By RICHARD TORRES
For The Reporter
CARMEL – Counted out long before the opening tip Tuesday night, the defending sectional champion Westfield Shamrocks never lost faith.
Even with their star junior guard, Trey Buchanan, hobbled by a high ankle sprain leading up to and during the Class 4A Sectional 8 quarterfinals against host 12th-ranked Carmel, the Shamrocks still believed.
Despite the loss of eight seniors from last year’s first-ever sectional title roster, the Shamrocks knew what was possible. Not even a 12-point second half deficit, nor a nine-point Carmel lead to start the fourth quarter inside the Eric Clark Activity Center could sway the Shamrocks’ confidence.
“The entire week, we said, ‘Hey, no one is picking us to win. Let’s play loose. Let’s play free. Let’s give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter to win it,’” Westfield head coach Shane Sumpter said.
“That’s all we were saying, and at halftime, we stayed with that theme. What do we mean by that? Well, a five-point game with four or five minutes to go. That’s really what we had. When we got it to that point, I felt really good.”
By game’s end, the Shamrocks rejoiced inside their locker room after surviving three ties, three lead changes and a frenzied final eight minutes to topple the Greyhounds, 43-40.
Down 33-24 entering the fourth quarter, the Shamrocks utilized their past to pave their future and seized their opportunity in the present behind clutch performances by senior Alex Romack, Buchanan and junior Seth LaRavia.
Learning how to win in 2021-22, the Shamrocks (16-7) proved they still can, taking their first lead since the night’s opening 30 seconds, 35-33, with a bucket from Romack in the post and 4:05 remaining.
A 3-pointer by Buchanan with 2:06 left tied up the score 38-all before LaRavia’s second of two 3-pointers in the fourth put the Shamrocks ahead 41-40.
Buchanan, who was visibly hindered by his injury, sealed the victory from 15 feet, burying a pair of foul shots with 15.8 ticks on the clock and the Greyhounds playing without their star, senior Sam Orme, who fouled out to send Westfield to the line.
Buchanan sprained his ankle last week, and the sharpshooting guard had been sidelined until Monday night, as he struggled to recover in time to play against Carmel (15-8).
“He turned it the game after the Franklin (Central) game, so the very first practice, high ankle sprain, and the very first time he did anything yesterday for 10 minutes, and he was still a game-time decision,” Sumpter said. “He was in tears in here at halftime. And what do you know? He hits a three and two big free throws. Just a gutsy performance.”
His only other bucket came in the second quarter following an 8-2 run by Carmel to put the Greyhounds up 19-9. Carmel ran out to an 11-4 lead in the first quarter, following a short-lived Westfield 2-0 lead, but the Shamrocks began chipping away at their 23-13 halftime deficit in the third.
A 9-2 run by the Shamrocks cut the margin to 27-22, but Carmel charged back to make it 33-24, leading to a frantic flurry in the fourth.
“I just knew we had to come out with a fire, like a higher level of intensity from the rest of the game. We didn’t have time to mess around anymore,” Romack said. “Just had to get it done.
“A lot of people probably didn’t have us winning this game, and I think that chip on our shoulder, we just wanted to prove that we’re still good. We’re still here. You can’t count us out.”
Romack, who finished with a game-high 20 points, scored eight of them in the fourth. All eight came during the Shamrocks’ 11-0 run in the fourth that positioned them in front 35-33.
“I just think there’s a lot of belief in our school now. I think our culture has totally changed. We come into these games, and our guys believe they can win no matter what it says on their jerseys. That’s just the fact,” Sumpter. “They believe we can win.”
An and-1 by Carmel’s Jake Griffin pushed Carmel back ahead 36-35 with 3:38 remaining, and a dunk by Orme made it 38-35 a minute later, but then Buchanan stepped up.
Carmel senior Sam Orme finished the game with 13 points. (Kent Graham)
“I sprained it last Wednesday, so basically, the week leading up to this game was kind of a me versus me battle, just getting back on the court. Every day was rehab. I got one full practice yesterday, and that was it,” Buchanan said. “I didn’t even get a full practice. I got 20 minutes of live stuff, and I was thrown out here. Man, credit the trainers for getting me in shape.”
