Hamilton Southeastern dropped its first game of the season, falling to Ryle (Ky.) at the Hoops for Harvest tournament Saturday at Dixie Heights, Kentucky, by a score of 57-49.
The Class 4A No. 4 Royals started strong against Ryle, the No. 3-ranked team in Kentucky. Southeastern led 16-9 after the first quarter, but Ryle jumped ahead in the second period to lead 30-26 at halftime. Ryle then held on throughout the second half.
Sydney Parrish scored 17 points to lead HSE, including three 3-pointers, with Amaya Hamilton adding 10. Parrish and Molly Walton each pulled six rebounds, with Tayah Irvin collecting five.
The Royals are 10-1 and will host Pendleton Heights on Tuesday.
Hamilton Southeastern had an outstanding third quarter, and that propelled the Royals to a 78-44 win over Fort Wayne North Side on Saturday.
The Legends led HSE 17-15 after the first period, with the Royals taking a 30-27 lead at halftime. Southeastern then took control in the third quarter, outscoring Fort Wayne North 32-6.
Aaron Etherington scored 15 points, with Chris Grubbs, Landon Morris and Mabor Majak all adding 10. Majak and Noah Smith both pulled four rebounds, with Smith handing out seven assists and making five steals. Majak blocked two shots in addition to dishing out four assists. Chris Kottlowski and Vinny Buccilla both had four assists also, while Grubbs made four steals.
The Royals are 4-0 and host North Central on Friday.
After a back and forth first half, Mount Vernon pulled away from Fishers 59-50 in a Saturday night game at the Marauders’ gym.
Mount Vernon led 16-11 after the first quarter, but the Tigers came back to tie the game at 24-24 by halftime. Willie Jackson helped out at the free throw line, making 4 of 5 in the second period, while Josiah Matthews also had four points in that period. But the Marauders went ahead 40-34 by the end of the third and were able to hold on in the fourth.
Jackson scored 14 points for Fishers, with Matthews adding 10. Alex Szilagyi and Jeffrey Simmons both scored nine.
The Tigers are 2-3 and play at Columbus North next Saturday.
Hamilton County Commissioners have asked the Indiana State Police to independently investigate claims made by a discharged employee in the county treasurer’s office, according to my news-gathering partners at the Hamilton Couunty Reporter. A lawsuit filed against Hamilton County and Treasurer Jennifer Templeton alleges that the office allowed county employees and family members to waive penalties on late property tax payments.
“While the county does not believe there is a factual basis for these charges, we feel it is our duty to ask an impartial party to investigate the claims,” County Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt said. “That’s why we have asked the Indiana State Police instead of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office for help. We owe it to the taxpayers to investigate the claims and to assure them that their tax dollars are being managed properly.”
There is no word yet on whether or not the Indiana State Police will take up the case.
Hamilton Southeastern’s Mabor Majak pulled 11 rebounds and had 10 points for the Royals in their 59-53 win over Avon.
by
Richie Hall
Sports Editor
Hamilton County Reporter
Hamilton Southeastern had quite a bit to play for on Friday night.
The Royals were playing their first home game of the season, hosting Avon in the first
Hoosier Crossroads Conference game of the year for both teams. It was a hard-fought
game, and Southeastern came out with the win, 59-53.
The Royals had to contend with an Orioles team that was quick and scrappy on defense. It wasn’t until the second quarter that HSE started to get some separation from Avon, eventually taking a 25-18 halftime lead.
The Orioles, in fact, had the Royals down 10-6 in the first quarter. But Southeastern
ended the period on a 7-0 run, giving it a 13-10 lead. Aaron Etherington, a 6-7
senior, started the run with a pair of free throws.
In the second quarter, senior Noah Smith added five points, including a 3-pointer.
Sophomore Vinny Buccilla hit a late 3, and Mabor Majak, a 7-2 junior, added four
points.
“One thing that we like about the team is we got some size, we got some versatility,”
said HSE coach Brian Satterfield.
“We’ve got some depth. Different things that we can put out there and do. Now we’re just
trying to get the chemistry amongst them and trying to get the pieces to fall together.”
The Royals quickly extended their lead to 30-18 early in the third quarter after Etherington hit a 3 and junior Kole Hornbuckle scored on a floater. Avon scored seven straight points to cut Southeastern’s lead to 30-25, but that would be as close as the Orioles would get in the period. Landon Morris’ hook shot and a layin by Cam Smith got the lead back up to nine, and Buccilla nailed another late 3-pointer to put the Royals ahead 41-32 at the end of three
quarters.
“We had different guys step up at different times,” said Satterfield. “Aaron, when we made that run, I know he hit that shot there to start the second quarter to get us going a little bit, get that lead in the first half. Noah’s always out there, competing and doing what he needs to. I thought Vinny hit a big shot there at the end of the third quarter.”
Avon got within five during the fourth quarter, after Le’Angelo Saravia hit a 3-pointer to trim HSE’s lead to 45-40. But Southeastern got the baskets it needed, after Smith hit a jumper and Etherington scored off a steal by Hornbuckle.
