The Fishers girls basketball team’s historic season came to an end on Saturday, as the No. 3-ranked Tigers fell to No. 1 Northwestern 67-40 at the Class 4A Marion regional at the Bill Green Arena.
Fishers came out ready to play, as the Tigers used back-to-back 3-pointers from Katie Burton and Kaitlynn Feagan to take an early 6-2 lead. Another Burton basket put Fishers ahead 8-4 midway through the first quarter.
But Northwestern took over after that. Kendall Bostic, one of its two star players, made a three-point play to put Northwestern up 9-8, and it never trailed again, eventually running out the first quarter and taking a 20-12 lead. Northwestern then cruised through the second period to lead 37-19 at halftime.
“Their length on defense just gave us a lot of trouble,” said Tigers coach Lauren Votaw. “We turned the ball over way more times than we have and I’m going to credit a lot of that to Northwestern. They were solid defensively and like I said, their length really bothered us. We hit some shots early, I thought we might be okay. We couldn’t find a way to get the ball in the middle, which is where we felt like it was open.”
Fishers continued to fight in the third quarter. Burton added another four points, then Audra Emmerson made a 3-pointer. The Tigers’ freshman twins, Hailey and Olivia Smith, provided some good minutes in the third quarter, with Hailey making a layin, then Olivia scoring off a steal to keep Fishers within 48-34.
Northwestern’s Klair Merrell made a layin to end the third period and put her team up 50-34. That began a 10-0 run for Northwestern, whose defense took over again and allowed the Tigers only six points in the fourth quarter.
Burton led Fishers with 15 points, both she and Hailey Smith collected four rebounds. Lydia Stullken blocked two shots.
The Tigers finished their season with a school record 23 wins against just two losses. Fishers will graduate three seniors, Stullken, Feagan and Tamia Perryman, who left quite a legacy for the Tigers.
“They win 23 games, which is a school record,” said Votaw. “They won a (Hoosier Crossroads) Conference title outright. They won a sectional title, which we haven’t done since 2014. They got the chance to be a part of not one, but two buzzer-beaters. And I just told them in there, not many high school girls basketball players get to say any of that, let alone all of that.”
As for the seniors’ legacy, Votaw summed it up with this:
“Sometime in the fourth quarter, I’m watching the game and Lydia Stullken – I mean, we’re down 20-plus, probably, at this point – and Lydia Stullken is going around and finding her teammates and giving high fives, because she knows that talk and touches is what keeps a group together,” said Votaw. “That is the legacy that those seniors are going to leave. That’s how we do things here. We compete to the end and we’re great teammates.”
NORTHWESTERN 67, FISHERS 40
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Audra Emmerson 2-4 0-0 6 0
Kaitlynn Feagan 1-1 0-0 3 2
Tamia Perryman 1-9 0-0 2 3
Lydia Stullken 2-6 0-0 4 2
Katie Burton 7-13 0-1 15 4
Hailey Smith 3-8 0-2 6 4
Olivia Smith 1-6 0-0 2 3
Katie Howard 0-2 0-0 0 0
Shae Shaffer 0-0 0-0 0 0
Jordan Imes 0-0 0-0 0 0
Kaiya Walker 1-1 0-1 2 0
Totals 18-50 0-4 40 18
Score by Quarters
Fishers 12 7 15 6 – 40
Northwestern 20 17 13 17 – 67
Fishers 3-point shooting (4-17) Emmerson 2-4, Feagan 1-1, Burton 1-1, Perryman 0-5, Howard 0-2, H. Smith 0-2, O. Smith 0-2.
Fishers rebounds (24) H. Smith 4, Burton 4, Emmerson 3, Perryman 3, O. Smith 3, Stullken 3, Feagan 1, Imes 1, team 2.
Fishers’ Audra Emmerson drives to the baseline and draws a foul during the Tigers’ girls basketball regional game with Northwestern Saturday morning at Marion’s Bill Green Arena. (Kirk Green)
Olivia Smith goes up to score two points for Fishers. (Kirk Green)