By RICHARD TORRES
For The Reporter
ARCADIA – The Westfield Shamrocks needed an answer, some momentum in the second half against host Hamilton Heights during their Wednesday night county showdown.
Shamrocks’ junior Ellie Kelleher provided two – back-to-back from beyond the arc.
With the Class 3A No. 14 Huskies slicing the 4A Shamrocks’ lead to 17-15 with 4 minutes, 28 seconds left in the third quarter, Kelleher buried a key 3-pointer and another at the 2:15 mark.
Both buckets padded the Shamrocks’ advantage, which held the rest of the way, as sophomore Lindsey Van Dyke locked down the perimeter on defense and Westfield went 6 of 6 from the foul line to win 35-28.
“Lindsey Van Dyke, she really locked up (Camryn Runner). She scores most of their points, and Lindsey has played great defense all year,” Kelleher remarked after the Shamrocks’ second straight win. “It was no different tonight, and I think we just fed off her energy and her ability to stop her.”
Runner, who averages 19.0 points per game, was shooting 38 percent from behind the 3-point line this season. Against the Shamrocks, she finished with 11 points without a single 3-pointer.
Ella Hickok had 10 points for the Huskies (16-4), but a 9 of 28 shooting night for the team prevented Hamilton Heights from extending their four-game winning streak.
“I was just proud of the way we stayed together and the way we weathered some storms. That’s a really good basketball team, and at their place. It’s a hard place to win,” Westfield head coach Kelsey Key said. “We definitely showed composure, and that was one of the things we talked about in pregame that we would need. I was really proud of that tonight.”
The Shamrocks’ fortitude was evident after a quick 5-0 run to open the second half after trailing 12-11 at halftime.
A 3-pointer by Emmrey Collinsworth kicked off the rally before Van Dyke took a Kelleher assist to the basket for a 17-12 lead.
Runner cut the deficit to 17-15 in the third behind a pair of free throws, but the Shamrocks built a seven-point margin by the late fourth quarter to improve to 12-8 on the season.
“It’s so much fun. Going on the road, it’s a tough place to play here. And seeing shots go in for all of us, we’ve struggled to shoot the ball this year, so it’s great to win in an environment like this and against a team like this,” Kelleher said. “We all hit our free throws. We were all clutch tonight.”
Kelleher went 4 of 5 from long range and posted a game-high 18 points with seven rebounds. Aubrey Crockett had four points and five rebounds, while Kiki Loveless added another four points and four rebounds.
Westfield dominated the defensive glass for 18 rebounds and 25 overall, which limited Hamilton Heights’ second-chance opportunities. The Huskies shot 1 of 13 from deep.
“It’s no secret now. We kind of live and die by the three a little bit. Probably more than we should, but you look at our last two games, and we’ve really shot it at a high level,” Huskies head coach Keegan Cherry said.
“On back-to-back nights, senior night last night, and it’s a late night. How much did that contribute to our shooting woes? We can use that as an excuse, but to win a sectional, you’re going to have to play back-to-back nights, so from that standpoint, this is good for us. It’s an opportunity to prep for sectional and ultimately that’s our goal.”
Ella Hickok had 10 points for the Huskies. (Kent Graham)
For the Shamrocks, the win capped a three-game road stretch that they concluded 2-1. They return home to face Hoosier Crossroads Conference foe Brownsburg on Friday.
“We knew that they could get hot from the perimeter, and we wanted to win at that,” Key said. “We talked a lot about that, and once they put it on the floor, we knew we just needed to play defense without fouling. We didn’t do that great tonight, but ultimately, we helped each other and were moving and talking defensively. You can build off of that for sure.”
The Huskies head to Lafayette Central Catholic this Friday to face the state’s seventh-ranked 2A program.
“We’re never supposed to beat Westfield, frankly. For our girls to compete like that when you look at it position to position, the bigger, faster, stronger team was the away team tonight,” Cherry said. “That means our margin for error was very slim, and we had to great in our technique, rebounding and getting off our feet and go get the basketball and make every tough play. Then, hopefully give ourselves a chance to win.”
WESTFIELD 35, HAMILTON HEIGHTS 28
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Ellie Kelleher 6-8 2-2 18 3
Aubrey Crockett 2-10 0-1 4 3
Emmrey Collinsworth 1-4 2-2 5 3
Kiki Loveless 1-1 2-2 4 1
Lindsey Van Dyke 2-6 0-0 4 0
Reagan Lorenzen 0-1 0-0 0 2
Maren Dee 0-1 0-0 0 0
Totals 12-31 6-7 35 12
Westfield 3-point shooting (5-16) Kelleher 4-5, Collinsworth 1-2, Crockett 0-5, Van Dyke 0-2, Lorenzen 0-1, Dee 0-1.
Westfield rebounds (25) Kelleher 8, Crockett 5, Van Dyke 5, Collinsworth 2, Lorenzen 2, Loveless 1, team 2.
Heights FG FT TP PF
Ella Hickok 3-5 4-4 10 4
Camryn Runner 4-14 3-4 11 4
Kaylee Rhoton 2-6 0-0 5 1
Kassidy Schakel 0-1 0-0 0 1
Hadleigh Cherry 0-0 0-0 0 0
Katie Brown 0-2 2-2 2 1
Totals 9-28 9-10 28 11
Heights 3-point shooting (1-13) Rhoton 1-4, Runner 0-5, Hickok 0-2, Brown 0-2.
Heights rebounds (13) Runner 6, Hickok 2, Cherry 2, team 3.
Score by Quarters
Westfield 5 7 11 12 – 35
Heights 4 7 7 10 – 28