Tuesday night saw two Hamilton County teams battle on the hardwood as the No. 6 ranked Fishers Tigers hosted the No. 12 ranked Carmel Greyhounds. The tigers opened the game and closed the game well as they defeated the Lady Greyhounds 65-44. 

A 22-7 first quarter allowed the Lady Tigers to seize control of the game early on. The Greyhounds would try to battle back as they cut their deficit to 33-24 as both teams entered the locker rooms. Both teams scored 11 points in the third quarter as Carmel was unable to trim the Lady Tigers lead. Fishers put the game away for good in the fourth quarter by outscoring the Greyhounds 21-9. 

Senior Tamia Perryman led the Tigers in scoring with a career high 21 points. She also had four rebounds. Junior Katie Burton finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Junior Audra Emmerson had nine points and freshman Hailey Smith had eight points.

Some thoughts, opinions and other notables:

I watched Friday night’s tape-delayed Hamilton Heights-Lapel game on the TV 40 sports channel.

I’ve been hearing a lot about Husky junior Gus Etchison, and it marked the first time I’ve seen him in action.

I liked what I saw. He was terrific.

The kid has GAME. He can really play. He had 34 points in a 21-point victory. Etchison did pretty much everything but sell popcorn. Very impressive player, indeed.

And watching him reminded me a great deal of 1970 Carmel Indiana Mr. Basketball David Shepherd, who scored 66 points in a game his senior year.

Gus has already delivered a 56-point performance this season. 

Etchison is a 6-foot guard like Shepherd. He’s built like the Greyhound great and he also has black hair, and he plays with much the same flare. He’s quick, pushes the ball relentlessly, can shoot from far-away places, looks for the open man, and made a couple of “oh-wow-did-he-really-do that passes!’’ and he has tremendous upper body strength.

Etchison also had two break-away dunks. Not sure I ever saw Shepherd dunk.

The Husky spit-fire is averaging 25.9 points per game, seventh best in the state. He averages 5.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.2 blocks. He shoots 59 percent on 2s and 37 percent on 3s, as well as 75 percent from the foul line.

Millers take on HCC Rival Zionsville

ZIONSVILLE – The Lady Millers traveled to Zionsville on Friday night to take on Hoosier Crossroads Conference rival Zionsville as the two teams looked to build momentum heading into the final stretch of their seasons.  

The third quarter proved to be the deciding factor as the Millers used a 14-5 quarter to help them pick up a 58-48 win. Both teams were dead even at 24-24 heading into halftime. That third quarter allowed the Millers to take control of the game and they didn’t let up in the fourth as they added in 20 more points and didn’t allow the Lady Eagles to comeback. 

The Millers ended with three players in double figure scoring as Freshman Ashlynn Shade led the way with 20 points to go along with seven rebounds. Shade almost secured a double-double as she once again showed her excellent defensive skills by recording nine steals in the win. Mallory Miller added in 17 points and Abby Haley scored 14 in the win. 

Freshman Laila Hull ended with 19 points to lead the Eagles in the loss. Katey Richason chipped in 11 points. 

The win for the Lady Millers improves their record to 8-12 (1-5 HCC) on the season. The team will now have the week off before traveling to Franklin Central next Saturday as they wrap up conference play against the 12-7 Lady Flashes. 

Rocks and Royals Clash in HCC Matchup

WESTFIELD – The Hamilton Southeastern Royals traveled to Westfield on Friday night for a matchup with Hoosier Crossroads Conference opponent Westfield. The fourth quarter saw both offenses explode as the teams combined for 51 total points in the final quarter. In the end the Royals were the ones to come out on top by final score of 65-47. 

30 of the 51 points scored in the final quarter were courtesy of the Royals who had slowly built up a nine point lead as both teams got ready for the final quarter of play. Westfield up until the final quarter, where they scored 21 points, were held to quarters of six, nine, and 11 as they Royals defense stifled the Rocks for most of the night.

The Royals offense much like the Rocks really didn’t get clicking until the fourth. Fortunately for the Royals their offense through the first three quarters scored 11, ten, and 14 points respectively as they slowly were able to build a nine point advantage heading into what was the wild fourth quarter. 

Nic Despaquale led the Rocks in scoring with 13 points. Benji Welch added in nine. The loss for the Rocks was their first HCC loss of the season as their overall record now stands at 8-2 (2-1 HCC). The team will now look to rebound tomorrow night as they travel to take on Lafayette Jeff (14-1). 

The Royals were led in scoring by DeAndre Rhodes who finished with 13 points. Mabor Majak added in 11 in the win for the Royals. With the win the Royals see their record improve to 6-5 on the season (1-2 HCC). The team will be back in action tonight as they host Anderson (1-12). 

The Guerin Catholic wrestling team hosted Purdue Polytechnic on Thursday night as they celebrated senior night. 

The Golden Eagle seniors can say their last home meet was a victory as they defeated Purdue Polytechnc 38-27. 

Royals sweep North Central

INDIANAPOLIS – The Hamilton Southeastern Swim and Dive traveled to North Central on Thursday night. On the night the both Royals teams came out with victories as the boys brought home a 134-51 win, while the girls were victorious 111-75.

Next up on the docket for the Royals will be senior night next Thursday as they will host HCC opponent Zionsville.

As we head into a new New Year, I wish we could go back when people looked forward to reading newspapers.

Millennials don’t read newspapers. Plain and simple. They are either hanging out in front of laptops or tablets or clicking on their IPhone, and likely using all of those devices.

Most readership, especially in a small community, comes from our older folks who basically grew up with newsprint. And you can still get daily news in such communities, like you do in Hamilton County. Still, online publications are beginning to take over.

I’ve been reading newspapers, especially the sports page, since junior high school. I used to deliver The Sunday Indianapolis Star. We always had The Kokomo Tribune in the Morrow home.

In fact, if the morning Indy Star wasn’t in our driveway by 6 a.m., my dad turned into an Archie Bunker, and started muttering things young kids shouldn’t have to hear.

And, too, I cannot remember a time I have not walked out to get my daily morning or evening paper.

It’s a part of my life, a very big part of my life. I started writing sports for The Tribune the summer before my junior year at KHS.

I have newspapers in my blood. Always have, always will.

The Carmel Greyhounds girls basketball team hosted Anderson on Wednesday night and were able to cruise to a 72-46 victory. 

The Lady Hounds came out in the first quarter and set the tone for the game as they scored 25 points in the opening quarter to take a 25-16 lead. In the second and third quarters, the Hounds incresed their lead further by scoring 16 points in the second and 19 in the thrid. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Hounds held a commanding 60-32 advantage. 

The Carmel Greyhounds we’re back in action on Wednesday night as they they traveled to take on Indianapolis Cathedral.

The Greyhounds and Cathedral battled back and forth all night long and once again the Hounds found themselves in another overtime game (fourth of the season). This overtime game fell to Cathedral as they snuck out a 63-60 victory.