On Saturday, Fishers boys basketball team heads to state for first time in over 100 years
By RICHIE HALL
The Fishers boys basketball team spent Wednesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, a place where the Tigers will be playing for a state championship on Saturday.
For the first time in over a century, Fishers is playing in the state finals. The No. 1-ranked Tigers will take on defending champion Ben Davis in the Class 4A title game, which tips off around 8:15 p.m. Saturday night at the Fieldhouse.
The Fishers team practiced at Gainbridge on Wednesday.
“You could tell they were really excited,” said Tigers coach Garrett Winegar. He called it a “great experience for those guys to go to practice there.”
When Fishers returns to Gainbridge on Saturday night, it will take on a Ben Davis team that the Tigers played to open their season. The Giants hosted Fishers on Nov. 21, and the visiting team won 74-61. That game took place over four months ago, and Winegar said both teams have improved “a ton” since then.
“Mark Zachery is one of their best players,” said Winegar. “He wasn’t playing yet due to football.” The coach said Winegar impacted Ben Davis not only by scoring, but also by being a strong defensive player “and how he was able to get his teammates involved and make everyone around him better.”
Zachery, a junior, averages 10.8 points per game and is the Giants’ assist leader, dishing out 3.8 per contest. Ben Davis’ leading scorer is senior KJ Windham; the Northwestern commit is averaging 16.3 points and 2.4 assists.
Junior Tavion Williams, who stands 6-foot-7, is the top rebounder with 5.0 per contest, followed by senior Moe Enis, who pulls 4.5 rebounds per game. Those four players are among the projected starters for the Giants, with senior Mark White (8.5 points) rounding out the first five.
“They’ve had different guys step up and hit shots,” said Winegar.
Ben Davis comes into state at 23-5. The Giants romped through the Southport sectional, beating Pike 64-45 in the first round, Southport 74-53 in the semifinals and Roncalli 50-32 in the championship.
Ben Davis returned to Southport for the regional, where it cruised past New Palestine 75-49 for that title. The Giants headed to New Castle for the 4A south semi-state, stunning No. 9 Center Grove 75-49 in the semis before holding off Jeffersonville 52-51 in a tense championship game.
“Just like us, they play an extremely tough schedule, but also they have several guys, that were on their state championship team last year,” said Winegar. Zackery scored 16 points for Ben Davis in the Giants’ 53-41 win over Kokomo for the 2023 4A state title. White and Windham also both played.
New territory
Ben Davis is making its eighth appearance at state, all of them coming since 1993. Meanwhile, this is the first appearance for the re-established Fishers, new territory for the new Tigers. The original Fishers qualified for state in 1922, in what was then a 16-team field. The Tigers beat Goshen 18-9 in the first round before falling to Terre Haute Garfield 30-16 in the quarterfinals.
Fishers is 28-1 this season, with its only loss coming to Carmel, 54-46 on Jan. 27. The Tigers avenged that loss in the first round of the Noblesville sectional, beating the Greyhounds 54-41. Fishers then beat Hamilton Southeastern 54-44 in the semifinals before edging out No. 2 Noblesville 49-47 in front of a sellout crowd.
The Tigers took on No. 4 Kokomo at the New Castle regional, in front of another sellout crowd. Fishers won that game 66-52, advancing to its first-ever semi-state at Elkhart. The Tigers defeated Crown Point 48-37 in the semifinals, then held off Fort Wayne Wayne 69-61 for the championship.
Senior Keenan Garner, a 6-foot-6 forward, is Fishers’ leading scorer at 15.6 points per game, and also tops the rebounds chart with 8.2 per contest. Garner is picking up Division I offers, including IUPUI, Eastern Illinois, Bradley and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
Junior JonAnthony Hall, a three-sport standout, scores 11.3 points per game and collects 3.8 rebounds. Freshman Cooper Zachary is the assists leader with 3.6 per contest and also averages 7.5 points per game. Senior Taden Metzger (8.8 points) and junior Millen McCartney (5.3 points) round out the Fishers starting lineup.
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