By RICH TORRES
FISHERS – Patience.
On Tuesday night, coach Erin Trimpe stressed its importance as her Carmel girls basketball team’s persistence was tested during the opening round of Sectional 8 at Hamilton Southeastern.
Locked in three ties in the first half, including a 20-20 stalemate at halftime against the short-handed Noblesville Millers (9-14), the Greyhounds (13-10) had two choices.
Either they could stick to the game plan or fold under the weight of their first-half shooting woes. The Greyhounds opted for the former, leading to a decisive 18-point fourth quarter en route to a 48-33 victory.
“We kept stressing to our shooters to keep shooting. For our post players to keep crashing the boards and give us two or three chances to get some shots up,” Trimpe remarked. “I thought in that fourth quarter we hit shots. It helps when you hits shots. It definitely makes a difference.”
With a large target on their backs as the defending sectional champions, the Greyhounds found their offensive rhythm in the final 16 minutes to advance into Friday night’s sectional semifinal against Westfield (15-7) at 6 p.m.
Senior Reagan Hune finished with a team-high 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while 5-10 senior Macy Berglund had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Carmel shot 32 percent from the field in the first half, but once the third quarter began, that percentage soared to 54 for the second half.
The Greyhounds opened the third quarter with an 8-2 run and added a 9-0 run to start the fourth behind three straight 3-pointers, which finally broke down the Millers’ stubborn 2-3 zone.
“I thought our post did a good job of taking it inside, finding our shooters, and our girls continued to shoot with confidence,” Trimpe said. “That’s all we can really ask from them.”
In the first half, execution alluded the Greyhounds. Carmel went 1-for-12 from 3-point range and were 1-for-14 after the third quarter. The Greyhounds’ string of treys in the fourth, however, provided the spark they needed.
Their defense and rebounding handled the rest.
Noblesville, which was down three starters and five varsity players due to season-ending injuries and illness, battled, but struggled to answer late as the Greyhounds’ shooting heated up.
During their regular-season meeting on Nov. 20, Carmel cruised past Noblesville 74-44. This time around, the Millers banded together and nearly pulled off the upset.
“We only have seven kids, so our game plan is to play a 2-3 zone. And we’ve done a really nice job,” Millers coach Donna Buckley said. “We just wanted to make sure we rebounded and made them take long jumpers. Last time we played them, they shot lights out. That was really the difference. They didn’t shoot nearly as well this time, but they started to hit some late.”
The Millers kept stride with a game-high 14 points from senior Mallory Johnson and eight points from sophomore reserve Makenna Mundy, who went 4 of 5 from the floor.
Senior Maddie Knight added seven points, but the Greyhounds neutralized the Millers on the boards, grabbing 19 defensive rebounds. Carmel out rebounded Noblesville 30-20.
“We might not be the buffest of teams, but we have a lot of really good length and a lot of really aggressive players that can really fly in there,” Trimpe said. “Our No. 1 goal was to dominate the boards tonight, so I was proud of their effort.”
Their defensive pressure led to 16 Noblesville turnovers, including nine in the second half, which fueled the Greyhounds rally and 9-0 run in the game’s final 3:38.
“We like to pressure people. We like to try to cause some disruption and I thought our guards, especially up top, did a really good job of not allowing them to see over the top,” Trimpe said. “We know Noblesville is a good team, and we know they have some phenomenal seniors. Their guards create so well, and we knew they would be prepared for us and have a good game plan.”
Bridget Dunn had eight points and 10 rebounds for Carmel. Freshman Kate Clarke posted seven points as the Greyhounds shot 42 percent overall.
“They forced us into some tough situations, and they played us hard. Our girls had to keep pushing through. The game plan they came in with really threw us off,” Trimpe said. “We tried to make some halftime adjustments and the girls came out and executed those well.”
The Millers will lose three seniors to graduation this offseason, but with five juniors returning and a talented junior high class coming in, Buckley sees a turnaround coming soon. Prior to this year, the Millers had a string of six straight winning campaigns.
“We’ve come a long way. We’ve really grown up this year. We lost three varsity kids to ACLs, one kid to concussion. Our starting point guard just went down the past four games,” Buckley said. “We were literally playing without three starters, and several other keys kids, but our kids stayed together. That’s a huge thing.”
Carmel 48, Noblesville 33
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Bridget Dunn 3-7 0-0 8 1
Sophie Bair 1-1 0-0 2 1
Tally Seitz 1-3 0-0 3 2
Lauren Gartenhaus 1-1 0-0 2 1
Kate Clarke 3-12 0-0 7 1
Reagan Hune 6-10 1-1 13 3
Mackenzie Wood 0-1 3-4 3 1
Macy Berglund 5-12 0-0 10 0
Totals 20-47 4-5 48 10
Carmel 3-point shooting (4-18) Dunn 2-6, Clarke 1-9, Seitz 1-3.
Carmel rebounding (30) Dunn 10, Bair 3, Gartenhaus 1, Clarke 2, Hune 3, Wood 4, Berglund 7.
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Mallory Johnson 6-13 0-0 14 1
Maddie Knight 3-16 1-2 7 2
Makenna Mundy 4-5 0-0 8 0
Mallory Miller 0-2 2-2 2 2
Anna Kiser 1-1 0-0 2 0
Sarah Etchison 0-4 0-0 0 0
Emily Wood 0-2 0-0 0 2
Totals 14-43 3-4 33 7
Noblesville 3-point shooting (2-18) Johnson 2-8, Knight 0-5, Etchison 0-4, Miller 0-1.
Noblesville rebounding (20) Knight 4, Kiser 4, Johnson 3, Miller 2, Mundy 2.
Score by Quarters
Carmel 10 10 10 18 – 48
Noblesville 10 10 7 6 – 33
Carmel’s Bridget Dunn (5) shoots the basketball while being guarded by Noblesville’s Sarah Etchison during the Greyhounds-Millers sectional game Tuesday night at Hamilton Southeastern. (Kent Graham)