By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
FISHERS – Friday night’s first semifinal at Class 4A Sectional 8 was a rematch of a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game that was played two weeks ago. That game went back and forth before Hamilton Southeastern won by four.
This time, the host Royals were able to pull away sooner for a 61-48 win over Zionsville, sending them to tonight’s championship, which tips off at 7 p.m.
“That’s the ultimate goal. We took steps one and two and tomorrow night is the next step,” said Hamilton Southeastern head coach Brian Satterfield.
The first quarter featured two ties and a pair of lead changes and was knotted at 16-16 after the first eight minutes.
Zionsville senior guard Emma Haan drained a three from the left wing with 44 seconds in the first to even the score.
That might have amped up the Royals, as they started the second on a 6-2 run to go up 22-18.
“That was one of those things in the first matchup. We had a little lead and then they got out and we were playing from behind the entire time. Our goal was to get out there and we were able to get a little separation and never let them get back,” continued Satterfield.
The Eagles kept it honest the rest of the first half. Freshman Emily Zack knocked down a three from the left corner to cut it to 30-28 with 1:05 left in the second.
HSE was able to hold onto a 35-30 lead at halftime. That lead would gradually grow in a rather low-scoring third quarter. Southeastern put up nine to Zionsville’s six and was up 44-36.
The fourth started off sloppy with no offensive production by either team until Zionsville’s Allie Caldwell knocked down a jumper with 4:50 left that trimmed it to 44-38.
Turnovers became what ultimately handcuffed the Eagles. Junior Maya Makalusky was fouled on a made layup and converted the free throw with 30 seconds left to put HSE up a dozen, 57-45. Both teams traded free throws to finish the game.
“You’re going to turn around tomorrow night and you’re going to have another dogfight. That’s one thing you love about the atmosphere. To get out there and see the quality of basketball that we have in this particular sectional is something special,” added Satterfield.
Seniors Caldwell (25) and Haan (14) made up for a majority of Zionsville’s points. The Eagles finished the season at 16-7.
Makalusky led all scorers with 22 points and seven rebounds, all while a perfect 10-for-10 at the foul line. Kayla Stidham had 10 points and eight boards, also making 6-of-6 free throws. Kennedy Holman had nine points, five rebounds and eight assists. Zoe Lawless (9) and Addison Van Hoesen (7) helped round out the balanced Royals scoring.
HSE (21-3) plays Noblesville for the sectional championship.
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The second semifinal turned out to be a crowd pleaser. In its regular-season game at Noblesville in early December, Fishers found ways to get the best of Noblesville 79-65.
Friday night’s battle turned into something different. The Millers were able to flip the script on the Tigers in a 56-42 victory, sending Noblesville to its third sectional title game in four years.
Noblesville was on a mission from the opening tip. Junior Meredith Tippner took it upon herself to jumpstart the Millers and it happened on both ends of the floor.
The Millers got up quick at 6-0, forcing Fishers to call a timeout. They rattled off nine more in a row for a 15-0 advantage, leading to another Tiger timeout with still 4:11 in the quarter.
“That quarter isn’t my quarter. That’s an amazing defensive effort that Coach put in place. She knew what would get us going and we executed it in every single position,” said Tippner.
Meredith Tippner scored 27 points for Noblesville, including the first 15 of the game. At right is Fishers’ Morgan Roberts. (Richie Hall)
“Credit to them. They just came out and were just ready to go,” stated Fishers head coach Lauren Votaw. “We turned it over and they made us pay for those turnovers. Their points off of turnovers were rather high.”
“We got a great start, but you know Fishers is coming back,” stated Noblesville head coach Donna Buckley. “Just a lot of energy. We talked about defense and we did not play a lot of defense the first time we played them.”
Nevaeh Dickman scored the Tigers’ first points on an offensive rebound with 3:18 left in the first. Tippner answered with three from the left side. Another two from Tippner and the Millers were out to a 20-6 cushion through one.
“Defense will win us games, it’s our identity. We make our offense from our defense,” stated Noblesville senior guard Reagan Wilson.
Tippner scored 15 of Noblesville’s 20 in the first and then everything else just fell into place.
“Offensively, whoever’s hot, we’re going to get them the ball. Tipp was hot, let’s get her the ball,” continued Wilson.
