by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

The Hamilton Southeastern girls basketball team gave the No. 1 team in the state all it could handle Tuesday night.

The Royals had Pike down for most of the game, leading 35-30 after the third
quarter. But the Red Devils’ Angel Baker took over, scoring 19 points in the fourth
period and eventually sending Class 4A No. 1 Pike to a 54-47 victory over 4A No. 10
Southeastern.

It was a disappointing finish for the Royals’ Senior Night, but there were a few
things HSE could take away from the game.

“I like the way we’re playing right now,” said Royals coach Chris Huppenthal. “I
know we just lost, but you just lost to the best team in the state.”

Southeastern led 13-6 after the first quarter, with Molly Walton hitting a 3-
pointer late in the period. The Royals then led 24-19 at halftime, with Malea Jackson scoring five points, including a ‘3’ of her own.

“First half, I thought was great,” said Huppenthal. “I thought our kids did a lot of
good things when it was played at our pace, the pace we wanted to play. When you have the No. 1 team in the state coming here and you hold them to 19 points, that’s a good accomplishment.”

The Red Devils began to make their run in the third quarter, but Southeastern never
relinquished the lead. Instead, a Jackie Maulucci 3-pointer late in the period kept
the Royals in front 35-30 going into the fourth.

But in the final period, Baker took over. She scored 19 of her game-high 31 points in
that quarter, including two 3-pointers and a 7-of-7 effort from the free-throw line.

Huppenthal said that Baker “got hot” in the second half. “She’s capable of doing
that,” said the coach. “She was hitting a lot of shots.”

“I thought some of the keys for us were, we gave up way too many offensive
rebounds in the second half,” said Huppenthal. “I thought we forced some shots, also in the second half, and we didn’t work the basketball as well as we did in the first half. Part of our shot selection in the second half had something to do with their speed and how they were guarding us, and they were putting a lot more pressure on us. So theywere trying to force us to play a little bit quicker, which I think played to their advantage.”

Sydney Parrish scored 10 points for the Royals, who had very balanced scoring:
Tayah Irvin added nine, Walton finished with eight and Jackson had seven. Amaya
Hamilton and Parrish both grabbed seven rebounds, with Walton collecting six.
Parrish dished out five assists and Walton handed out four.

It was also Senior Night, and the Royals honored seniors Shelby Ford and Erikka
Ededuwa, both of whom started.

“They’ve been a great part of our program,” said Huppenthal.

The Royals finished the season 15-7, and will await the winner of next Tuesday’s
(Jan. 30) first-round sectional game between Westfield and host Fishers. Southeastern will play the Tuesday winner in the semi-finals on Friday, Feb. 2.

“I like our mindset right now as a team,” said Huppenthal. “I like where we’re at
right now. We would’ve liked to win this game. It would’ve put is in a little bit better
situation. But it is what it is, and our kids know and understand they can play with
anybody.”