By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
NOBLESVILLE – Last Saturday night’s sectional championship was a rematch of the Mudsock rivalry between Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern and it certainly lived up to expectations.
The Tigers came out victorious for the second time against the Royals this season in a 58-44 win.
Fishers jumped out early after a tight first couple of minutes. Tied 2-2, HSE had their one lead at 4-2. Once Joirdyn Smith knocked down a three from the top of the key, the Tigers got into another gear and led 12-6 after the first period.
The Tigers kept pushing in the second, getting the Royals deeper into a hole for a 26-16 halftime advantage.
“Obviously, in last year’s sectional championship game, that was not what happened to us. We talked about that and that was a really good learning lesson for us,” said Fishers head coach Lauren Votaw on how the Tigers prepared differently this time for a sectional title battle.
“On how we need to approach the game and our mentality of being in attack mode. Last year against Noblesville, I really felt like we were on our heels. So, we know that when we come out, we want to be aggressive,” Votaw continued on Fishers’ different strategy from last year to this year.
“We knew we needed to get off to a good start. They’re not easy to play from behind. Whichever team gets settled down the earliest gets the upper hand and they did a better job of that tonight,” said Hamilton Southeastern head coach Brian Satterfield.
HSE cut it down to five two different times in the third, but Fishers was able to get it back to seven through three at 35.28.
“I thought in the second half that we came out, pushed, did a few things and we got back into it, but we couldn’t get over the hump from that,” Satterfield continued on the Royals being unable to fully come back.
The Royals gave it one more push on both ends of the floor with a 6-2 run, trimming the Tigers’ lead to 37-34. After that, Fishers went on a 10-0 spurt that sprang their lead to double-digits, where it stayed, 47-34.
“We’ve had situations where we’ve had leads and people have fought back. That’s where I give our girls credit. This wasn’t our best shooting night, but we kept fighting and we had opportunities and just couldn’t get over the hump,” stated Satterfield on his team’s ability to come back, but not quite take over.
Hamilton Southeastern’s Riley Makalusky (left)
scored 20 points for the Royals. Pictured at right is Fishers’ Kate Thomas. (Kent Graham)
The Tigers kept at it, adding more on the board to go 11-8 in the final 4:30 for a 58-44 win.
“So, Hailey (Smith) walked by me at some point when we were coming out of a timeout. She looked at me and said, ‘I got you coach.’ And after that, was when she turned it on,” said a happy Votaw on one of her leaders taking charge when it mattered most.
Hailey Smith put the Tigers on her back and scored 10 in the fourth. Talia Harris also came up clutch with seven in the final quarter and the two outscored HSE 17-16 in a 23-16 final eight minutes to claim the sectional title.
This is the Tigers’ first sectional title since 2020 and third in program history. They also won the 2014 sectional.
Hamilton Southeastern (22-4) ends its season and a six-game winning streak.
The Royals were led by senior all-star candidate Riley Makalusky with a game-high 20 points. Sophomore sister Maya and freshman Kennedy Holman both were able to muscle their way to seven apiece.
The Tigers had a balanced scoring attack en route to the sectional crown. Hailey Smith had a team-high 18, followed by a surging Talia Harris with 14 and 12 from Olivia Smith. Kate Thomas also added seven critical points.
Fishers (23-2) advances on to next Saturday’s regional championship at Marion’s Bill Green Arena. The Tigers will face Homestead (19-5), who won Sectional 6 over host Huntington North, 59-44. The Tigers and Spartans tip off at 4 p.m.