By RICHIE HALL
NEW CASTLE – After two tough games at the Raymond James Hall of Fame Classic on Tuesday, was the Fishers girls basketball team exhausted once it finished its second game?
Possibly, although the Tigers didn’t show it afterwards, if one goes by the loud cheering that could be heard just outside their locker room. Fishers may not have gotten the trophy, but did show, and perhaps learned, a few things about itself once the tournament was done.
The Class 4A No. 5 Tigers took on 3A No. 3 Evansville Memorial in their first game, dropping a tough one 46-41. It was Fishers’ first loss after a 10-game win streak. In the third-place game, the Tigers held off 3A No. 2 Norwell in a topsy-turvy contest, winning 75-70.
“Teams go through these ebbs and flows,” said Fishers coach Lauren Votaw. “And I think that one of the things that happens when you play as well as you play against a team like Noblesville is that I think that the expectation is raised that that’s maybe going to be the way you’re going to play the rest of the year.”
Votaw was referencing the Tigers’ Dec. 11 win over the Millers, another one of 4A’s top teams. Fishers followed that victory up with wins over Pendleton Heights and Frankton, the latter of which is ranked No. 2 in 2A.
In the morning semi-final, the Fishers Tigers led 12-8 after the first quarter. Katie Burton and Audra Emmerson both contributed five points – each player made a 3-pointer and two free throws. The Memorial Tigers came back to lead at halftime 24-21; Hope Lensing’s six points led the way in that period.
Fishers grabbed the lead back by the end of the third period, going up 34-32. Hailey Smith added five points in that quarter. But Memorial took over in the fourth, outscoring Fishers 14-7. Memorial would go on to overwhelm Mount Vernon in the championship game 69-38.
Smith scored all seven of the Tigers’ fourth-quarter points, and lead all scorers with 12 points. Smith’s 10 rebounds earned her a double-double as well. Hailey’s twin sister Olivia Smith also had 10 rebounds to go with eight points, while Burton finished with eight points and five rebounds. Emmerson had four steals.
Fishers then had a small window of time before the third-place game with Norwell, which lost to Mount Vernon in the semi-finals 61-50. After losing for the first time in almost two months, the question now was, how would the Tigers respond?
“We just went over to this little church and hung out in this gym that they let us sit in,” said Votaw. “I told them we were going to start scouting report at 4:30, and at 4:30, they’re up and they’re doing cartwheels. They’re relaxed and they’re enjoying each other’s company. And that was a good sign for me. I thought we came out ready to play, which is really hard to do.”
Fishers zipped off to a 13-2 lead against Norwell. Emmerson scored five points during that stretch, including a three-point play to get the Tigers up 11. But the Knights stormed back to tie the game by the end of the first at 17-17, finishing the quarter on a 10-0 run.
Norwell took the lead early in the second period when Mackinzie Tolliver hit a 3-pointer. Fishers quickly came back with a 7-0 run; Burton started it with a layin, then Hailey Smith added five points with a layin and a 3-pointer. The Tigers would never trail again.
Fishers led 35-32 at halftime then sailed through the third quarter. The Tigers started it with a 15-3 run which saw five different players score. Burton added six points in that run and Emmerson nailed another triple.
Kaiya Walker finished the quarter with yet another 3-pointer for Fishers, which lead 55-40 at the end of three. The Tigers got their lead up to 18 points twice, including a 67-49 advantage in the middle of the period. The Knights began a furious comeback, outscoring Fishers 19-4 to get within 71-68 with under a minute to go. But the Tigers were able to hang on, with free throws from Emmerson and Burton (plus a pair of offensive rebounds from Burton), clinching the game.
Burton scored 22 points, followed by Walker with 22 and Emmerson with 10. Olivia Smith collected eight rebounds, while Burton had six. As a team, Fishers handed out 22 assists on 30 baskets, and nine different players scored. Olivia Smith led that category with six assists, followed by Hailey Smith with five and Emmerson with four.
Fishers is now 12-2 for the season. The Tigers return home on Saturday to host Fort Wayne South Side.
SEMI-FINAL GAME
EVANSVILLE MEMORIAL 46, FISHERS 41
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Audra Emmerson 2-8 2-3 7 2
Katie Howard 1-4 0-0 3 1
Hailey Smith 4-6 3-5 12 5
Olivia Smith 3-8 2-2 8 4
Katie Burton 2-11 3-5 8 1
Joirdyn Smith 0-2 0-0 0 2
Haley Gausepohl 1-1 0-0 3 0
Kaiya Walker 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 13-40 10-15 41 16
Score by Quarters
Fishers 12 9 13 7 – 41
Memorial 8 16 8 14 – 46
Fishers 3-point shooting (5-17) Burton 1-5, Emmerson 1-5, Howard 1-3, H. Smith 1-1, Gausepohl 1-1, J. Smith 0-2.
Fishers rebounds (29) H. Smith 10, O. Smith 10, Burton 5, Emmerson 3, Walker 1.
THIRD-PLACE GAME
FISHERS 75, NORWELL 70
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Audra Emmerson 3-5 3-5 10 2
Katie Howard 4-7 0-0 8 1
Hailey Smith 3-5 0-0 7 0
Olivia Smith 3-4 2-2 8 1
Katie Burton 9-13 3-4 22 4
Karina Scott 0-0 0-0 0 0
Joirdyn Smith 1-4 0-0 3 2
Haley Gausepohl 1-2 0-1 3 1
Emily Gausepohl 1-3 0-0 2 1
Kaiya Walker 5-5 0-0 12 0
Totals 30-48 8-12 75 12
Score by Quarters
Norwell 17 15 8 30 – 70
Fishers 17 18 20 20 – 75
Fishers 3-point shooting (7-13) Walker 2-2, Emmerson 1-2, J. Smith 1-2, H. Gausepohl 1-2, H. Smith 1-1, Burton 1-1, Howard 0-2, E. Gausepohl 0-1.
Fishers rebounds (29) O. Smith 8, Burton 6, H. Smith 3, Emmerson 3, Scott 2, Howard 1, J. Smith 1, H. Gausepohl 1, E. Gausepohl 1, Walker 1, team 2.