by
Richie Hall
Sports Editor
Hamilton County Reporter
KOKOMO – If there’s one thing that people should know about the Hamilton
Southeastern girls basketball team, it’s this: Nothing rattles the Royals.
That grace under pressure has carried Southeastern to one win after another, and
that includes Saturday’s regional championship game. The No. 1-ranked Royals beat
No. 5 Homestead 57-47 to win the Class 4A Kokomo regional, the second regional title
in program history. Southeastern won its first title in 2006.
“When you’re winning in February, it’s fun,” said Royals coach Chris Huppenthal.
With this win, Southeastern improved to 25-1 for the season, matching the Royals’
mark for most wins in a season since 2006-07.
“It feels amazing to know that we’ve taken everything from the summer, we’ve
just progressed over time and we’ve built a trust and a family,” said senior Tayah Irvin.
“It feels amazing to be able to win with these girls, because I’m not ready to be done with
them.”
Southeastern will play at the La Porte semi-state next Saturday, where it will take
on No. 4 Crown Point. But to get there, the Royals had to first get past a dangerous
Spartans team, one that had three senior players who were part of Homestead’s 2017
state championship team.
Yet Southeastern never trailed in the game. The Royals bounced out to a 12-4
lead in the first quarter, with Sydney Parrish scoring nine of those points. The Spartans
came back to within 14-12 by the end of the period, but Parrish began the second quarter
with a three-point play to make it 17-12.
Homestead tied the game at 17-17; seniors Kara Gealy hit a layin and Sydney
Graber made a 3. The score was then knotted at 19-19, but back-to-back 3-pointers from
Amaya Hamilton and Malea Jackson pushed the Royals back up 25-19. Later, Irvin
scored on a putback and Molly Walton’s layin got HSE ahead 29-21.
“We tell our kids before we came out, our schedule was built to get us in situations
like this and for us to be successful in situations like this,” said Huppenthal. “Our
girls have played and they know they’ve played the best teams in the state and they
know what they need to do.
“And again, there’s just a quiet calmness and a quiet confidence about this group that
is special,” said Huppenthal. “And there isn’t a kid out there that isn’t contributing. Tayah
Irvin came up with a couple big buckets and big free throws down the stretch. Syd,
obviously hit some big shots. Malea hit some big ones there in the fourth quarter.”
“We always talk about, we can’t think we’re good just because we end up beating teams,” said Irvin. “We’ve got to keep working, because once we start thinking we’re good, we’re going to get beat.”
The Royals led 31-25 at halftime. Homestead made a push in the third quarter, but Southeastern again got big baskets when it needed them: Parrish and Jackson both hit
3s in the later stages of the period. Thus, the Royals were still ahead 39-37 after three
quarters.
Southeastern then took control in the fourth period, scoring the quarter’s first eight
points. Irvin started things off with a layin, then Jackson hit her third 3-pointer of the
game. The Royals began working the clock in the fourth quarter, and made a key defensive play when Parrish got a steal near Homestead’s basket.
Seconds later, Parrish drained her third 3 of the game to put Southeastern up 47-37,
then Irvin made a couple of free throws to give the Royals their biggest lead of the
game, 49-37 with 3:37 left. The Spartans’ Rylie Parker hit a 3 to get the lead back
under 10 points, but Homestead would get no closer than seven points, as Southeastern
closed it out from the free throw line in the game’s final four minutes.
Parrish scored 27 points, while Jackson added 14. Hamilton and Irvin each collected
eight rebounds, with Parrish pulling seven rebounds. Jackie Maulucci handed out four
assists.
Southeastern advanced to the championship game with a morning semi-final win
over Fort Wayne Carroll, 59-34.
The Royals outscored the Chargers in each quarter, leading 25-11 after the first
quarter and 40-19 at halftime. Parrish led the Southeastern scoring with 16 points, while
Hamilton scored 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Irvin and Self both pulled five rebounds, with Irvin also making four steals. Walton
handed out five assists.
