By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – The girls basketball sectional tournament draw is only four days away, so every game and every opportunity is becoming more important.
Fishers hosted Carmel Tuesday night, and the two teams are both in Sectional 8 – a sectional that has four of the top 14 teams in the latest Sagarin ratings. The Greyhounds gave the Class 4A No. 8 Tigers a tough battle before Fishers was able to pull away in the fourth quarter for a 52-47 victory. In the IBCA one-class poll, Fishers is No. 10 and the ‘Hounds are No. 20.
“I felt like it was like, big shot, big shot, big shot there for a while,” said Tigers coach Lauren Votaw. “It was fun. It felt like tournament atmosphere a little bit, which was great.”
Carmel had been on a seven-game win streak, and after absorbing an early 6-2 Fishers lead (Karina Scott and Olivia Smith made 3-pointers), the ‘Hounds took off on a 9-0 run that would keep them ahead for most of the next two quarters. Emily Roper scored the first six points of that run, then Laura Valiente threw in a 3.
The Tigers stopped the run when Morgan Roberts hit a triple, but Hannah Lach scored off a steal to finish the first quarter and give Carmel a 13-9 advantage.
The Greyhounds led 17-11 during the middle minutes of the second quarter before fishers’ Joirdyn Smith drained back-to-back 3s to tie the game at 17-17, the only time in the period where Carmel didn’t lead. Clarke answered that with a three-point play, then hit another 3 to give the ‘Hounds a 23-19 advantage. Hailey Smith kept Fishers close with five points during the final two minutes of the half, but Carmel still led 25-24 at the break.
Votaw said that the Greyhounds’ length made it difficult to find openings and attack their zone.
“They do a good job of mixing up the depth of it, the aggressiveness of it and so it keeps you guessing,” said Votaw. “They just do a really great job. Credit to (coach) Erin (Trimpe), because she’s got them playing that thing really well.”
Carmel’s Mackenzie Thomas opened the second half with a layin to move the Greyhounds ahead 27-24. Olivia Smith cut it to one with a layin, then a putback from Hailey Smith got Fishers back in front 28-27, and the two teams began trading the lead throughout the third quarter. Clarke made another triple to push Carmel in front 36-34, but the Tigers’ Talia Harris and Joirdyn Smith hit consecutive 3s towards the end of the quarter, which finished with Fishers ahead 40-36.
Joirdyn Smith scored the first basket of the fourth period with a jumper.
“I thought that Joirdyn Smith, for the most part, played very well at the point under control,” said Votaw. “She did a good job of driving and then when people collapsed on her, she found her open teammates.”
Joirdyn Smith said that she’s “coming in every morning, after practice I’m staying after, getting extra shots, just fine-tuning my shots before sectionals. And I know as the season goes on, the games get more important, game by game.”
Carmel went on a 7-0 run to take a 43-42 lead; Clarke scored five points and Roper got a basket off a steal. But Fishers would finish the game on a 10-4 run; Hailey Smith scored seven of those points during the run. The Greyhounds got within 48-47 after a Clarke jumper, but Harris, Hailey Smith and Karina Scott combined for the game’s last four points, all from the free-throw line.
“I thought we did a lot of good things, just not enough,” said Trimpe. “And they did just a few more of those. Their offensive rebounds in the second half just absolutely destroyed us. Our turnovers, our pass selection, missed layups was obviously a huge problem for us. But we told them, we did all the things to put ourselves in a position to beat a really good team, but we have to figure out how to get over that hump and make those plays to get it done.”
Hailey Smith led the Tigers with 15 points, while Joirdyn Smith scored 14 points. For Carmel, Clarke led with 18 points, followed by Roper with 16 points.
Fishers is 15-4 and hosts Avon Saturday afternoon in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game. The Greyhounds are 12-7 and play a Metropolitan Conference game Friday at Pike.
FISHERS 52, CARMEL 47
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Laura Valiente 1 0-0 3 4
Kate Clarke 7 1-1 18 1
Hannah Lach 1 0-0 2 3
Mackenzie Thomas 4 0-0 8 2
Emily Roper 6 4-4 16 4
Ava Carter 0 0-0 0 0
Mackenzie Woods 0 0-0 0 1
Sophia Shepherd 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 19 5-5 47 15
Carmel 3-pointers (4) Clarke 3, Valiente 1.
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Karina Scott 1 1-2 4 0
Joirdyn Smith 5 0-0 14 2
Alycia Triplett 1 0-0 2 0
Hailey Smith 3 8-12 15 1
Olivia Smith 3 0-3 7 1
Ava Carter 0 0-0 0 0
Talia Harris 2 2-2 7 2
Morgan Roberts 1 0-0 3 1
Kate Thomas 0 0-0 0 1
Totals 16 11-20 52 8
Fishers 3-point shooting (8) J. Smith 4, Scott 1, Harris 1, H. Smith 1, O. Smith 1.
Score by Quarters
Carmel 13 12 11 11 – 47
Fishers 9 15 16 12 – 52