Hamilton County Reporter
Fishers freshman Olivia Smith has only been playing varsity basketball for less than two months, and she has quite a few big games ahead for her high school career.
But she will never forget her first Mudsock game. Smith hit a buzzer-beating layin to give the Tigers a 54-52 win over crosstown rival Hamilton Southeastern Saturday night at the Tiger Den.
Besides the Mudsock trophy, there was quite a bit at stake in this game. Fishers freshman Olivia Smith has only been playing varsity basketball for less than two months, and she has quite a few big games ahead for her high school career.
But she will never forget her first Mudsock game. Smith hit a buzzer-beating layin to give the Tigers a 54-52 win over crosstown rival Hamilton Southeastern Saturday night at the Tiger Den.
Besides the Mudsock trophy, there was quite a bit at stake in this game. Fishers was putting its unbeaten record on the line. Both teams were undefeated in Hoosier Crossroads Conference play coming into the contest. And both are ranked in the Class 4A coaches poll,
with Tigers fourth and the Royals sixth.
“You try and try to tell your kids, ‘Look, it’s another game,’ and you try to prepare like it’s another game,” said Fishers coach Lauren Votaw. But the coach is aware that the rivalry is a big one and she was happy to see her team get the win.
“You just love it for your kids, too,” said Votaw. “They’re so much fun to coach every single day because they come in and they buy in. And they bought into the culture and they bought in to loving each other and doing things the right way. Right now I’m just so excited for them to get to experience the fruits of their labor.”
It was a close game the entire way. Southeastern led 16-13 after the first quarter, with Jackie Maulucci scoring seven points. The Tigers’ Katie Burton had seven points as well.
The Royals were up 30-28 at halftime, then led 44-40 after three quarters. Kaitlynn Feagan stepped up big for Fishers in the second period, scoring nine points. The Tigers held Southeastern to eight points in the fourth quarter, overcoming an early deficit in the period to tie the game at 52-52, then Smith stepped up and made the game-winning basket.
Fishers didn’t have anyone in double digits, but had three players score nine points: Feagan, Burton and Audra Emmerson. Tamia Perryman added eight points, while Olivia Smith and her sister Hailey Smith both had seven points.
Senior Lydia Stullken had five points; she and Feagan each collected four rebounds.
“This is so awesome,” said Stullken. “So happy we all stuck together, pulled
it out in the end.”
“We really only had yesterday morning to prepare fully, because we had a game on Thursday,” said Stullken. “We really locked in, we stepped it up and we did it.”
Sydney Parrish led Southeastern with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Maulucci finished with 15 points.
The Tigers are 4-0 in conference play and 14-0 overall, and are off until a Jan. 4 game at Fort Wayne South Side. The Royals are 4-1 in the HCC and 10-2 overall, and play this weekend at the North Central Classic, taking on Henderson County (Ky.) on Friday and Springboro (Ohio) on Saturday.
