By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – What a difference a year makes.
When the Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern boys basketball teams played the 2020 Mudsock game last year, the Tigers had a new coach and were learning a new system. They had talented players, but coach Garrett Winegar called the team “completely coach-led.” Fishers lost the Mudsock game last year.
This year, playing the big rivalry game at the Royals’ gymnasium, the Class 4A No. 6 Tigers showed they have come a long way in the previous 12 months. With a big and very loud crowd screaming after every basket made and everything else, Fishers survived a double overtime epic with Southeastern, winning 70-68 to claim the Mudsock Trophy.
“I think that’s a game last year we’d probably lose with these same guys,” said Winegar. “We weren’t very resilient, especially on the road. We’ve talked about that a lot, and I just thought tonight, no matter what happened, you could see Jeffrey Simmons and Charlie Smith and Bryce Williams and our seniors who really have a lot of experience step up and make plays throughout the game.”
As most Mudsock games are, this one was close all the way through. Fishers looked to be on its way to victory late in the fourth quarter when the Royals went on a 9-0 run in the last two minutes to send the game into the first overtime. The Tigers led again late in the extra period when Southeastern’s Caleb Smock hit a 3-pointer to send the game into a second OT.
The Royals led 65-64 with a minute-and-a-half left in the second overtime after Reph Stevenson made a layin. Williams got Fishers in front for good by making a three-point play with 1:27 left, putting his team ahead 67-65. The Tigers then got the points they needed during the final minute, two free throws by Simmons and one from Josh Forbes, and it was enough to win.
While the crowd was screaming, Winegar said he wanted his players to be talking on the floor, especially his afore-mentioned seniors.
“You get into a game like that, they can’t hear me on the sideline,” said Winegar. “Those guys have to be talking, they have to be player-led, especially when you got Jalen (Haralson) out there, who’s a freshman in those moments for the first time. Guys like Charlie, Bryce and Jeffrey out there have to talk and lead him. And I just think their growth, all three of them, has been through the roof over the last 12 months and I’m really proud of those guys.”
“It’s been fun,” said Simmons. “We live three miles apart from each other. You grow up with these guys, you play junior high with them and they go to different schools. Just playing against them is something special. It’s honestly something I can’t describe. You’ve got to experience it. That’s what I tell people.”
Fishers led 10-7 after the first quarter, with Smith and Simmons each scoring four points. The Royals came to play too, with Sam Jacobs also scoring four points, including a dunk.
Payton Weemer opened the second period with a steal and basket, pushing the Tigers ahead 12-7. Joshua Jones then hit a 3 for Southeastern, and that began a 13-3 run for the Royals that would give them a 20-15 lead. Jacobs contributed five points to the run, including a 3, and Tyler Lacy made a pair of free throws. Southeastern led 23-19 at halftime.
Simmons began to take over in the third quarter, scoring seven points early to give Fishers a 26-25 lead. All three of his baskets were putbacks – one of them became an and-1 – and he made a fourth putback late in the quarter to push the Tigers ahead 32-27.
Lacy made a layin for the final basket of the third, cutting the Fishers lead to 32-29. The fourth quarter began with another and-1, this one from Matt Brewer. His three-point play gave the Tigers a 35-29, which became their largest lead.
Simmons is headed to Miami University (Ohio) to play football, a Division I school, but Winegar believes the senior’s basketball play is just as high-level.
“When Jeffrey Simmons has it going, he’s as good as anybody in the state,” said Winegar. “Him not being a Junior All-Star last year was the biggest snub in Junior All-Star history. He has been a dominant player at Fishers since his freshman year. He’s only getting better and better. He’s handling it better. He’s shooting it better. He’s leading better. I think when he has it going, he’s as good as anybody in the state.”
Simmons was proving it, making a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to get Fishers up 40-36, this after the Royals had cut the lead to one. Jones scored five points, all from free throws, to help get his team close. A Stevenson dunk then got HSE within 40-38.
Simmons then made another three-point play, and Myles Stringer helped out with an and-1 of his own, rushing in for a basket after making a huge defensive rebound. Fishers now had a seven-point lead, 46-39.
“We’ve been encouraging Myles to do what Myles is good at, which is attack,” said Winegar. The coach said they have been working on getting Stringer to finish through the backboard.