Majak also had some nice plays towards the end of the game. He scored on a putback,
then would later block a shot. The Royals got back under their basket, where Majak
made an easy layin. At the beginning of that sequence, Southeastern led 51-43 with 2:34
left; those plays made it 55-44 with a little over a minute to go (Avon hit a free throw
during that time).
“That’s the one thing that’s special about this group, we got different guys that can do
a lot of things,” said Satterfield. “And especially when all five guys are clicking, we
can be really good.
“Tonight we just didn’t quite have that with all five guys, but you’re going to have
ups and downs,” said Satterfield. Even so, the Royals found a way to win.
Etherington scored 14 points, with Smith right behind him at 13 points. Majak reached
double-double status with 11 rebounds and 10 points.
Southeastern outrebounded Avon 43-23. Chris Grubbs grabbed 10 rebounds, with
Etherington collecting seven and Hornbuckle six. Smith handed out six assists, and
Hornbuckle blocked two shots.
The Royals are 3-0 and will play at Fort Wayne North Side at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
Fishers freshman Jeffrey Simmons uses the soft touch to get the ball in the basket during the Tigers’ game with Noblesville Friday at The Mill. Simmons was one of three Fishers scorers in double figures.
by
Craig Adkins
Hamilton County Reporter
It’s always a great defensive battle throughout when Fishers and Noblesville get together on the hardwood. It wasn’t any different on Friday night at The Mill when the two opened up conference play.
The first half seemed like déja vu in a sense that the score was eerily familiar to last year’s at Fishers. Last year’s game, Fishers led at halftime 15-4, but Noblesville managed to a comeback to win 27-22.
This game would turn out much different, as the visiting Tigers found their way in the second half, widening the gap every chance they got, running away with a 54-36 win to begin Hoosier Crossroads Conference play.
A defensive stalemate during the first, it was tied 3-3 after one quarter.
Fishers went on an 11-6 run to end the first half to lead 14-9 through two periods.
It became a game of runs for the Tigers in the second half.
Noblesville cut the deficit back to two on a Zack Johnson three from the left wing, but Fishers struck right back with and 11-0 spurt, thanks in big part to a pair of treys from Alex Szilagyi and three buckets and a free throw from freshman Jeffrey Simmons, forcing the Millers to burn a timeout with 4:53 left in the third, down 25-13.
“The third quarter, we struggled,” said Noblesville head coach Brian McCauley on the effect Fishers’ 21-10 third quarter had on his Millers.
“What we want to do offensively is play inside-out. We have to attack inside-out. That puts pressure on the defense. It gives us opportunities to get to the free throw line, that often opens up inside-out shooting and we played from outside-in, and that’s one reason why we were 1-for-8 from the field (in the first quarter), so we’ve got to get better in that area,” said McCauley on the Millers’ rough start shooting the ball, which led to playing from behind most of the night
“I think one of the phrases we use is ‘stay on the rock,” said Fishers head coach Matt Moore on his team’s approach.
“You never know when the rock’s going on split. You keep swinging, you keep swinging, you keep swinging and eventually if you stay consistent enough, you’re going to be able to break through and I think that’s what we were able to do tonight,” Moore continued on what he’s got instilled in his team.
The Tigers added another 10-6 push to end the third at 35-19, really showing what they could do in transition.
“We did a good job adjusting in the second half. I thought we sped them up a little bit. We forced them to take some shots that we could then lead into transition and that’s where we’re at our best,” said Matt Moore as he talked about his team’s ability to make key plays in transition down the stretch that ultimately helped give the Tigers space on the scoreboard.
When everything went right for Fishers, that was when Noblesville was just unable to find answers to what the Tigers brought to the table in the second half.
Fishers kept their foot on the gas at the right times and they did exactly what it took to start conference play off on the right foot.
The Tigers spread the ball around really well in the fourth period, getting six from Josiah Matthews, five from Willie Jackson and a few others chipping in the rest of the 19. Zack
Johnson also scored six in the fourth, to highlight the Miller points, but it would be far short as Fishers pushed past Noblesville with ease in the second half en route to a 54-36
win.
“This was a ‘sectional week’ for us,” said Moore, referring to the type of schedule for both teams. “Noblesville didn’t play until tonight (nine days off) and Mount Vernon doesn’t
play until tomorrow night, so for us, we’re just trying to put ourselves in the position to make sure that we’re ready to play the next game,” said Moore on preparing his Tigers this week for playing back-to-back on Friday and Saturday this week.
Noblesville (1-1, 0-1 HCC) gets its first loss on the young season. The Millers will take some time to dissect this one and prepare for their own back-to-back next weekend, hosting Carmel (2-0) on Friday, Dec. 7 and Anderson (1-1) on Saturday, Dec. 8.
The Millers were led by 11 points from Johnson, while Jordan Schmidt finished with a gritty 10.
Fishers (2-2, 1-0 HCC) won its second in a row and will stay on the road on Saturday to face Mount Vernon (1-1).
The Tigers were able to get three into double-figures. Freshman Jeffrey Simmons led all scorers with a game-high 15 points and six boards. Josiah Matthews was consistent
with 12, while Alex Szilagyi had 11, nine of those in the third of three from downtown. Terry Hicks also added eight points and five rebounds.
