Posted on 09 December 2008 by .
By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor
FISHERS – Due to getting stuck at HoosierAuthority.com world headquarters about 20 minutes longer than I had anticipated – and if anyone who’s ever known me could have a dime for every time THAT’S happened … – I arrived a bit tardily for the Dec. 9 girls basketball game between Class 4A unbeatens Pendleton Heights and Hamilton Southeastern.
Upon turning the corner and entering the HSE gym, my jaw nearly hit the floor. With the first-quarter clock inching toward 2:00, the scoreboard read 20-2. And evidently it had been reading that for quite awhile as the third-ranked host Royals (8-0) scored on their first six possessions before coasting to a 57-41 victory.
The win marks Southeastern’s eighth in a row over the Arabians in the last eight years, the previous four coming by margins of 19, 18, 34, and 21. But this was supposed to be different as Pendleton Heights (4-1) entered this affair undefeated for the first time since that 70-49 defeat in 2004.
The Royals’ ridiculously fast start, however, foiled that plan.
“Great teams bury you in short spurts of play,” said eighth-year Pendleton Heights coach Shari Doud. “That’s what happened to us tonight.
“Their defensive pressure affected our outside shooting. After that, we outplayed ’em!”
Technically, yes. But on the couple of occasions where the Arabians seemed poised to possibly make a run to cut their deficit to single digits, Southeastern responded with another burial spurt.
A 6-1 Heights run sliced a 25-9 game down to a manageable 26-15 score at halftime. But the Royals hit their first five shots of the third quarter (and quite easily, one might add, on a pair of wide-open 3-pointers from 5’10” sophomore Cathy Doyle, a pair of bunnies by 6-foot junior Kelsey Lamb, and another layin from 6-foot senior Paige Smith) to blow the lead back out to 38-19.
When Arabians’ 5’8” sophomore guard Hannah Douglas subsequently canned a pair of threes and HSE went cold for two minutes, the Royals scored on a three-point play by 5’10” senior Courtney Osborn, a putback from Smith, and a three at the third-period buzzer by Osborn that all but ended it at 46-27.
“We were kinda feeling the pressure but knew if we turned it on, we could put ’em away,” said Osborn, an Indiana All-Star candidate who finished with a game-high 19 points plus six rebounds and five assists. “Our defense created a lot of turnovers, and we ran the floor extremely well.”
Southeastern shot 54 percent for the game – an even 50 (11 of 22) in the first half and 57 (12 of 21) in the second. Osborn was joined in double figures by Smith (14 points on stellar 7-of-9 shooting) and Lamb (10 points and a team-high eight rebounds).
After the Royals’ blazing start, it seemed that Pendleton’s only possible route to recovery was at the free throw line – five of the Arabians’ first seven points came on 5-of-6 shooting from the stripe, and they reached the bonus with 6:14 still to play in the opening half.
But instead of working the ball inside and trying to get HSE in foul trouble while climbing back into it with the clock stopped, Pendleton started pulling up from downtown and missing with regularity.
The Arabians clanged five 3-point attempts over four possessions before 5’10” junior guard Mur Hagerman’s bomb finally found the mark 1:56 ahead of the half to start that aforementioned 6-1 run. And the only free throw that followed 5’10” senior forward Amanda Gaskin’s pair at 6:14 came from Gaskin with 53.3 seconds to play before the break that ended the run.
Doud said her Arabians were simply trying to take what the Royals’ defense was giving them.
“You just have to give a bunch of credit to Southeastern’s defense,” Doud said.
Added Osborn: “Our posts – Paige, Sage (Sullivan, a 5’10” senior), Kelsey, and Kristi (Sannella, a 5’11” senior) – did a great job of defending them.”
Yesh. For the game, Pendleton Heights shot just 33 percent. The Arabians’ debilitating first half ended at a dismal 20 percent (4 of 20), including a 1-of-10 effort from outside the 3-point arc.
Hagerman struggled through a 5-for-15 shooting night (2 of 9 from downtown) in tying Douglas for team-high honors with 12 points, while Gaskin added 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds. The Arabians next host Hoosier Heritage Conference foe Delta (3-5) Dec. 11.
Next for HSE, meanwhile, is a unique Friday 6 p.m./Saturday noon back-to-back challenge.
First up Dec. 12 is the girls portion of a girls/boys doubleheader battle against Hoosier Crossroads Conference rival Noblesville (3-3). Then it’s a noon showdown with 2A top-ranked and three-time defending state champion Heritage Christian (5-0) in another battle of unbeatens that will kick off the annual Circle City Classic at Southport Fieldhouse.
“We’re just worried about Noblesville first,” Osborn said. “But it should be two great games.”
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