By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – For the third consecutive year, the Carmel and Westfield boys basketball team will play for the Class 4A Sectional 8 championship.
Both teams advanced to tonight’s final-round game by breezing through Friday semi-final contests. First, the Greyhounds, ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Class 4A poll and No. 4 in the IBCA coaches’ poll, overcame a shaky start to cruise past host Noblesville 64-41. Following that, the IBCA No. 11 Shamrocks used a hot-shooting 3-point effort to beat Hamilton Southeastern 77-50.
Tonight’s championship game tips off at 7:30 p.m. at The Mill in Noblesville.
RUNNING GREYHOUNDS
The Millers were in control of the first quarter, skipping out to an 11-2 lead. Preston Roberts and Aaron Fine both scored four points during that period, with Cooper Bean throwing a 3-point basket. Fine’s layin put Noblesville up nine.
“You play them here in the tournament, you can always count on a close game,” said Carmel coach Ryan Osborn. “And they came out with some fire early, some confidence. They’re playing well, doing a lot of good things.”
Carmel’s Charlie Williams finished the quarter with a layin, making the score 11-4 going into the second period. Williams’ basket would be the start of a 15-0 run for the ‘Hounds. Sam Orme took over the game during most of that stretch, scoring nine points, including a dunk.
“Man, I liked what I saw from him,” Osborn said of Orme. “I know that. I liked his aggressiveness. He was assertive. He was making plays.”
Peter Suder added a couple of baskets to the run as well. When the dust settled, Carmel led 17-11. Fine halted the run with a free throw, followed by a pair of foul shots from E.J. Smith.
Another Fine layin cut the Greyhounds’ lead to 19-18 with under two minutes to go in the half. Carmel pushed the lead back up to five when Josh Whack made a floater and Garwey Dual scored off a steal. Fine finished the half with another layin, and the Greyhounds led 23-20 at the break.
“I thought the first quarter we played very well,” said Millers coach Scott McClelland. “I thought the first half we played well. I thought we were in a great spot at halftime.”
Noblesville took a 26-25 lead early in the third quarter after Hunter Walston drained a triple. But Carmel took over after that, outscoring the Millers 23-5 over the remainder of the period. This time, it was Dual’s turn to dominate, as he scored nine points during the Greyhounds’ run. He also scored a basket early in the third, giving him 11 points for the quarter. Orme added seven points, including a 3-pointer.
Osborn said the success came because of “our guys allowing our defense to get stops and flow into our offense. When we were walking the ball up the floor, it was hard to get that rhythm,” said the coach.
The third quarter finished with Carmel leading 48-31. Noblesville managed to get within 54-41 with 5:23 left in the fourth after Bean made a three-point play, but the Greyhounds finished the game by scoring the final 10 points. Whack started the spurt with a layin, followed by back-to-back baskets from Charlie Williams.
“Give credit where credit’s due,” said McClelland. “They’re the champs. Trying to crack that shell of theirs on defense is very, very challenging with their length, their discipline, their organization.”
Carmel shot the ball exceptionally well from inside, making 27 of its 34 two-point attempts. Four players reached double figures for the ‘Hounds, led by Orme’s 18 points. Dual scored 13, Suder added 11 and Williams contributed 10 points.
Orme led the rebounds with eight, while Williams collected five rebounds. Suder dished out four assists, and Dual and Orme each had two blocked shots.
Fine led the Millers’ scoring with nine points, followed by Smith and Bean with eight points each. Roberts made six steals.
Noblesville finished the season 13-11, but got quite a bit accomplished. The Millers tied for second in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference and won their first sectional game since 2017.
McClelland said he was proud of the Noblesville seniors: Smith, Luke Wilson, Cameron Karns and Evan Wright.
“I’m their third coach in four years, and I’m not sure that’s an easy thing to do,” said McClelland. “And I thought those kids adjusted to what we wanted them to do. I’ll always admire what they tried to get done for us.”
HOT-SHOOTING ROCKS
The second semi-final was tied at 6-6 early before Westfield jolted ahead, using 15-3 spurt to go ahead 21-9. The Shamrocks were hot from 3-point range, with Braden Smith draining three triples and Cam Haffner making two. Smith hit back-to-back 3s, then Trey Dorton scored off a steal to push Westfield up by 12.
Southeastern’s Reph Stevenson ended the run with a layin, but an Alex Romack basket put the ‘Rocks up 23-11 at the end of one. In the second quarter, Westfield made a quick 7-0 run to lead 32-14. Haffner started it with an and-1, then a Smith steal led to a dunk, followed by another basket by the Purdue commit. Haffner added another seven points late in the second quarter, which helped the Shamrocks to a 40-23 halftime lead.
“I thought everybody played well defensively,” said Westfield coach Shane Sumpter. “I thought early in the first quarter, we really struggled to guard them. They hit us with a lot of cross screens in the interior and we had to make some adjustments there. Our guys responded and then we were able to get a lead and just grind away. We shot the ball well.”
The Royals got their offense going in the third period, scoring 18 points. Sam Jacobs had a strong quarter, getting 10 points for Southeastern.
But Westfield kept its offense hot as well, pouring in another 25 points during the quarter, increasing their advantage to 65-41 by the end of the third. Romack scored seven points, while Haffner threw in two more 3s. Nic Depasquale hit a 3 as well, and Smith drained another one right after.
