birchfield 4, Etherington 4, Majak 3, Bowman 2, Miller 2, Hornbuckle 1, Smith 1, team 5.
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Cole Jenkins 6-10 5-6 19 3
Eddie Gill 2-2 0-0 4 3
Luke Heady 2-6 11-14 16 2
Andrew Owens 1-3 0-0 2 4
John Michael Mulloy 5-10 4-5 14 4
Jalen Whack 0-2 1-2 1 0
Alex Jackson 1-1 2-2 4 0
Ben Frische 0-0 2-2 2 1
Totals 17-34 25-31 62 17
Carmel 3-point shooting (3-14) Jenkins 2-5, Heady 1-5, Whack 0-2, Owens 0-1, Mulloy 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (17) Jenkins 6, Mulloy 6, Owens 2, Gill 1, Heady 1, Jackson 1.
Score by Quarters
Southeastern 10 11 11 24 – 56
Carmel 10 14 15 23 – 62
ABOVE: Carmel’s Cole Jenkins scored 19 points to lead the Greyhounds in their sectional semi-final win over Hamilton Southeastern on Friday.
BELOW: Southeastern’s Nick Bowman (1) defends Carmel’s Luke Heady (11). At left is Chaz Birchfield, who scored 23 points for the Royals.
