By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – The old saying goes, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”
Sometimes, however, how a basketball team starts can greatly help with how it finishes. A good example of that is Tuesday, when the Westfield girls team played an all-county game at Carmel’s Eric Clark Activity Center. The Shamrocks got off to a great start, with a big lead at halftime, and that helped Westfield weather the Greyhounds’ inevitable and expected comeback. The Shamrocks won 47-45.
“We hit some shots early, and I think that lead that we were able to build in the first half helped carry us through some of those momentum shifts we saw in the second half,” said Westfield coach Ginny Smith.
The ‘Rocks led 12-3 after the first quarter, scoring all of their points from 3-pointers. Alyssa Crockett had two of them, with Emmrey Collinsworth and Olivia Robey each making one triple. Emily Roper scored all of Carmel’s points.
Another 3 by Crockett put Westfield up 17-3, and Ellie Kelleher’s floater gave the Shamrocks their largest lead of the game at 22-6. The Greyhounds continued to battle, with Ava Carter hitting a 3 in the waning seconds of the half. Westfield led 24-11 at the break.
Carmel began to steadily chip away at the Shamrocks’ lead during the third period. Laura Valiente stepped up big time, with 11 points during the quarter. Westfield was able to stay a couple baskets ahead, though. Crockett scored seven points in the third period, and Robey made a layin to keep the ‘Rocks in front 38-32 going into the fourth quarter.
Valiente began that period with a basket, with Crockett scoring in response. That put Westfield up 40-34, but Carmel went on a 7-0 run to take what would be its only lead of the game. Woods made a free throw and a layin, with Valiente making a putback in between. Then Hannah Lach scored off a steal, and the Greyhounds were in front 41-40.
Carmel coach Erin Trimpe said she loved the fight the Greyhounds showed, “but we’ve got to come ready to play. And I thought we didn’t tonight. We came out kind of glazed over. We let them dictate everything that was going on. And we just shut down. We had to have a line change, basically, and bring all our bench players off to put a fire in our team. I’d like to see us put 32 minutes together, I’m not sure we’ve really done that yet. A great second half, but we really just can’t put ourselves in that position to start with.”
“Carmel did a really nice job adjusting that second-half defense,” said Smith. “They really picked up the pressure. They extended their defense into the full court. I would like to say it took us a little while to adjust. I’m not sure we really did adjust for whatever reason. We anticipated it. We talked about it at halftime. But I think there’s something about that change of play and it took us a little bit to really just settle in.”
Kelleher would step up big for Westfield in the final four minutes of the game. She got the Shamrocks back in front for good by making a three-point play. A little bit later, Kelleher nailed a 3-pointer. It was a personal 6-0 run, and it got Westfield back up 46-41.
“Ellie is going to be a great basketball player,” said Smith. “We’ve said it time and time again. She’s young and she’s inconsistent right now. But we believe whole-heartedly that by the time we hit tournament time, she’s going to be peaking and playing consistently well. She’s capable of making shots. She’s capable of creating for others. We just don’t see it as much as we’d like to right now. But the good news is, we’re seeing it in big moments. That’s a positive.”
Roper and Lach both made baskets to keep Carmel within 46-45, but the Shamrocks were able to hold on. Kelleher scored the game’s final point by hitting a free throw with 8.0 seconds left, and Westfield’s defense sealed the victory.
Crockett led all scorers with 20 points, and both she and Chesney Tebbe collected six rebounds. Corckett also handed out four assists, while Robey made four steals.
Valiente scored 15 points for Carmel, with Roper getting 11 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Valiente also had five rebounds. Trimpe was happy with that, saying that Valiente “has such a flair to her and she really gets to the rim well, and I think she underestimates her ability.”
“She’s been grinding and she had a great game against HSE, a great game a couple games ago, so we’re excited to see her confidence build,” said Trimpe.
Westfield improved to 8-2 with the win and plays at Class 4A No. 9 Zionsville on Friday in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game. The Greyhounds are 5-4 and host Fort Wayne Snider Saturday afternoon.
WESTFIELD 47, CARMEL 45
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Ellie Kelleher 3-6 2-3 9 1
Emmrey Collinsworth 1-2 0-0 3 2
Alyssa Crockett 6-9 5-5 20 1
Chesney Tebbe 0-1 0-0 0 3
Olivia Robey 3-7 1-5 8 1
Hailey Remaks 3-7 0-0 6 4
Kiki Loveless 0-1 1-2 1 1
Totals 16-33 9-15 47 13
Westfield 3-point shooting (6-16) Crockett 3-5, Robey 1-5, Kelleher 1-2, Collinsworth 1-1, Remarks 0-2, Tebbe 0-1.
Westfield rebounds (25) Crockett 6, Tebbe 6, Robey 4, Collinsworth 3, Kelleher 2, Remaks 2, Loveless 2.
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Mackenzie Woods 1-6 3-6 5 3
Laura Valiente 7-11 0-0 15 3
Hannah Lach 3-6 0-0 7 2
Mackenzie Thomas 2-7 0-0 4 1
Emily Roper 4-12 3-8 11 3
Jamie Elliott 0-2 0-0 0 0
Taryn Fisher 0-0 0-0 0 1
Sophie Shepherd 0-0 0-0 0 1
Bethany Ducat 0-0 0-0 0 0
Ava Carter 1-2 0-0 3 0
Totals 18-46 6-14 45 14
Carmel 3-point shooting (3-9) Lach 1-3, Valiente 1-2, Carter 1-2, Elliott 0-1, Thomas 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (25) Roper 9, Valiente 5, Thomas 4, Elliott 3, Woods 2, Lach 2.
Score by Quarters
Westfield 12 12 14 9 – 47
Carmel 3 8 21 13 – 45