By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – With two weeks left until the start of the sectional tournament, the intensity is going up in the Indiana high school girls basketball world.
Some of that heat was felt at Carmel’s Eric Clark Activity Center, where the Greyhounds hosted Class 4A No. 4 Fishers. The Tigers got off to a big early lead, but Carmel came back and made a game of it before Fishers prevailed 48-39.
The Greyhounds were down 16-3 after one quarter of play, and trailed 32-21 midway through the third period. But a 13-2 run got Carmel back into the game, which was tied 34-34 to start the fourth quarter. The Tigers then went on a 6-0 run of their own and held the lead from that point forward.
“That was a game that we had to find a way to win late,” said Fishers coach Lauren Votaw. “Carmel made big plays, they hit big shots. They got big stops.”
Everything was going well for the Tigers and their experienced group in the first quarter. Fishers led 4-3, with Alycia Triplett scoring two baskets, then the Tigers went off on a 12-0 run that finished up the period. Hailey Smith scored six straight points of her own during the middle of that run.
“Oh, you have to rely on it almost solely, because I only get five timeouts,” said Votaw of her team’s experience. “And also, we’ve talked about this a lot this year, playing in environments like this, or the louder games we’ve played in, they can’t hear me.” So, Votaw said she had to trust two things: “I have to trust that I’ve prepared them, and I have to trust their experience.”
Olivia Smith had four points in the first quarter, and her layin moved Fishers ahead 18-6 early in the second. The Greyhounds showed a flash of things to come in that quarter by going on a 9-3 run, and that kept Carmel within 24-17 at halftime. Hannah Lach scored four points during that stretch.
The Tigers got their lead back into double digits midway through the third period. Hailey Smith scored four straight points, and Fishers enjoyed a 32-21 advantage with 3:47 left in the quarter.
But that’s when the Greyhounds took off on their big run. Mallory Bourquein led the way during that stretch, scoring seven points of that run, including the last basket of the third quarter to get Carmel within 34-32. Bourquein then opened the fourth period with another layin, and the game was tied.
Carmel’s Mallory Bourquein was one of three Greyhounds players to score eight points. (Richie Hall)
Triplett’s basket put the Tigers in front 36-34, and they held the lead for the remainder of the game. Olivia Smith made two layins to get Fishers up by six at 40-34. Rilee McBride hit a 3-pointer to cut that lead to 40-37, but the Tigers finished the game on an 8-2 run. Joirdyn Smith helped out with a late 3-pointer.
Olivia Smith scored 17 points and was also strong on defense with four steals. Hailey Smith had 10 points and led the rebounds with seven.
“I thought Hailey and Olivia were huge in that run for us tonight,” said Votaw.
O. Smith
Three Carmel players each scored eight points: Bourquein, Taryn Fisher and Mackenzie Woods, while Lach had six rebounds. Despite the struggles of the season, Greyhounds coach Erin Trimpe continues to be pleased with her team’s effort.
“They come out every night, every practice, every shoot-around, every walkthrough, every film session,” said Trimpe. “They’re completely focused and bought in and invested in what we can do to continue in our schedule and find ways to win. Games like this, we don’t love moral victories, but I truly believe that they saw a lot of themselves that they didn’t know that they had tonight.”
Fishers won its 11th straight game and is now 17-2 for the season. The Tigers travel to Avon Friday for a Hoosier Crossroads Conference contest. Carmel is 3-16 and hosts Pike on Friday.
FISHERS 48, CARMEL 39
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Joirdyn Smith 2-4 0-0 5 2
Talia Harris 1-7 3-4 5 0
Alycia Triplett 3-4 0-0 6 2
Hailey Smith 4-6 2-2 10 3
Olivia Smith 8-13 1-2 17 2
Karina Scott 0-2 0-0 0 1
Kate Thomas 1-2 1-5 3 0
Allison Scheu 1-1 0-1 2 3
Morgan Roberts 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 20-39 7-14 48 13
Fishers 3-point shooting (1-11) J. Smith 1-3, Harris 0-2, H. Smith 0-2, O. Smith 0-2, Scott 0-2.
Fishers rebounds (20) H. Smith 7, O. Smith 4, Harris 2, Thomas 2, Scheu 2, J. Smith 1, Roberts 1, Triplett 1.
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Keaton Gatlin 2-2 0-0 4 1
Mackenzie Woods 3-12 2-2 8 1
Jamie Elliott 1-2 0-0 2 1
Taryn Fisher 4-7 0-0 8 4
Hannah Lach 2-5 0-0 4 2
Rilee McBride 1-1 1-2 4 0
Lauren Perry 0-1 1-2 1 1
Mallory Bourquein 3-7 2-6 8 2
Brooke Thoren 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 16-37 6-12 39 13
Carmel 3-point shooting (1-5) McBride 1-1, Woods 0-2, Elliott 0-1, Lach 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (18) Lach 6, Woods 4, Fisher 3, Thoren 2, McBride 1, Perry 1, Elliott 1.
Score by Quarters
Fishers 16 7 11 14 – 48
Carmel 3 14 15 7 – 39