By RICHIE HALL
For the first time in 12 years, the Hamilton Southeastern girls basketball team is playing in a regional.
The Royals will travel to the Class 4A Kokomo regional on Saturday to play Fort Wayne Carroll in the day’s first game at 10 a.m. Zionsville and Homestead will play immediately afterwards in the second semi-final, with the championship game at 8 p.m.
So just how long is 12 years for Southeastern? The Royals won their last championship during the 2006-07 school year, during which this year’s seniors were in kindergarten. This year’s sectional title was the fourth in school history for Southeastern; the Royals also won in 1999, 2006 and 2007. Southeastern also won a regional title in 2006.
Fort Wayne Carroll comes into the regional after winning its third straight sectional championship. The Chargers had been having an up-and-down season, starting out 4-0, then losing four in a row late in the season. But Carroll stepped up in the DeKalb sectional, beating Snider 49-42, East Noble 52-32 and Northrop 61-48 to claim the program’s ninth sectional title.
The Royals played the Chargers earlier in the season, on Nov. 17, winning 62-22. Since then, Southeastern has rolled to a 23-1 record, with its only loss to Ryle, one of the top teams in Kentucky. The Royals then won their own sectional by beating Fishers 36-27 and Carmel 47-34.
Carroll is 14-10 for the season. The Chargers are led in scoring by sophomore Emily Parrett, who is averaging 12.9 points per game. Two junior players are chipping in over nine points per contest: Olivia Hoeppner is scoring 9.4 points per game and Malia Williams is averaging 9.3 per game. Williams is the team’s top 3-point shooter, making 38 triples out of 118 attempts for 32.2 percent.
Junior Audrey Freeland leads the rebounding with 4.2 per game and is also Carroll’s top shooter, making 49.5 percent of her field goals. Hoeppner has the most steals this season with 82 (3.6 per game) as well as the most assists with 78 (3.4 per game), and is the leading free throw shooter at 75.3 percent.
The Royals’ leading scorer is junior Sydney Parrish, a varsity player for HSE since her freshman year. The heavily-recruited Parrish is averaging 20.9 points per game and passed the 1,000-point mark for her career earlier in the season. Parrish leads the Royals in almost all the statistical categories: She is a 50.4 percent field goal and 39.4 percent 3-point shooter, is averaging 7.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
Southeastern’s senior class contains four four-year varsity players. Amaya Hamilton is averaging 12.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while Malea Jackson scores 9.8 points per game and has made 41 3-pointers this season. Tayah Irvin is a strong presence on defense, and Molly Walton is able to contribute solid minutes as well. Both Irvin and Walton average 4.0 rebounds per game, with Irvin totaling 32 steals this season and Walton 31. Junior Jackie Maulucci scores 7.6 points per game, and sophomore Lydia Self is a rising star; she also averages 4.0 rebounds per game.
The second semi-final at Kokomo features two teams that made the state championship game in the past two years. Homestead won state in 2017, while Zionsville was the runner-up in 2018, falling to Warren Central.
The Eagles are 18-8 and won their own sectional, beating Lafayette Jefferson 78-60, Kokomo 67-28 and Harrison 62-26. Zionsville was instantly boosted by the return of senior Maddie Nolan, who had been injured for most of the season, but came back for the Eagles’ regular-season finale. Already in those four games, Nolan averaged 13.5 points.
Sophomore Katey Richason is scoring at a 13.7 points per game clip, with senior Delaney Richason adding 10.8 points. Katey Richason pulls 7.1 rebounds per game, and senior Megan Sheridan is averaging 7.0 per game.
Homestead is 24-3 for the season and also won its own sectional, defeating Fort Wayne Wayne 76-13 and Fort Wayne South Side 63-36. The Spartans recently were three-time regional champions, winning in 2015-16-17 and culminating in a state title in 2017, where they beat Pike 61-54.
Freshman Ayanna Patterson is already a 6-foot-3 force: She is averaging 12.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Senior Sylare Starks is scoring at an 11.1 points per game clip and hands out 4.0 assists. and junior Syndey Graber contributes 10.0 points and 6.2 rebounds.
UNIVERSITY GETS RE-MATCH
In the Class 1A regional at Southwestern Shelby, University will get a re-match with the team that ended its tournament run last year: Jac-Cen-Del. That game will tip off around noon, following the first semi-final game between
The Trailblazers are 22-2 for the season and cruised through the Bethesda Christian sectional over International 82-17, the host Patriots 59-40 and Indiana School for the Deaf 60-39. Three UHS players are averaging in double figures, led by junior Lindsey Syrek, who is averaging a double-double for the season at 17.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. Syrek also passed the 1,000-point mark earlier in the season.
Senior Jenna Blakley is scoring 12.7 points per game, while her classmate Jhordan McGuire adds 10.4 points and also collects 7.5 rebounds per game. Senior Brooke Andrus hands out 4.7 assists. Syrek also averages 4.8 blocks per game, while Lily Snyder makes 3.9 steals.
The Eagles are 21-5 for the year. After two easy wins to reach the final of the Waldron sectional (over Rising Sun 64-29 and Southwestern Shelby 62-36), Jac-Cen-Del needed five overtimes to beat the host Mohawks, 67-61. That gave the Eagles their 10th consecutive sectional title.
Senior Mariah Day leads the Jac-Cen-Del scoring at 18.3 points per game, while sophomore Paige Ledford is averaging a double-double with 11.5 rebounds and 11.3 points per contest. Day is handing out 4.4 assists per game, with sophomore Anna Hubbard making 2.1 blocks.
In the first semi-final, North Central (Farmersburg) will take on Greenwood Christian. North Central won the Bloomfield sectional by beating Clay City 58-40 and Bloomfield 44-39, giving it a 16-8 record for the season.
The Thunderbirds have three sophomores averaging in double figures: Averi Davidson is scoring 18.8 points per game, followed by Jocelyn Cox at 13.7 points and Courtney Williams at 12.6 points. Senior Emma Baker is pulling down 7.8 rebounds per game, followed by Cox at 7.7 and junior Brinley Stone at 7.3. Williams averages 4.5 assists per game.
Greenwood Christian is 16-10 for the season and easily won its own sectional over Central Christian 92-10, Christel House Academy 101-23 and Tindley 74-43. Sophomore Isabella Reed is pouring in 21.5 points per game for the Cougars, with junior Alexis Mead (15.6) and sophomore Savvanah Frye (12.3) also averaging in double figures. Reed is averaging a double-double for the season by also collecting 15.0 rebounds per game. Mead hands out 4.4 assists per game.
Hamilton Southeastern senior Amaya Hamilton is averaging 12.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game for the Royals, who will take on Fort Wayne Carroll Saturday morning in the first round of the Kokomo regional, the first appearance at a regional by Southeastern in 12 years. (Kent Graham)