“I thought we came out and played hard and settled in a little bit,” said HSE coach John Ashworth. “But anytime you’re playing against Braden Smith and Haffner and they’re making shots like that, it’s going to be a struggle.”
The fourth quarter began the same way with Trey Buchanan hitting a triple, and Smith following that with his fifth 3 of the night. Haffner also made five triples, and was Westfield’s leading scorer with 24 points. Smith added 22 and Romack had 15 points. Overall, the Shamrocks were 12-of-24 from 3-point range, exactly 50 percent.
Depasquale led the rebounds with six. Smith dished out eight assists, while Dorton handed out five. Perhaps the most popular two points of the night came from Alex Wolfe, who made the Westfield student section erupt after making a layin.
“Just a tremendous kid,” said Sumpter. “Unbelievable kid, so I was really happy that he had a moment like that.”
Jacobs led the Royals with 20 points. Stevenson handed out eight rebounds, while Deion Miles dished out six assists. Southeastern finished its season 9-14.
“We saw some really good things,” said Ashworth. “Obviously we need to make some major improvements collectively. I think our kids can hang our hats and be proud of the season we had.”
CARMEL 64, NOBLESVILLE 41
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Josh Whack 4-6 0-0 8 2
Peter Suder 5-8 0-1 11 3
Samuel Orme 8-13 1-1 18 2
Charlie Williams 4-5 2-2 10 1
Jared Bonds 1-1 0-0 2 1
Garwey Dual 6-8 1-2 13 1
Spencer White 0-2 0-0 0 2
Jake Griffin 0-1 0-0 0 0
Logan Reinhart 0-0 0-0 0 0
Josh Rauh 0-1 0-0 0 0
Clay Richards 1-1 0-0 2 0
Burke Weldy 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 29-46 4-6 64 12
Carmel 3-point shooting (2-12) Orme 1-5, Suder 1-3, White 0-2, Dual 0-1, Whack 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (28) Orme 8, Williams 5, Suder 4, Whack 3, Dual 2, Richards 2, White 2, Weldy 1, Bonds 1.
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
E.J. Smith 2-7 3-4 8 0
Luke Almodovar 2-5 0-0 5 2
Aaron Fine 4-13 1-2 9 1
Preston Roberts 2-6 2-2 6 2
Hunter Walston 1-2 2-2 5 1
Cooper Bean 3-4 1-1 8 0
Cameron Karns 0-0 0-0 0 1
Luke Wilson 0-1 0-0 0 0
Luke Etchison 0-0 0-0 0 0
Will Smits 0-0 0-0 0 0
Evan Wright 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 14-38 9-11 41 7
Noblesville 3-point shooting (4-13) Smith 1-4, Almodovar 1-1, Bean 1-1, Walston 1-1, Fine 0-3, Roberts 0-2, Wilson 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (8) Fine 2, Walston 2, Smith 1, Almodovar 1, Bean 1, Roberts 1.
Score by Quarters
Carmel 4 19 25 16 – 64
Noblesville 11 9 11 10 – 41
WESTFIELD 77, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 50
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Donovan Hamilton 2-5 0-0 5 1
Reph Stevenson 2-3 3-3 7 1
Caleb Smock 2-3 0-0 5 1
Deion Miles 1-2 1-3 3 2
Sam Jacobs 9-18 1-1 20 3
Tyler Lacy 3-4 0-0 8 0
Joshua Jones 0-1 0-0 0 1
Michael Griffith 0-1 0-0 0 0
Kasey Ash-Simpson 0-2 0-0 0 0
Alex Troutman 1-5 0-0 2 0
Braden Totten 0-0 0-0 0 0
Joseph Karwowski 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 20-44 5-7 50 9
Southeastern 3-point shooting (5-15) Lacy 2-3, Jacobs 1-5, Hamilton 1-2, Smock 1-2, Ash-Simpson 0-1, Miles 0-1, Jones 0-1.
Southeastern rebounds (22) Stevenson 8, Lacy 2, Griffith 2, Troutman 2, Hamilton 1, Smock 1, Miles 1, Jacobs 1, team 4.
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Braden Smith 8-12 1-2 22 1
Cam Haffner 9-14 1-1 24 0
Trey Dorton 1-1 0-1 2 0
Nic Depasquale 3-9 0-0 7 1
Alex Romack 7-10 1-1 15 1
Trey Buchanan 1-4 0-0 3 2
Sam Bishop 0-0 0-0 0 2
Jonah Spinner 0-0 0-0 0 0
Kai Butterworth 1-1 0-0 2 1
Reiner Obray 0-0 0-0 0 0
Alex Wolfe 1-1 0-0 2 1
Armani Middlebrooks 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 31-52 3-5 77 9
Westfield 3-point shooting (12-24) Smith 5-9, Haffner 5-8, Buchanan 1-4, Depasquale 1-3.
Westfield rebounds (25) Depasquale 6, Haffner 4, Romack 4, Smith 3, Buchanan 3, Wolfe 2, Bishop 1, team 2.
Score by Quarters
Southeastern 11 12 18 9 – 50
Westfield 23 17 25 12 – 77