By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
The early part of the schedule has been busy for the Fishers girls basketball team, but it has also allowed the Tigers to go on a nice win streak.
Fishers won its third consecutive game Wednesday, beating Anderson 57-37 at the Tiger Den. The victory puts Fishers at 3-1 for the season, this after two wins for the Tigers at their own Fishers Classic last weekend.
“I feel like we’re playing pretty well,” said Tigers coach Lauren Vail. “Obviously we’re coming off two good wins over the weekend. We knew Anderson was going to be athletic, we knew they were going to be quick and I felt like after we adjusted to what they were trying to do, that we settled in and played pretty well.”
Fishers began to break away from Anderson late in the first period. The Tigers were helped out by a three-point play from Toni Grace; that was the last basket of the quarter and it gave Fishers a 15-11 lead.
The Tigers then scored nine straight points in the second period to lead 24-13. Balance was the order of that run, with Briana McGee making a layin, Grace converting two free throws, Kenedi London scoring on a layin and Ali Gerka draining a 3-pointer.
The Indians scored five points to end the half, but Fishers still led 24-18 at the break. The Tigers opened the second half with a 7-0 run; Gerka started it with another 3, her third of the game. Grace then stole off a steal and Lydia Stullken made a layin.
“We just talked at halftime about what they were trying to do,” said Vail. “They were really trying to get the ball inside and we talked about how we needed to do a better job of playing our defensive style, and I thought we came out and executed offensively right off the bat, too, to start the quarter, which never hurts anything.”
Another 7-0 run late in the third pushed the Fishers lead to 20 points, 43-23. Tamia Perryman got five of those points, with a 3-pointer and a layin. Grace made another layin as well.
Grace finished the game with 20 points, with Gerka scoring 13 and Perryman 11. Perryman reached double-double status with 14 rebounds.
“It’s great to have balance and I love that the three of them can do it different ways,” said Vail. “Ali was shooting the ball well tonight. Tamia, obviously, is very good in the open court, getting out and going, and Toni can get to the rim and shoot it from the outside. It’s always nice when you have balanced scoring, especially when they can do it in different ways.”
Fishers is back in action this weekend when it travels over to the Hamilton Southeastern Classic. The Tigers will play Lake Central at 1 p.m. and Valparaiso at 6 p.m. The Royals will also play those teams, taking on Valpo at 11 a.m. and Lake Central at 8 p.m.
ABOVE: Toni Grace (11) scored 20 points for the Fishers girls basketball team in its Wednesday win over Anderson at the Tiger Den. Grace was one of three Fishers players scoring in double figures. In the background is Kenedi London.
BELOW: Tamia Perryman (center) goes in for a rebound. Perryman had 14 rebounds to go along with 11 points, giving her a double-double. (Kirk Green)
