By RICHIE HALL
INDIANAPOLIS – The color blue – Royal blue – is often associated with ice. But a hot flame can also be blue.
The Hamilton Southeastern girls basketball team wore its Royal blue when facing the host of the North Central Classic on Saturday afternoon, and played on both sides of the temperature spectrum. Class 4A No. 2 Southeastern started off the game with a super-hot shooting performance, then was cool in the midst of a comeback by the 4A No. 5 Panthers in the second half.
The result was a victory for Southeastern over North Central, by the score of 55-44. It was the first time HSE had beat the Panthers since Feb. 10, 2007.
“It just feels really great,” said Southeastern senior Amaya Hamilton. “This is one of the biggest wins I’ve ever had at HSE personally, and it’s just really exciting to win as a team and I’m really proud of everyone doing their jobs.”
The Royals were hotter than the sun in the first four minutes of the game, nailing five straight 3-pointers to take a 15-1 lead. Malea Jackson had the first basket, followed by Sydney Parrish. A free throw from NC’s Jasmine McWilliams interrupted the run, but after that, Hamilton, Parrish and Jackson each made one triple, firing up the HSE crowd and themselves.
“I thought our kids’ movement on offense initially against their zone and against their man-to-man defense was as good as we’ve had all year, which led to some easy opportunities for us,” said Royals coach Chris Huppenthal. “When you get easy opportunities, you hope to make some more than we miss, and we made quite a few more than we missed.”
Parrish hit one more 3 at the end of the first quarter, and that gave the Royals a 20-7 lead. A quick 6-0 run but HSE ahead 26-9, with Jackson making a layin, Tayah Irvin hitting a pair of free throws, and Parrish scoring on a layin.
Those six points would be the only scores for the Royals in the second period, as North Central began a 17-0 run that stretched well into the third quarter. The Panthers poured in 10 of those points in the second period, starting with 3-pointers from Rikki Harris and McWilliams.
Southeastern led 26-19 at halftime, then North Central finished the run with seven unanswered points to tie the game at 26-26. Harris and Meg Newman both hit layins, then McWilliams tied the game with a 3.
Parrish expected to see a comeback from the Panthers.
“They’re an amazing team,” said Parrish. “What can you expect? You expect them to. A 15-1 lead, that doesn’t happen against North Central. You know they’re going to come back. So we expected it and we were ready. We knew it was coming.”
Despite the Panthers’ comeback, the Royals never allowed them to take the lead in the game. Irvin scored on a putback to end the run and put HSE ahead 28-26. Freshman Ramiah Elliott tied the game again with a layin, but Parrish answered back with four straight points (a 3-pointer and a free throw).
Newman and Elliott both made baskets to tie the game once more at 32-32, but Southeastern used an 8-0 run to get out of trouble, and would hold the lead for the remainder of the game. Jackie Maulucci drained a 3, Molly Walton scored on a layin, then Hamilton hit another 3. Southeastern finished the game with nine 3-pointers.
Huppenthal credited the character of his team for holding firm after North Central made its run.
“When they got that close, that’s when leaders got to take over, and I thought our leadership really started to show,” said Huppenthal. “Amaya Hamilton was a presence inside. Tayah Irvin, defensively, ramped it up. Sydney Parrish did what she does. Malea Jackson, she hit some big shots today. You kind of lean on your leaders. I think their character showed through a lot today in that third and fourth quarter.”
A basket by Hamilton put Southeastern up 44-35 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Harris made two back-to-back layins to get NC within five, but that would be as close as the Panthers would get. The Royals scored the last six points of the game, all from free throws by Parrish, who went 6-of-8 from the line in the game’s final 36 seconds.
“We usually, in the past, have had trouble coming back from deficits or when the other team makes runs,” said Hamilton. “But this time we just stuck together as a team and we did what we needed to do and didn’t get frustrated or nervous,” she said.
Parrish finished the game with 25 points, including four 3-pointers. Jackson added 11 and Hamilton 10; both seniors made two 3-pointers.
Parrish also collected nine rebounds, with Maulucci grabbing seven and Irvin pulling down five. Maulucci handed out five assists.
Harris led the Panthers with 18 points, while McWilliams scored nine.
The Royals are 16-1 and will play at Warren Central on Thursday.
Hamilton Southeastern 55, North Central 44
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Malea Jackson 4-14 1-3 11 1
Amaya Hamilton 4-10 0-0 10 0
Jackie Maulucci 1-5 0-0 3 1
Tayah Irvin 1-1 2-2 4 3
Sydney Parrish 6-14 9-12 25 2
Lydia Self 0-1 0-0 0 4
Molly Walton 1-4 0-1 2 0
Bailee Poore 0-0 0-0 0 2
Lauren Morris 0-1 0-0 0 0
Totals 17-50 12-18 55 13
Score by Quarters
Southeastern 20 6 16 13 – 55
North Central 7 12 16 9 – 44
Southeastern 3-point shooting (9-23) Parrish 4-6, Jackson 2-8, Hamilton 2-4, Maulucci 1-3, Walton 0-1, Morris 0-1.
Southeastern rebounds (31) Parrish 9, Maulucci 7, Irvin 5, Walton 4, Hamilton 3, Jackson 2, Self 1.
Malea Jackson scored 11 points for Hamilton Southeastern in its win at North Central on Saturday. It was the first victory for the Royals over the Panthers since 2007. (Kent Graham)