BY CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
The 4A Sectional 8 field is just as loaded as it is each and every year. Throughout the state, it is deemed as the toughest sectional. This year’s girls basketball sectional is being hosted at The Mill in Noblesville for the first time since 2006.
Four of the six in this heavyweight sectional are ranked in the top five in Class 4A. The first-round games will be played on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 6 and 7:30 p.m. The semifinals are on Friday, Feb. 3, also at 6 and 7:30 p.m., and the championship game is set for Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
The Carmel Greyhounds (4-18) and No. 3 Fishers Tigers (20-2) drew the first game on Tuesday, followed by Westfield (12-10) meeting up with No. 5 Zionsville (19-2).
Second-ranked Noblesville (21-3) and No. 4 Hamilton Southeastern (20-2) drew the byes. The Millers will play the Carmel/Fishers winner and the Royals get to play the Westfield/Zionsville winner in the two semifinal games Friday.
GAME 1: Carmel vs. Fishers
Carmel: The Greyhounds were winless in the first nine games and their first win came at Westfield on Dec. 6. After dropping their next five, the ‘Hounds won two straight at Fort Wayne South and home against Columbus North. Carmel is 3-4 in its final seven games heading into sectional.
Leading scorer sophomore Izzy Shepherd is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. She averaged 11.0 points. In her absence, senior Hannah Lach leads a balanced offense with 8.2 points.
Sophomores Mallory Bourquein (6.4) and Mackenzie Woods (6.3), along with junior Jamie Elliott (5.9) and sophomore Taryn Fisher (5.1) have all pitched in. Lach also leads with 4.9 rebounds and Woods grabbing 4.0 per contest.
The ‘Hounds wound up 1-4 against the Sectional 8 field.
Fishers: The Tigers have put together quite the regular season. Starting off 6-0, it lost two in a row during Thanksgiving week at Zionsville and against Fort Wayne Snider. Since that point, Fishers has won 14 games in a row ahead of their first-round sectional matchup with Carmel.
“I believe that we have figured out who we are as a team and what strategies lead to us being at our best. We learned many lessons in those two losses and I am very proud of our players for being open to change and willing to be challenged to grow,” said sixth-year Fishers head coach Lauren Votaw.
Fishers won the regular season meeting at Carmel on Jan. 17, 48-39 and it won’t be easy this time either.
“Carmel is a tough team who has remained confident and together through a difficult season. I think we are definitely able to be more specific in our preparation because we have played them recently and we will take lessons learned from that game and apply them to our preparation for sure,” said Votaw.
Possibly the best part of this Fishers team is its balance. Senior identical twins Hailey (11.4) and Olivia (10.0) Smith lead the way with junior Talia Harris right behind at 8.9 points per game. Senior Alycia Triplett (7.8), junior Jordyn Smith (7.0), junior Kate Thomas (4.1) and senior Karina Scott (3.3) help do their part in contributing offensively.
Hailey Smith (7.0), Alycia Triplett (5.1) and Olivia Smith (4.0) account for over half (28.0) of Fishers’ rebounding average.
“The depth and balance that we have has been critical to our success. On any given night, we have several players who can step up and make plays on both ends of the floor. Perhaps the greatest area that it helps us, though, is in practice. We are able to challenge one another at a very high level because of the depth of talent we have,” said Votaw.
Fishers is 4-1 against the five opponents in Sectional 8 and 2-0 on neutral floors. The Tigers also are the Hoosier Crossroads Conference co-champions.
Noblesville: The Millers come into sectional play with the biggest target on their backs. They are not only back-to-back sectional champions, but are also defending their state championship from 2022. Noblesville gets to defend those titles on its home floor at The Mill.
“Playing at The Mill with the community support that we have is an exciting advantage. I am 100 percent sure that The Mill will be sold out and we will have a huge fan base to help us on Friday night. We are so excited to host this year,” said an emphatic 15th-year Noblesville head coach Donna.
Noblesville also owns a scorching 14-game winning streak heading into the sectional.
“The three teams who beat us are all very good. Each game gave us something to focus on in order to improve. Our kids have done that and as a result, they have been playing really well. They just got healthy, are really coachable and want to win. So, losing a few has motivated us to work on cleaning up some areas of our game that needed it,” Buckley stated.
Sophomore Meredith Tippner leads the team with 17.5 points per outing, while junior all-state candidate Reagan Wilson (16.5) has been pouring it on as of late. Wilson is averaging 19 per game during this streak and Tippner 18.4.
The Shoemaker sisters, senior Kaitlyn (8.4) and junior Ava (8.0), seniors Dani Mendez (5.9) and Brooklyn Ely (3.1) all provide plenty of offense to complement Tippner and Wilson.
“This group has so many different kids who can score. Tipp and Reagan have been the two who have led us on many nights, but the Shoemakers, Mendez, Ely and Quigley all give us additional scoring options,” said Buckley.
“Tipp is a versatile scorer and can post up or we can put her out on the perimeter. Reagan has been lights out and is a Miss Basketball front runner for next year. The Shoemakers can absolutely go off, if you focus too much attention on the others,” continued Buckley.
The Millers beat Carmel 65-48 on Nov. 22 and lost at Fishers 55-47 on Dec. 9 and plays the winner of the two on Friday night. They also have a 3-2 record against the five teams in Sectional 8 and are 10-1 on their home floor at The Mill.
