Tigers roll past Orioles, win 28th straight

By RICHARD TORRES

For The Reporter

FISHERS – The nationally-ranked Fishers Tigers were playing for more than themselves on Friday night, and they didn’t let the near-capacity home crowd inside their home gym down.

The Class 4A top-ranked Tigers (15-0, 4-0 HCC) raced out to a 16-2 run against Hoosier Crossroads Conference rival 4A No. 7 Avon (13-2, 2-1 HCC) and never let up, winning their 28^th straight game, 69-45.

A trio of Tigers finished in double figures during the crucial HCC matchup of conference unbeatens, but more importantly, Fishers lived up to the phrase printed in front of their cancer awareness t-shirts, which read, “Ballin’ for a Cure.”

“There was a lot of energy. I was waiting for a game like this, a Friday game where everyone would come out and watch,” Fishers senior JonAnthony Hall said. “I just wanted everybody to come out. It was nice to feel that support and having the Tiger gym jumping.”

Hall provided a highlight dunk in the second quarter, collecting an alley-oop pass from 6-foot-1 sophomore Jason Gardner for a two-handed, and-1 jam, which put the Tigers ahead 27-13.

Gardner later found 6-4 senior Justin Kirby for a transition dunk midway in the fourth quarter, as the Tigers showcased why they are the first team in program history to be ranked in the nation.

The Tigers are currently positioned 10^th overall in MaxPreps’ Top 25 and haven’t lost a game – regular season or postseason – since falling on the road at Carmel, 54-46, on Jan. 27, 2024.

“We try not to focus on how many in a row we’ve won, obviously, but yeah, you get everybody’s best shot. But that’s what we want. That’s what these guys worked for, and I think they’ve earned that right,” Fishers head coach Garrett Winegar said.

Avon had won 13 consecutive games prior to tipoff and were poised to challenge the Tigers with their length and scoring prowess, averaging 64.6 points per game.

Instead, Fishers’ defense and athleticism held the Orioles in check.

“Watching them on film, they kind of out physical, out tough people, so that was definitely the message this week at practice” Winegar said. “We have to start fast, and we have to match their physicality and be the toughest team. I thought we did that tonight.”

The Tigers’ defense held the Orioles scoreless for 4 minutes, 15 seconds in the first quarter and another 2:24 in the second, while the offense shot 13-for-21 from the floor and out rebounded Avon 17-9 in the first half.

The defending state champion Tigers led by 18 points at halftime, and in the third quarter a 10-4 run paired with a 2-minute Avon drought pushed the margin to 20-plus.

“We just have a batch of mature guys. We understand what’s at stake. We understand that last year was last year, and this year is this year,” Hall said. “We want to go out with a bang, and the only way to do that is to keep the right mindset every time.”

Fishers’ mindset is unselfishness and calm confidence, which the Tigers put on display with 5-10 sophomore Cooper Zachary shooting 5 of 7 for 16 points to go with four steals and four assists. Gardner had five assists, three rebounds and 14 points on 6 of 13 shooting.

Kirby was the third double-digit scorer with 15 points behind a 7-for-9 performance. He hauled in five rebounds and swiped two steals.

The defense forced nine first-half turnovers, while keeping Avon’s 6-0 junior Jedidiah Minnett without a point in the first half. Minnett was averaging 13.9 ppg. He finished with 10 and fouled with 5:15 left in the game.

“That was coach’s message to us. He was talking about us pinning them first because bigger teams like that we have to hit them in the mouth first and then just see how it goes from there,” Hall said. “We did, and we just took off from there.”

DeAndre Lott-Hancock, a 6-4 senior, led Avon with 14 points, and 6-5 junior Keriawn Berry had 13, which fell below his 15.4 ppg average.

The Tigers converted 6 of 8 from behind the arc in the first half and attacked the rim with 6-2 Hall and 6-7 senior Nathan Baker each pulling down a team-high seven rebounds apiece. Hall and Baker each added four points, while 6-3 senior Millen McCartney provided seven points off the bench.

Hall’s dunk, however, supplied the exclamation point during a 13-4 run to cap the first half that fired up the crowd.

“Teams like that, I can just help out with my athletic ability for sure,” Hall said. “Somebody asked me, ‘How many dunks do I get a game?’ I said, ‘I get about a dunk a game,’ so I knew my moment was coming. I want one off fastbreak where I’m not getting chased down. I want to do a windmill in a game. I want to do it so bad. I hope that happens eventually.”

One thing was certain, the Tigers refuse to lose any time soon, especially on special nights when each player and coach wrote a name on their shirts that read, “I Play For.”

“It was our cancer awareness tonight. That’s why my coaches are wearing sneakers, and all of our players have someone they wrote on the back that have been impacted by cancer,” Winegar said. “I have my mother-in-law (Shauna Dalton), who has gone through stage-four lung cancer. Most of our coaches and players have been impacted, so it’s a great opportunity to raise some money and honor those people in our lives.”