by
Richie Hall
Sports Editor
Hamilton County Reporter
NOBLESVILLE – Anyone who has ever had an investment in an Indiana basketball sectional knows one thing: Anything can happen.
That was the case in the first game of Class 4A Sectional 8 at Noblesville on Tuesday. Fishers and Zionsville were locked in a defensive slugfest, and the Eagles came out on top after a last-second shot, sending the Tigers to a 23-21 loss.
In the second game, Carmel and Hamilton Southeastern played each other for the second time in 18 days. The Royals won the earlier game by one point, and Tuesday’s contest was just as close until the Greyhounds pulled away late for a 50-43 victory.
Tuesday’s winners advance to the Friday semi-finals, where Zionsville takes on Westfield and Carmel will play host Noblesville.
DIFFERENT RE-MATCH
The Fishers-Zionsville game was a re-match as well – in fact, the first time the two teams played was on Feb. 21, the regular-season finale for the Eagles. The Tigers won 58-39 at the Zionsville gym.
“I think it was kind of fool’s gold when we beat them at their place,” said Fishers coach Matt Moore. The Tigers made shots early in that game and got out to a big lead.
“Now you’re playing with a lead and that changes how they have to play,” said Moore. “When they take a minute off the clock in each possession, when they try to stretch, shorten a game, every shot matters.”
Any lead was a big lead in the sectional re-match. The Tigers held a 7-4 lead at the end of the first quarter, after Isaac Farah made a 3-pointer and Jeffrey Simmons added a layin.
The Eagles led 10-9 late in the second period, but Lucas Prewitt nailed a 3 for Fishers, sending it into the locker room with a 12-10 halftime advantage. The Tigers’ Alex Szilagyi scored the first basket of the second half: Another 3, giving Fishers a 15-10 lead.
Zionsville clawed its back to within one point, 18-17 by the end of the third quarter, with Szilagyi making a traditional three-point play as the Tigers’ only other points of the period.
A free throw by Gunnar Vannatta tied the game, then Anthony Scales made a layin to put the Eagles ahead 20-18.
Dominic Castellani gave Fishers back the lead, with his triple getting the Tigers up 21-20. Scales tied the game by making a free throw with 36.5 seconds left.
Zionsville got the ball back, and Vannatta passed it to Jackson Hughes, who made a floater as time ran out.
Szilagyi’s six points led Fishers, who finished the season 18-7, but not before setting a record for most wins in a season.
“It just continues to show the direction we’re trending,” said Moore. “I think Year 1 to Year 2 to Year 3, the progress that we’ve made across the board has been nothing but positive. That’s what you build off of.”
ANOTHER CLOSE GAME
The second game was close as well. After some initial back and forth, Carmel used a 6-0 run (back-to-back 3-pointers by Brian Waddell and Connor Gioia) to jump out to a 10-5 lead in the first quarter.
The Greyhounds never trailed again, but the Royals stayed in contention for the
entire game.
“We’ve got some guys that can shoot it,” said Carmel coach Ryan Osborn. “We’re far from a one or two-man show. Guys give it everything they’ve got. They like each other. It’s an awesome group to coach.”
Carmel led 12-7 after the first quarter, then went up 17-12 with three minutes left in the second after Peter Suder made a floater. Southeastern cut that advantage to 17-16 by halftime after Mabor Majak made a hook shot, then DeAndre Rhodes scored off a steal.
Josh Whack hit a 3 to open the second half, getting the ‘Hounds up 20-16. The Royals got within one again, 23-22, when Majak made a dunk and Kole Hornbuckle hit two free throws. Jackson Jannsen drained a 3 to get Carmel up by four, then Nick Frische’s layin put the Greyhounds ahead 30-25 after three.
Waddell took over for Carmel in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 points. He helped the Greyhounds hold off one final push by Southeastern, which included six consecutive free throws by Hornbuckle to tie the game at 37-37 with 4:23 left.
“Waddell’s been great,” said Osborn. “Since he’s come back from his injury, he’s gaining some confidence, he’s going to the boards hard, he’s hitting shots. He defends, he’s long.”
Waddell made a layin to put Carmel back up front, then after HSE’s John McCall made a free throw, the ‘Hounds went on an 7-0 run to lead 46-38. Waddell finished the run with a dunk.
“They’re tough and you got to give Coach Osborn a lot of credit for what he’s done this year,” said Royals coach Brian Satterfield. “But the toughest thing was is, we had to battle back, took a lot of energy. But yes, when we got to that stage, you can see the confidence in our guys’ eyes and I thought that we were going to do it. But we didn’t take advantage.”
Waddell finished the game with 19 points, including a 12-of-13 performance from the free-throw line. Suder added 11 points and led the rebounds with five.
Carmel improved to 16-7 with the win. Hornbuckle was the Royals’ top scorer, with 18 points, including a 14-of-15 performance from the line. Majak had 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots. He will play for Cleveland State University this fall, while Satterfield said Hornbuckle is also getting college looks. Rhodes will play football for Indiana
State University.
“It was such a fun group to coach,” said Satterfield, whose team finished the season 17-6. “These guys, the way they came out, worked hard every day. It was fun to be in the gym with them.”
