No. 1 Fishers handles Harrison, claims second straight regional title

By CRAIG ADKINS

For The Reporter

FRANKFORT – It took very little time for the Fishers Tigers to get familiar with the Harrison Raiders. The former Hoosier Crossroads Conference foes were playing for the ninth time, but for the first time in the tournament.

The Tigers re-introduced themselves right away to the Raiders and did everything possible in running away with a dominating Class 4A regional championship win last Saturday at Frankfort’s Case Arena, 89-39.

“Harrison is a really good team and well-coached by Coach Rinehart. We made sure we didn’t take them lightly,” said Fishers head coach Garrett Winegar.

The Raiders took the opening tip and took the first lead on a dunk by Malachi King. But, that didn’t last long.

At the other end, Nathan Baker got the Tigers on the board and was fouled to make it 3-2. Harrison was completely stunned as Cooper Zachary made two consecutive three-pointers and Millen McCartney another for a 12-0 Fishers run.

Reid Smith scored for Harrison on a fast break to stop the bleeding temporarily, allowing the Raiders to burn their first 30 second timeout.

Fishers led at the end of the first, 24-12, with complete balance.

The second quarter was when the Tigers spread the wealth throughout their lineup and it didn’t matter who scored. They did it with precision and efficiency.

“We talk about strength in numbers. We don’t care who scores. It’s all about winning,” Winegar said.

To start the second, Zachary found Justin Kirby on a backdoor cut, starting another scoring spree. McCartney grabbed an offensive rebound and found Logan Sigler for two. JonAnthony Hall snagged an offensive board for a putback dunk. Jason Gardner Jr. and Sigler helped close the half for a comfortable halftime lead of 44-19.

The Tigers had answers for everything that Harrison was trying to execute. It was a struggle for the Raiders to get any sort of continuity on offense, which led to numerous turnovers, resulting in offense for Fishers.

“It all starts with defense,” said Winegar. “Millen McCartney guarded King and gave up three to four inches in height. Whenever we start playing defense, it helps our offense.”

Ball movement was a big factor that helped completely overwhelm Harrison and in turn, the offense kept pouring it on.

“They came out in a zone. Our guys were ready when they tried to stop us in the paint,” said Winegar.

Fishers played at a speed that Harrison just could not keep up with and that became glaringly obvious with a 76-34 lead through three periods.

Despite having a great season, the Raiders’ woes continued into the fourth. One of the big reasons for the turnovers and stealth defense was the presence of Hall all over the court on both ends.

“I don’t think there’s a player in the state who has the impact that JonAnthony Hall does. If he doesn’t become an Indiana All-Star, there’s something wrong,” Winegar said.

The Tigers held the Raiders to their second single-digit quarter of the night in the fourth, outscoring Harrison 13-5 to put the finishing touches on their second regional championship.

Baker led six Tigers in double figures with a game-high 18 points on eight field goals and a pair of free throws. Zachary and Kirby each scored 13, Hall 11, Gardner and Sigler 10 each and McCartney with nine.

Fishers (28-0) has now won 41 games in a row and 57 of its last 58 dating back to the beginning of the 2023-24 seasons.

This is the Tigers’ second regional title in a row, advancing them to the semi-state. Next week’s semi-state pairings will be announced at 3 p.m. today on the IHSAA Champions Network app and at ihsaatv.org.

The other Class 4A teams in the Elite 8 that are potential matchups in the northern semi-state are No. 4 Crown Point (22-2), No. 13 South Bend Riley (22-4) and Homestead (22-5). In the south, No. 7 Jeffersonville (21-5), No. 12 Lawrence North (21-6), No. 15 Mt. Vernon (21-5) and Terre Haute North (21-5).