Noblesville Sectional

While the Zionsville/Fishers game was a rock fight--Zionsville 23, Fishers 21 -- it provided for a great fourth quarter.

Five Takes

  • Jackson Hughes, 6'5" senior forward, obviously made the play of the game, the high banking shot the goes in as the buzzer sounds.  Chaos ensued!  
    • Hughes, who transferred in from Rensselaer Central over the summer, has given them versatility up front.  He's freed up Anthony Scales a little, and Zionsville rarely has rotations where they don't have two of Hughes, Scales and Gunnar Vannatta. 
  • The play that turned the tide for Zionsville, which was down five at the time -- freshman guard Logan Imes drives baseline, goes behind his back, forcing help from Vannatta's defender then drops a dime to Vannatta who gathered and dunked.
    • This is the third time I've seen Zionsville where Imes' play turned the tide of the game.  More of Imes = good
  • Given the pace of the game, Vannatta was very effective.  Ignore raw totals.  He was the main influence in the game on both ends. 
  • Neither team had any outside shooting, or at least not enough for their top shooters to be covered.  Alex Szilagyi may have only gotten three shots the entire game for Fishers.  The only other three they hit was from Isaac Farah, 6'8" senior center, who hit a corner 3.  
    • Zionsville, playing without Ben Weidner since he tore his ACL...I don't even recall if they took a 3.
  • Jeffrey Simmons, 6'6" sophomore forward, struggled against Zionsville's size.  He got a lot of touches in the high post vs. Zionsville's zone and not once did he look to hit the shot or score.  Most of his scoring efforts came from stationary or cuts to the low post, where he was swallowed up by Vannatta.

Carmel led most of the game vs. Hamilton Southeastern, but it was never truly in control until the final 90 seconds, as Carmel won 50-43.

Game Takes

  • I said heading into the fall Carmel will be as good as Brian Waddell is.  The 6'6" junior wing had a great June, and while it doesn't mean everything, it was telling to what he could be in a bigger role.  He was sick then injured to start the year, and Carmel struggled to score.  Since his return, Carmel has been very efficient.
    • Waddell had 19 points last night. 
  • Kole Hornbuckle, 6'5" senior wing, was equally impressive for HSE.  He scored the game's first basket, spent the rest of the first half at the FT line, then took over a stretch in the second half.  
  • HSE got nothing outside of the paint last night, and Carmel made Mabor Majak, 7'2" senior center, work for every catch then work for every shot.  He one contested shot that was "easy", a smooth righty hook over Charlie Williams.  Everything else when he wasn't clean had to be a double move or battle through a double team.
  • HSE won on Valentine's Day by crushing Carmel on the offensive glass.  I don't know the  rebound totals this time around, but that didn't happen until the fourth quarter.  As it did start to happen, it felt like that would put HSE over the hump as Hornbuckle really got going, but they couldn't convert.
    • They had three possessions in the mid-fourth quarter with multiple looks at the basket.  I'm not sure they scored on any of them.

 

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