By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – Play at Sectional 8, the toughest girls basketball sectional in the state of Indiana, began Tuesday at Westfield’s CSI Gymnasium.
With all six teams ranked in the top 13 of the Sagarin ratings, each game is expected to be a tough one. Tuesday featured two first-round games, and while the winners got their victories by double digits over their opponents, it was tougher than it looked.
In the first game, Fishers beat district rival Hamilton Southeastern 43-33 to advance to the semi-finals, which are scheduled for Friday – weather permitting, of course. Tuesday’s second game saw Noblesville break away from Zionsville in the second half and win 62-46 to clinch a spot in the semis.
The Tigers will play Westfield in the first semi-final, while the Millers will play Carmel in the second game.
GAME OF RUNS
Fishers coach Lauren Votaw said that before the game, the team talked about “how in this sectional, in any sectional, but really in this sectional, every single game will have runs.” Both teams will make runs, and Votaw said the team that comes out on top will be the team “that can withstand those, stay together, keep their poise during those moments. We did, we were able to bounce back and hit some big shots in those moments.”
And the Fishers-Southeastern game featured four distinct runs. The Tigers had three runs, and each of them gave Fishers a good-sized lead once it was finished. The Royals also made a significant run in the third quarter that made things interesting.
Fishers’ first run came in the latter stages of the first period. Trailing 6-5, the Tigers scored eight straight points to hold a 13-6 lead. All four were inside baskets, from Morgan Roberts, Talia Harris, Hailey Smith and Olivia Smith.
Fishers led 13-7 at the end of the quarter, and increased that lead to 22-13 by halftime. Olivia Smith scored seven of the Tigers’ points in the second, including a three-point play with 1:55 left, then a layin at the buzzer. Meanwhile, Olivia Brown scored all six of Southeastern’s points in the quarter.
The Royals worked their way back into the game during the first part of the third period, outscoring Fishers 10-0 in a run that took up nearly six minutes of the quarter. Riley Makalusky and Brown made layins, then Maya Makalusky hit consecutive 3-pointers.
“We gave up some 3s, they hit some big shots,” said Votaw. “But in this sectional, that’s what you’ve got to expect.”
Southeastern was now up 23-22. But the Tigers quickly came back with a 7-0 spurt. Hailey Smith scored Fishers’ first basket of the period at the 2:07 mark on the layin, then Alycia Triplett made her own layin. Joirdyn Smith nailed a 3, and the Tigers were back up 29-23.
“Our defense carried us the whole game, so that’s really where our main focus was,” said Joirdyn Smith. “We stop them, we go down, take a good shot and then we stop them again. Stop, score, stop. We work on it every day in practice.”
Riley Makalusky finished the period with a triple, so the Royals were within 29-26 going into the fourth quarter. Hailey Smith opened the period with a 3, and Fishers was back up 32-26.
Harris made an and-1 to push the Tigers ahead 37-28 with 4:33 left. Southeastern made one more push, cutting that lead to 37-33 on a Makayla Hinshaw layin and another Riley Makalusky 3. But Fishers wouldn’t allow the Royals to score again, finishing the game on a 6-0 run. Joirdyn Smith took over, with a three-point play and a jumper to give Fishers a nine-point lead. Triplett hit a free throw to finish the scoring.
Hailey Smith scored 12 points to lead the Tigers, while Olivia Smith scored 11 and Joirdyn Smith had eight. Riley Makalusky led the Royals with 11 points, followed by Brown with 10.
Fishers improved to 19-4 with the win, while Southeastern finished its season 14-8.
CLEANING IT UP
If Noblesville seemed more pumped up for its game with Zionsville than normal, the Millers had a good reason.
The two teams played at the Eagles’ gym on Jan. 14, and Noblesville received a thudding loss, 44-33. Redemption was on the Millers’ mind, and they got it at the sectional.
“The regular season’s about finding yourself and that game, we got it handed to us,” said Noblesville coach Donna Buckley. “We got on them pretty good after that game and really challenged them to clean up a little bit here and there, and they really did that.”
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair until the two-minute mark. With the game tied at 5-5, Ashlynn Shade hit four free throws in the span of 29 seconds to get the Millers ahead 9-5. Isabelle Poehlein made a layin for the Eagles, but Shade answered with her own layin, and Noblesville led 11-7 at the end of the quarter.