Buchanan’s 3-pointer for his fifth of his total seven points was met by an Alex Couto bucket for Carmel in the final 1:21 before LaRavia dropped a trey at the 1-minute mark.
“That was obviously a very good basketball team we just beat on their home floor,” Sumpter said. “We still had to make the plays, and we made them. Seth LaRavia hit a big-time shot. Alex Romack made some big-time plays in the second half. We got some stops when we needed to, and it really came down to getting a stop there at the end of the game.”
Composure was equally as key, stemming from lessons learned last season under the leadership of former standouts Cam Haffner and Braden Smith.
“They obviously left their mark on Westfield, making that run last year it just gave us that much more confidence that we can do it again this year,” Buchanan said. “Playing against them every day and getting us better, I was only a sophomore last year, playing against Braden, especially every day, just going at him, it made me a lot better, and it helped me develop those leadership qualities for this year, losing eight seniors. Me and Romack had to kind of step into that role. Their DNA is definitely still in our program.”
Their identity bled through in the final seconds, as the Shamrocks forced a turnover and a scoring opportunity on Orme’s fifth foul, while defending two failed 3-pointer tries by the Greyhounds in the last 8.9 seconds.
Orme had 13 points for the Greyhounds. Couto posted 11 points, followed by eight from Spencer White.
Charles Farrell added six points for Westfield, along with six from LaRavia off the bench and two points apiece by Durante Morton and Sam Bishop.
“Have the last four or five years changed (us)? Yeah. When you win a Hall of Fame championship. When you win a sectional championship for the first time ever. When you have a Braden Smith, who shows the way, and you have a Cam Haffner. When you have those guys, yeah, it carries,” Sumpter said. “I feel really special about what we have going on at Westfield.”
The Shamrocks’ win avenged their 49-38 loss at Carmel on Jan. 7, and now they will face Noblesville in the semifinals at 6 p.m. on Friday night. The Millers (17-6) lost at Westfield, 48-43, on Dec. 16 during the regular season.
“I just wanted to do everything I could to help our team win there. We had to play hard. Everyone played well that fourth quarter. Seth hit some big shots, had a couple of good steals. It was a good team effort, especially in the fourth quarter,” Romack said.
WESTFIELD 43, CARMEL 40
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Alex Couto 3-7 4-4 11 0
Ryan Clevenger 0-3 0-0 0 1
Spencer White 3-9 0-0 8 2
Sam Orme 5-11 3-4 13 5
Jared Bonds 2-6 1-2 5 4
Jake Griffin 1-3 1-1 3 1
Logan Reinhart 0-1 0-0 0 1
Totals 14-40 9-11 40 14
Carmel 3-point shooting (3-18) White 2-6, Couto 1-5, Griffin 0-2, Clevenger 0-2, Orme 0-1, Reinhart 0-1, Bonds 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (24) Orme 8, Bonds 6, White 3, Couto 2, Clevenger 2, Reinhart 2, Griffin 1.
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Trey Buchanan 2-7 2-2 7 2
Sam Bishop 0-5 2-2 2 2
Charles Farrell 2-2 2-3 6 3
Durante Morton 0-0 2-4 2 1
Alex Romack 9-16 2-4 20 2
Seth LaRavia 2-3 0-0 6 1
Will Harvey 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 15-33 10-15 43 11
Westfield 3-point shooting (1-12) LaRavia 2-3, Buchanan 1-3, Bishop 0-1.
Westfield rebounds (18) Morton 5, Bishop 4, Romack 4, LaRavia 2, Buchanan 1, Harvey 1.
Score by Quarters
Carmel 11 12 10 7 – 40
Westfield 7 6 11 19 – 43
CUTLINES
Reporter photos by Kent Graham
WESTFIELD: Durante Morton (left) and Alex Romack celebrate after the Shamrocks clinched their Sectional 8 quarterfinal win over host Carmel 43-40 Tuesday night. Westfield advances to the Friday semi-finals to take on Noblesville.
CARMEL: Carmel senior Sam Orme finished the game with 13 points.