By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – In a competitive game between two rivals from Sectional 8, visiting Carmel held off a comeback bid by Westfield to win 45-41 Tuesday at The Rock.
The Class 4A No. 3 Greyhounds led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter before the Shamrocks made their first run, then had to hold off a second run in the fourth period. Carmel finally clinched the win when senior Erin Baker made two free throws with 7.2 seconds left in the game.
“Coach (Ginny) Smith does such a good job with them, and they play really hard,” said Greyhounds coach Erin Trimpe. “We knew they weren’t going to give up and they started putting some good pressure on us. We let it speed us up and frazzle us a little bit.”
But Carmel finished the game, and improved its record to 6-1 for the season.
“Still need to work on a couple things to make sure that we put teams away,” said Trimpe. “Overall, I was really proud of their effort and the way they played.”
The ‘Hounds led 11-4 after the first quarter, with Kate Clarke scoring seven points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Carmel’s lead hit double digits early in the second period, when Hannah Lach hit a 3 for the opening basket of that quarter.
The Greyhounds maintained a comfortable lead throughout the second period, which ended with them ahead 30-20. Clarke made two free throws and a jumper to put Carmel up 27-17, but Alyssa Crockett answered that with a triple. Bridget Dunn drained a 3 to end the half and get the ‘Hounds back up by 10.
Carmel led 35-22 in the third period, and that’s when Westfield made its first run, scoring nine straight points. Olivia Robey started it with a layin, Crockett converted a three-point play, then Robey nailed a jumper on a third-chance attempt, after Chesney Tebbe corralled two consecutive offensive rebounds.
Tebbe then made two free throws to cut the Greyhounds’ lead to 35-31. Mackenzie Thomas and Clarke both scored to get Carmel back up eight, but Ellie Kelleher hit a 3 to finish the period, and keep the ‘Rocks within 39-34.
“I felt like we cleaned it up the second half,” said Smith. “Defensively, we were pretty good.”
A free throw from Riley Pennington and another Clarke triple got the Greyhounds back up 43-34. That’s when Westfield started its second run. Robey scored on a layin, Jessica Castor hit a 3 and Tebbe made both ends of a 1-and-1, keeping the ‘Rocks within 43-41 with 1:31 to play. Neither team would score again until Baker hit her free throws.
“That’s a senior move,” said Trimpe. “She came in and hit some really big free throws.”
Clarke scored 18 points for Carmel, with Dunn adding 13 points. Both made three 3-pointers and Dunn had five blocked shots. Emily Roper led the rebounds with five.
“Kate Clarke and Bridget Dunn, just the duo of them, they did a really good job playing off of each other and leading us and making sure that down the stretch, the ball was in their hands, and the girls on our team will rally around them,” said Trimpe.
Crockett scored 12 points for Westfield and collected eight rebounds. Tebbe had five rebounds.
“We’re making progress,” said Smith, whose Shamrocks team is now 3-2. “We’re moving in the right direction. We’re five games in. It’s nothing for us to hang our heads over. We had some good spurts down the stretch. We’re just going to build on that. We got to turn around and play a really good Zionsville team on Friday. We’re just going to come back tomorrow, prep, get better and get prepared for Zionsville.”
Westfield will host the Eagles for its first Hoosier Crossroads Conference game of the season. The Greyhounds will return home Friday as well, taking on Brownsburg.
CARMEL 45, WESTFIELD 41
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Bridget Dunn 5-10 0-0 13 1
Evan Spidel 0-1 2-2 2 3
Riley Pennington 0-0 1-2 1 5
Kate Clarke 5-9 5-7 18 2
Hannah Lach 2-7 0-1 5 1
Mackenzie Thomas 2-4 0-0 4 2
Emily Roper 0-0 0-1 0 0
Erin Baker 0-0 2-2 2 1
Laura Valiente 0-1 0-0 0 0
Totals 14-32 10-15 45 15
Carmel 3-point shooting (7-15) Dunn 3-5, Clarke 3-5, Lach 1-4, Valiente 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (16) Roper 5, Dunn 2, Baker 2, Spidel 2, Clarke 2, Thomas 2, Pennington 1.
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Jadeyn Hammes 0-0 0-0 0 0
Alyssa Crockett 4-15 3-3 12 1
Jessica Castor 1-5 1-2 4 5
Gigi Eldredge 0-0 0-0 0 1
Alli McEvoy 0-0 0-0 0 0
Ellie Kelleher 2-3 0-0 5 0
Chesney Tebbe 0-2 4-5 4 2
Olivia Robey 4-8 1-3 9 4
Hailey Remaks 2-4 0-0 4 2
Madi Kerrigan 1-2 0-0 3 2
Totals 14-39 9-13 41 17
Westfield 3-point shooting (4-17) Crockett 1-6, Castor 1-5, Kelleher 1-1, Kerrigan 1-1, Robey 0-2, Remaks 0-2.
Westfield rebounds (24) Crockett 8, Tebbe 5, Kelleher 2, Castor 2, Robey 2, Hammes 1, Remaks 1, team 3.
Score by Quarters
Carmel 11 19 9 6 – 45
Westfield 4 16 14 7 – 41