“It was like I could see our hours and hours of work together, and it just came through in the perfect moment and really happy for him,” said Winegar. “He hasn’t scored a ton this year because he’s not selfish, and he knows that we got a lot of guys who can score, so he’s been willing to just defend and do what we ask and pass, and in that situation we needed him to score and he stepped up when we needed a big bucket.”
The Tigers’ lead swelled to 48-39 after Simmons made a layin. But Southeastern then blasted through a 9-0 run of its own. Deion Miles started it with a layin, Jacobs hit two foul shots, Stevenson scored his own layin, then Jacobs nailed a 3. Just like that, overtime.
Fishers got the tip for the first extra period, and Haralson quickly scored to get the Tigers in front 50-48. Lacy then hit a triple, and Southeastern led by one. The back and forth continued until the 1:23 mark, when it seemed Fishers got a little separation after Williams made a three-point play to get the Tigers up 57-54.
Miles made two free throws to cut the lead to one (again), and Simmons answered that with two free throws. But the game wasn’t done yet. Smock made sure of that with his 3-pointer. The score was 59-59, and it was on to double overtime.
“There’s two or three times we could have just folded and packed it in, so super proud of our kids to fight back and send it to overtime and then send it to double overtime,” said Southeastern coach John Ashworth. “And again, you just can’t count out the Royals. We’re a tough team and we’re going to continue to get better throughout the season.”
The call-and-respond continued in the second OT. Haralson scored off a putback, Jacobs tied the game with free throws. Simmons scored on a floater, Smock made a pair of foul shots. Stevenson’s layin would mark the first lead of the second overtime for the Royals, but Williams’ three-point play would be the go-ahead basket for the Tigers.
Simmons finished the game with 29 points, followed by Smith with 13 and Williams with 12. Smith collected nine rebounds, five steals and four assists. Simmons also had eight rebounds.
Jacobs scored 21 points, with Stevenson adding 16 and Lacy scoring 10. Stevenson also had seven rebounds and three blocked shots, while Lacy dished out four assists.
The game was also a Hoosier Crossroads Conference contest. Fishers is now 2-0 in the HCC, while the Royals are 1-1 in league play. Overall, the Tigers are 6-1 and HSE is 2-4.
Both teams will be heading up to Fort Wayne on Tuesday to play in the Carroll-Homestead Classic. At noon, Fishers plays at Homestead, while Southeastern plays at Carroll. Both teams are in action again at 6 p.m., with the Tigers taking on the Spartans and the Royals playing the Chargers.
FISHERS 70, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 68
(double overtime)
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Sean Millsaps 0-4 0-0 0 2
Jalen Haralson 3-8 0-2 6 3
Bryce Williams 5-11 2-4 12 3
Charles Smith 4-5 5-8 13 3
Jeffrey Simmons 11-16 6-8 29 3
Myles Stringer 1-1 1-1 3 5
Matt Brewer 1-2 2-3 4 1
Payton Weemer 1-2 0-0 2 2
Josh Forbes 0-3 1-2 1 2
Aidan Zimmer 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 26-52 17-28 70 24
Fishers 3-point shooting (1-9) Simmons 1-2, Millsaps 0-4, Forbes 0-2, Williams 0-1.
Fishers rebounds (31) Smith 9, Simmons 8, Williams 4, Haralson 3, Forbes 1, Stringer 1, team 5.
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Donovan Hamilton 0-3 0-0 0 5
Reph Stevenson 5-8 6-8 16 4
Caleb Smock 1-6 3-4 6 4
Deion Miles 2-5 2-2 6 0
Sam Jacobs 7-13 5-6 21 1
Tyler Lacy 3-4 3-3 10 3
Joshua Jones 1-1 6-8 9 5
Michael Griffith 0-0 0-0 0 0
Eli Robinson 0-0 0-0 0 1
Alex Troutman 0-0 0-0 0 2
Totals 19-40 25-31 68 25
Southeastern 3-point shooting (5-14) Jacobs 2-4, Smock 1-4, Lacy 1-2, Jones 1-1, Hamilton 0-3.
Southeastern rebounds (25) Stevenson 7, Jacobs 4, Smock 3, Jones 3, Lacy 2, Griffith 2, Hamilton 1, Miles 1, Robinson 1, team 1.
Score by Quarters
Fishers 10 9 13 16 11 11 – 70
Southeastern 7 16 6 19 11 9 – 68