Zionsville went on a 6-0 run that took up several minutes of the second quarter, and the Eagles led 13-11. Meredith Tippner tied the game with a layin, but Emma Haan answered that with a 3-pointer.
With that, Zionsville led 16-13. But the Millers answered again, this time with a 10-0 run that bridged into the second quarter. A Shade jumper, Dani Mendez free throw and two foul shots by Ava Shoemaker started the run, and Noblesville led 18-16 at halftime.
“They didn’t panic when Zionsville put it on us a little bit in that half,” said Buckley. “We just kept punching and knew that eventually a shot would go down. Once they started falling, you could just feel the whole momentum change. Our kids rode that momentum.”
The Millers extended that lead to 23-16 in the third quarter. Kaitlyn Shoemaker made a basket, Tippner hit a free throw, and Shade connected on a layin again.
From that point forward, Noblesville began to slowly build up its lead. A jumper and 3-pointer by Reagan Wilson put the Millers up by 30-20. Later, Kaitlyn Shoemaker and Ava Shoemaker nailed back-to-back 3s for a 6-0 run, and Noblesville led 43-28.
“I think that loss from Zionsville was something that we needed,” said Kaitlyn Shoemaker. “Although it was really challenging, it really brought our team together and got us motivated and ready to go out tonight.”
Zionsville cut that advantage to 43-33 by the end of the quarter, but the Millers opened the fourth with a 7-0 spurt. Kaitlyn Shoemaker knocked in another 3, Shade added another layin and Tippner made two free throws. Noblesville led 50-35 and cruised home from there. A final 6-0 run late in the quarter put the game to bed.
Shade scored 25 points, and also had six rebounds and five steals. Kaitlyn Shoemaker added 11 points. Tippner collected six rebounds and Wilson pulled five.
Shade said the team played with more intensity and more together in the sectional game when compared to the previous game.
“I feel like in our previous Zionsville game, we were not as much as a team – like, we were a team, but it was just not meshing that night. But tonight, it was just perfect and we all hyped each other up and it was just great to play with them out there,” said Shade, who especially enjoyed the “super-exciting” environment with all the fans.
The Millers improved to 19-4 with the victory.
FISHERS 43, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 33
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Maya Makalusky 2 0-0 6 2
Makayla Hinshaw 2 0-1 4 3
Riley Makalusky 4 1-2 11 4
Olivia Brown 4 2-3 10 2
Zoe Bolding 1 0-0 2 4
Teegan Acres 0 0-0 0 1
Lauren Stewart 0 0-0 0 0
Caleigh Scott 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 13 3-6 33 16
Southeastern 3-pointers (4) M. Makalusky 2, R. Makalusky 2.
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Joirdyn Smith 3 1-1 8 4
Talia Harris 2 1-1 5 1
Alycia Triplett 1 3-4 5 3
Hailey Smith 5 1-1 12 2
Olivia Smith 4 3-4 11 0
Ava Carter 0 0-0 0 1
Morgan Roberts 1 0-0 2 1
Kate Thomas 0 0-0 0 1
Allison Scheu 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 16 9-11 43 13
Fishers 3-pointers (2) J. Smith 1, H. Smith 1.
Score by Quarters
Southeastern 7 6 13 7 – 33
Fishers 13 9 7 14 – 43
NOBLESVILLE 62, ZIONSVILLE 46
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Kaitlyn Shoemaker 4-15 1-2 11 3
Ashlynn Shade 9-19 7-7 25 1
Reagan Wilson 3-11 0-0 7 2
Meredith Tippner 1-4 6-12 8 4
Brooklyn Smitherman 0-0 0-0 0 2
Brooklyn Ely 1-4 0-0 3 0
Ava Shoemaker 1-1 2-2 5 2
Dani Mendez 1-3 1-4 3 3
Totals 20-57 17-27 62 17
Score by Quarters
Noblesville 11 7 25 19 – 62
Zionsville 7 9 17 13 – 46
Noblesville 3-point shooting (5-20) K. Shoemaker 2-6, Ely 1-4, Wilson 1-3, A. Shoemaker 1-1, Shade 0-6.
Noblesville rebounds (34) Shade 6, Tippner 6, Wilson 5, A. Shoemaker 4, K. Shoemaker 3, Mendez 3, Smitherman 2, Ely 1, team 4.