by

Richie Hall

Hamilton County Reporter

In an all-county battle at the Tiger Den, the Carmel girls basketball team won its
seventh straight game by beating Fishers 79-52 on Tuesday.

The Tigers started the game strong, with Tamia Perryman hitting consecutive
putbacks to put Fishers up 4-0. But the Class 4A No. 1 Greyhounds got their offense
going after that, embarking on a 20-2 run that monopolized most of the period and put
them ahead 20-6.

“Early on when we were having a little trouble scoring, we just had great looks and
didn’t make anything,” said Carmel coach Tod Windlan. The coach said once his team
started making baskets and getting turnovers, which led to the ‘Hounds getting
easy transition baskets. Windlan said the way his team “shared the ball in transition
was fun to watch tonight.”

The run ended with a flourish, as Tomi Taiwo hit a 3-pointer, then Amy Dilk scored
easy baskets off back-to-back steals. The Tigers cut the lead to 20-10 by the end of
the quarter; Toni Grace scored on a layin, then Ali Gerka made a basket off a Grace
steal.

Carmel rolled through the second period, leading 45-21 at halftime after opening the
quarter with a 17-13 run. Dilk poured in nine points during the period, including a 5-of-5
effort from the free-throw line. Fishers did get its first run during the middle of the
quarter, with six straight points. Kenedi London scored and Katie Burton added four
points.

The Tigers made another 6-0 run in the third quarter, with Grace scoring four points.
That got Fishers within 51-33. But the ‘Hounds answered with a 15-5 run of their
own that lasted well into the fourth period and gave them a 66-36 lead. Blake Smith
got a pair of layins in the third quarter during that run.

Taiwo helped out with four foul shots during that time, finishing up an outstanding
foul shooting performance: The senior went 10-of-10 from the line for the game. Dilk
also did well, making all seven of her free throws. Reagan Hune was 4-of-4.

Dilk finished with 25 points, eight assists and seven steals. Taiwo added 17 points.
Jasmine McWilliams led on the boards with five rebounds. Smith blocked three shots.

“Carmel’s very good and they’re very good at what they do,” said Fishers coach
Lauren Vail. “They force us into a lot of first-half turnovers, and that really hurt us.

“I thought our kids played really hard.  We were able to handle their pressure a little
bit better as the game wore on, which is all I could ask. But you got to give credit to
Carmel. They’re No. 1 in the state for a reason and they played very well.”

Grace scored 21 points for Fishers, with Perryman playing strong by collecting nine
rebounds. Lydia Stullken had two blocks.

Carmel is now 20-1 for the season, clinching its third consecutive 20-win
season. The Greyhounds will go back on the road Friday for a huge Metropolitan
Conference game at Pike, the No. 2 team in 4A.

The Red Devils are 6-0 in the MIC, so they have already clinched a share of the
title. Carmel is 4-1, so the ‘Hounds are still in contention for a share of the
championship as well.

“We haven’t won the MIC in a long time at Carmel, so it’s something we got our eyes
set on. So hopefully we’ll come ready to play. We got to rebound better than we did
tonight.”

Fishers is 10-10 and hosts Avon Saturday afternoon for its final Hoosier
Crossroads Conference game of the season.