The REPORTER
The Westfield boys basketball team won an all-county game at Carmel Saturday 52-43.
It was the first official game on the Greyhounds’ newly renamed Bill Shepherd Court. The court was named in honor of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Carmel coach, who mentored the Greyhounds’ boys basketball team from 1958 to 1970 and was the Carmel athletic director from 1960 to 1992. The ‘Hounds made the state finals in 1970 under Shepherd, and two of his sons, Billy (1968) and Dave (1970) were named Mr. Basketball.
Carmel led 7-3 to start the game before the Shamrocks made an 8-0 run to take an 11-7 lead. The spurt finished with a Brock Detamore 3-pointer. The Greyhounds’ Alex Couto matched that with a triple, but a Durante Morton putback finished the quarter and gave Westfield a 16-12 advantage.
The ‘Rocks led 29-27 at halftime, with Drew Haffner scoring eight points, including two 3s. Carmel’s Liam Mann, who started in place of an injured Evan Harrell, scored 10 in the first half and added four more in the third quarter, helping the ‘Hounds to a 39-37 lead after three.
But Westfield began the fourth with a 7-0 run and held the lead from there. Morton scored five in that period, which included all three of his free-throw attempts. Will Harvey also made a 3-pointer that Shamrocks coach Shane Sumpter said was “really big.”
“Typical hard-fought game,” said Sumpter. “Carmel’s an outstanding basketball team.” Sumpter said his team played well and was “able to squeak away and make enough plays down the stretch.
Harvey made three 3s while scoring 13 points, with Haffner and Detamore both making two triples on their way to 11 and 10 points respectively. Morton collected 14 rebounds to go with eight points, including 10 offensive rebounds.
“Just unbelievable what Durante Morton does and brings to our basketball team,” said Sumpter.
Mann finished the game with 18 points, scoring in each quarter, and reached double-double status with 10 rebounds; he also blocked two shots. Couto scored 11 points, including three 3s, and dished out four assists.
“We’re so close,” said Carmel coach Ryan Osborn. “But the work obviously has to be done Monday through Thursday. We got to start turning the corner in practice. They’re a good team. They made plays when they needed to make plays.” Osborn said that when the game was on the line, the Shamrocks “played like the veteran team.”
Westfield is 8-1 for the season, while Carmel is 6-4. Both teams had games scheduled for last Friday that were postponed due to the weather.
Westfield was to play Yorktown, that game is now set for Tuesday and will be the first of three home games for the ‘Rocks. Westfield also welcomes Brownsburg Friday in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference girls-boys doubleheader, then plays Muncie Central on Saturday.
The Greyhounds were to host Marion last Friday, but Carmel will now host the Giants this Friday. That will be followed by another home game Saturday against Bloomington South.
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