By CRAIG ADKINS
FISHERS – In a rivalry game that is always the most physical, you know you’re going to see an outstanding game from both sides in this series. Unfortunately for host Hamilton Southeastern, that wouldn’t be the case on this particular night, as Class 4A No. 3-ranked Carmel overwhelmed the Royals 59-29.
Carmel jumped out to a 10-0 run in the early going of the first quarter, thanks in big part to junior forward Sam Orme. He managed to take HSE by surprise scoring the first eight points and 10 in the opening frame for a 14-4 Greyhound lead after one.
Orme’s steal and a dunk at the other end on a fast break gave Carmel a 12-3 with 2:56 left in the first and that forced first-year Hamilton Southeastern head coach John Ashworth to burn a thirty-second timeout.
“Against a good Carmel team, you have to get off to a good start,” said Ashworth. “We got down 10-0 and against them that’s like being down 25,” Ashworth continued on his team’s response to Carmel’s fast start.
It didn’t get any easier from there for the Royals. They kept making mental mistakes that cost them significantly throughout the remainder of the game.
The Greyhounds kept the foot on the gas, despite the amount of physicality that the Royals brought. They would put together another solid quarter to head to the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 31-12 lead.
“We’re still trying to put some things together. We have spurts. I don’t think we’ve played a complete 32 minutes yet. But defensively, it starts with our leadership,” stated Carmel head coach Ryan Osborn.
You have to give credit where credit is due. It took until 3:48 left in the first before Hamilton Southeastern put their first points up on the board with a right wing three from Sam Jacobs.
Carmel’s lead continued to grow throughout the second half.
“We’re starting to pull some stuff together, so I’m very happy with our defensive performance tonight,” continued Osborn on his defense doing what it took to shut down Southeastern.
“And I thought offensively, other than four minutes in the third quarter we turned it over too many times, thought we strung some transitions together. We were efficient in the half court. We’re getting there,” said Osborn on what worked to take HSE out of its game plan.
Everything clicked for Carmel and Hamilton Southeastern just couldn’t find a way to get any sort of rhythm on either end of the court.
“They’re going to limit possessions and they’re going to make you work on offense and possessions are going to be a premium,” said Ashworth on his team’s lack of productivity on Friday night.
The Greyhounds held the Royals to 8-for-31 shooting for just 25 percent, which kept them in a funk throughout en route to Carmel taking care of business on the road, 59-29. The Hounds shot 45 percent as a team, but it also helped that they went 19-of-23 from the foul line.
Hamilton Southeastern drops to 7-11 on the season. The Royals were led by senior forward Sam Jacobs with 15 points. They’ll get back to Hoosier Crossroads Conference play on Tuesday when they visit Franklin Central (6-10).
Carmel (15-4) was led by a balanced attack from their core of upperclassmen. Sam Orme led with a game-high 16. Charlie Williams (eight boards) and Jared Bonds each had 12, while Peter Suder added seven while pulling down nine rebounds.
The Hounds get no rest as they’ll have a home afternoon game on Saturday when struggling 1-16 Carroll (Fort Wayne) visits fresh off a home loss to Fort Wayne Northrop on Friday, 71-51.
CARMEL 59, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 29
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Josh Whack 1-3 2-2 4 1
Sam Orme 7-10 1-1 16 3
Peter Suder 3-10 0-0 7 1
Charlie Williams 4-9 4-4 12 2
Jared Bonds 3-4 6-8 12 0
Garwey Dual 1-1 5-6 7 1
Spencer White 0-1 0-0 0 2
Jake Griffin 0-0 0-0 0 0
Logan Reinhart 0-0 0-0 0 1
Josh Rauh 0-1 0-0 0 1
Clay Richards 0-0 0-0 0 0
Burke Weldy 0-3 1-2 1 0
Jailyn Faison 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 19-42 19-23 59 12
Carmel 3-point shooting (2-9) Suder 1-3, Orme 1-3, Whack 0-1, Weldy 0-1, White 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (35) Suder 9, Williams 8, Whack 4, Orme 4, Bonds 4, Dual 3, Richards 2, Rauh 1.
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Donovan Hamilton 1-5 0-0 2 3
Reph Stevenson 0-3 2-2 2 2
Deion Miles 0-2 0-0 0 0
Sam Jacobs 5-12 4-4 15 1
Alex Troutman 1-2 1-1 3 3
Caleb Smock 0-2 0-0 0 0
Tyler Lacy 0-1 1-2 1 2
Joshua Jones 0-0 0-0 0 1
Michael Griffith 0-0 1-2 1 5
Braden Totton 1-3 0-0 3 1
Christian Pfeifer 0-0 0-0 0 0
Myles Holman 0-1 0-0 0 0
Carson Baugh 0-0 2-2 2 0
Totals 8-31 11-13 29 18
Southeastern 3-point shooting (2-9) Jacobs 1-2, Totten 1-2, Hamilton 0-2, Smock 0-1, Lacy 0-1, Holman 0-1.
Southeastern rebounds (13) Miles 3, Totten 3, Hamilton 2, Stevenson 2, Griffith 1, Holman 1, Troutman 1.
Score by Quarters
Carmel 14 17 12 16 – 59
Southeastern 4 8 8 9 – 29