GAME 2: Westfield (12-10) vs. Zionsville (19-2)
Westfield: First-year head coach Kelsey Key got started by going 5-2 in her first seven games, which included wins over North Central, Pike and Mount Vernon.
December started a slide where Westfield lost five of its next eight games. Leading up to the sectional and their first-round matchup with Zionsville, the ‘Rocks went 4-3 to wind down the regular season to head to the postseason at 12-10.
The ‘Rocks are quite the competitive squad with six of their 10 losses having been by 10 points or less, including just a four-point defeat at home to Zionsville on Dec. 9.
Playing in the toughest conference in the state, Westfield also scheduled some key non-conference games that upped their slate’s strength. Prior to the new year, Westfield took part in a holiday tournament at 3A top-ranked Twin Lakes. The ‘Rocks grabbed wins against Kankakee Valley and Rochester, but lost to host Twin Lakes by 13.
Westfield also made an interesting road trip on Jan. 14, as the Shamrocks visited 3A No. 4 Indian Creek, handing the Braves their lone loss, 46-43.
Junior Ellie Kelleher leads a very balanced offense with 11.6 points per contest. Sophomores Lindsey Van Dyke (6.8) and Aubrey Crockett (6.5), along with senior Emmrey Collinsworth (5.7) and juniors Reagan Lorenzen (4.0) and Kiki Loveless (3.4) have all been great contributors to the offensive output for Westfield.
Crockett leads with 5.1 rebounds, while Kelleher also grabs 4.8 per game. Kelleher dishes out 3.2 assists, as does Crockett with 2.4.
Westfield has a 5-4 record in tournament play against the Eagles and has the upper hand in the last 20 years, going 16-8. The ‘Rocks are the only team in the six-team field that is winless against the other five, but they are 2-0 on neutral courts.
Zionsville: The Eagles have been one of the hottest teams to start the season, having won their first 18 games. They dropped two consecutive games at Noblesville in a home game with Hamilton Southeastern.
“We played two really good opponents in Noblesville and HSE the last two weeks. We felt like both of them played really well and we did not match their level of play. We will work on making some minor adjustments heading into the sectional, but we are confident that we are capable of beating any team in the sectional if we play smart and play like we are capable. We are looking forward to an opportunity to re-group and compete at our highest level,” stated 20th-year head coach Andy Maguire.
The regular season HCC matchup was close throughout until senior Laila Hull was able to find her way to eight of her 15 points in the fourth period that pushed the Eagles to a 43-39 win.
“Westfield does a great job of being patient and running their offense. They also defend very well, so most of their games are close when you look at the final score. We will defend like we have the entire season and make adjustments based on what we are seeing during the game,” Maguire continued.
The Eagles are led by all-state and Miss Basketball candidate Laila Hull at 23.3 points. She’s joined in double-figures by juniors Emma Haan with 10.8 and Allie Caldwell close behind at 9.4.
Senior Jordyn Coleman (6.6), junior Faith Leedy (5.3) and senior Mallory Heerdt (4.7) all provide scoring depth. Hull also pulls down 8.2 rebounds and Caldwell has 3.2 assists per game.
The Eagles are 3-2 against Sectional 8 teams and 3-0 on neutral courts.
Hamilton Southeastern Royals (20-2): The Royals head into sectional play on a five-game winning streak, and a share of the HCC title. Southeastern started off the season on quite a mission, winning its first 11 games before falling 49-48 to Fishers on Dec. 17 in the Mudsock game.
After that, the Royals won another four in a row before getting that second loss at Warren Central on Jan. 5. Since that loss, HSE has rattled off five in a row heading into sectional play.
“Our defense has been the biggest key all year long. We thought we got a little lax on defense and struggled to knock down shots when we struggled for a few games. During our current stretch, we have been moving the basketball and making good decisions to get great shots. We have had other players step up as well to give us more balance,” stated HSE second-year head coach Brian Satterfield.
Drawing the bye in the sectional can have advantages or disadvantages.
“You can look at it two ways. First, in a grueling sectional like ours, it is beneficial to only have to win two games instead of three. Trying to win three games in five days is not an easy task. On the other hand, we have been playing good basketball. Now we have to wait for a week and a half to play our next game. When we play on Friday the team we play will have already played in the sectional environment and be used to the situation,” Satterfield said.
This Royals team has the highest scoring average at 64.4 points per game. Southeastern is led by senior all-state candidate Riley Makalusky at 19.9 points and is joined in double digits by sophomore sister Maya Makalusky with 16.1.
The rest of the HSE offense is pretty balanced with senior Olivia Brown (7.0), freshman Kennedy Holman (6.2), seniors Teagan Acres (5.1) and Lauren Stewart (4.4) helping balance their effort. Acres grabs six rebounds and Brown 5.1 to go with her 7.7 assists and 3.2 steals.
“The balance has been a big factor on how we have played lately. We are making the extra pass and trying to get great shots every possession. Different players have been stepping up on different nights to go along with our leading scorers. That will continue to be a key as we roll into sectional,” said Satterfield.
HSE is 4-1 against Sectional 8 competition and 2-0 on neutral courts.