“That’s just the job of a point guard. Get everyone else the ball, find the open shot and then when it’s time for me to eat, I’ll sit down and eat,” said Wilson.
Fishers flipped things around in the second, outscoring Noblesville 15-6, but still trailed by five at halftime, 26-21.
“Everything for us has to start with defense. We don’t want to just try and outscore people. That didn’t work well the first time we played them. You’ve got to play defense and that’s something that our kids have really taken to heart,” Buckley continued.
Little-by-little, the Millers extended their lead in the first part of the third. Talia Harris scored 12 points in the third, getting the Tigers within 39-38 after three.
Talia Harris had 17 points for Fishers. (Joshua Herd)
Allison Scheu tied it 39-39 with a free throw early in the fourth. Kate Thomas tied it again (41-41), but Noblesville went on a 15-1 run to end the game, thanks to an 11-point quarter from Wilson.
“I think Reagan’s Miss Basketball,” Buckley said. “She’s that kid that doesn’t have to score, obviously she can. She’s going to get everybody involved and run the show.”
Harris finished with 17 and Joirdyn Smith added nine. Thomas and Dickman each scored six and Allison Scheu had four.
Fishers closed its season at 17-7.
The Millers (15-8) were led by a game-high 27 points from Tippner. The junior grabbed seven rebounds, three steals, made 2-for-2 free throws and shot 12-of-18 from the floor.
Wilson scored 16, had four steals and confidently sank 6-for-6 at the foul line. C.C. Quigley chipped in nicely with nine points and six rebounds. Noblesville was 9-for-9 on free throws.
HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 61, ZIONSVILLE 48
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Maya Makalusky 5-16 10-10 22 2
Kennedy Holman 3-9 3-6 9 1
Kayla Stidham 2-8 6-6 10 1
Zoe Lawless 3-4 1-2 9 4
Addison Van Hoesen 3-4 0-0 7 2
Antonette Green 0-0 2-2 2 1
Kenley Johnson 0-3 0-0 0 0
Kayla Brinley 0-1 2-2 2 2
Totals 16-45 24-28 61 13
Score by Quarters
Zionsville 16 14 6 12 – 48
Southeastern 16 19 9 17 – 61
Southeastern 3-point shooting (5-17) Makalusky 2-7, Lawless 2-2, Van Hoesen 1-2, Stidham 0-5, Holman 0-1.
Southeastern rebounds (31) Stidham 8, Makalusky 7, Holman 5, Johnson 5, Lawless 3, Van Hoesen 3.
NOBLESVILLE 56, FISHERS 42
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Ava Shoemaker 2-6 0-0 4 3
Reagan Wilson 4-12 6-6 16 2
Meredith Tippner 12-18 2-2 27 2
Kate Rollins 0-3 0-0 0 0
C.C. Quigley 4-5 1-1 9 2
Ally Hutchinson 0-0 0-0 0 1
Ellie Motz 0-0 0-0 0 0
Bri Gray 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 22-44 9-9 56 10
Noblesville 3-point shooting (3-8) Wilson 2-5, Tippner 1-1, Shoemaker 0-2.
Noblesville rebounds (22) Tippner 7, Quigley 6, Shoemaker 3, Hutchinson 1, Grayson 1, Wilson 1, team 3.
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Joirdyn Smith 3-8 1-1 9 3
Talia Harris 8-18 0-0 17 3
Kate Thomas 3-4 0-0 6 3
Nevaeh Dickman 3-9 0-0 6 0
Allison Scheu 1-7 2-4 4 2
Morgan Roberts 0-2 0-0 0 1
Natalie Thomas 0-0 0-0 0 1
Alanna Anthony 0-0 0-0 0 1
Olivia Brookshire 0-0 0-0 0 0
Makayla Triplett 0-1 0-0 0 0
Totals 18-49 3-5 42 14
Fishers 3-point shooting (3-15) Smith 2-5, Harris 1-4, Roberts 0-2, Scheu 0-2, Dickman 0-1, Triplett 0-1.
Fishers rebounds (29) Harris 6, K. Thomas 5, Dickman 5, Scheu 3, Smith 2, N. Thomas 2, Roberts 1, team 5.
Score by Quarters
Noblesville 20 6 13 17 – 56
Fishers 6 15 17 4 – 42