Tigers focusing on defense for their own holiday tourney

By RICHARD TORRES

For The Reporter

NEW CASTLE – After winning the Hall of Fame Classic inside historic New Castle Fieldhouse on Saturday night, Fishers head coach Garrett Winegar rightfully celebrated his top-ranked Class 4A Tigers’ tournament title.

He also zeroed in on areas of immediate improvement for his unbeaten Tigers (9-0).

“For us, I thought our overall defensive execution, focusing on the scouting report, focusing on our principles, when we’re switching, when we’re not, what we’re trying to do defensively; it was two of the worst games we’ve had in a while,” Winegar remarked. “Obviously, Greenfield is good. Braylon (Mullins) is a stud, but for us to give up 80 points is disappointing in any game, so it’s something we have to figure out.”

The Tigers defeated 4A No. 4 Greenfield-Central, 85-80, to win the Hall of Fame Classic and survived a battle of unbeatens against 4A No. 6 Warsaw, 54-51, in the semifinals. However, prior to both close wins, the Tigers were averaging a 26.86 margin of victory.

With Fishers’ Holiday Tournament up next for the defending state champions, beginning on Thursday against 3A South Dearborn (5-2) at 10:30 a.m., Winegar is focused on getting his Tigers back on track.

“It starts with defense. Our coach says, if someone is open, you gotta hit it. Give a good shot for a great shot. That’s what our team does,” said Fishers’ Cooper Zachary, who set the program’s single-game record with 17 assists on Dec. 21. “It’s definitely the goal to get three kills. A kill is three stops and three scores. That’s one kill, and we want to have at least three to four a game.”

Against Greenfield-Central, the Tigers orchestrated a decisive 20-6 run in the second quarter with kills in mind, but the Cougars and Mullins, a UConn commit, gave Fishers fits.

The Tigers led by as many as 14 points, but the Cougars became the first opponent to tally more than 65 points against them.

“Sometimes, talent and winning can be your biggest enemy. You get complacent. You stop doing the things you need to do at practice, and it’s my job to make sure we don’t let that happen,” said Winegar, who won the Classic as an assistant coach with Warren Central years prior.

“We get four days off then we get three games in two days on Thursday and Friday, so we’ll try to get refocused, and hopefully be a little bit more locked in defensively when we come back and try to keep it rolling.”

Six games are scheduled for Thursday at Fishers with Chesterton and Evansville Bosse playing at 12:15 p.m., followed by Portage and Lawrence Central at 2 p.m. and Bloomington North and 4A No. 16 Fort Wayne Wayne at 3:45 p.m.

Two consolation games will be conducted at 5:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.

Games resume on Friday with the first semifinal at 10:30 a.m. and the second at 12:15 p.m.

The seventh-place and fifth-place games are set for 2 p.m. and 3:45 p.m., respectively. The third-place game will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. The championship is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.

“Just knowing no matter who we play against, it’s always knowing having the guys we have on this team, we’re going to help each other win,” Fishers Jason Gardner Jr. said. “Carrying this momentum from the Hall of Fame Classic into our holiday tournament and not settling will help us keep going.”