by
Richie Hall
Sports Editor
Hamilton County Reporter
In a basketball game where there’s not much between the two teams, any run is big
and one run can make the difference.
So it was for Carmel in its semi-final victory over Hamilton Southeastern at the
Class 4A Noblesville sectional Friday night at The Mill. The No. 10-ranked Greyhounds
scored eight unanswered points in a run that bridged the second and third quarters, and
that gave Carmel enough separation to get past the Royals, 62-56.
The ‘Hounds will play Fishers at 7:30 p.m. tonight for the Sectional 8
championship.
The game was tied at 10-all after the first quarter, with Cole Jenkins scoring seven
points for Carmel and Chaz Birchfield chipping in six points for Southeastern. The
Greyhounds jumped ahead 15-10 at one point in the second period, but the Royals
were within one point on three different occasions late in the quarter, including after
a Birchfield layin put HSE within 22-21.
Eddie Gill got the last basket of the half, a putback that put Carmel up 24-21. That
would be the start of the Greyhounds’ 8-0 run, although they would have to wait until
the second half for it to continue.
Once the half began, John Michael Mulloy scored on a basket, then Luke Heady
made four consecutive free throws. With that, Carmel led 30-21.
“You talk about the six straight points, and yeah, we scored, but I think the biggest
thing was we stopped them three straight times and that’s big for us,” said Carmel
coach Ryan Osborn. “They have some firepower over there.”
Southeastern coach Brian Satterfield agreed that the Greyhounds getting that
separation at the start of the third was a turning point.
“Then we’re having to play from behind a little bit,” said Satterfield. “When we tried
to gamble a little bit, it didn’t pay off for us and they got some easy buckets. They were
able to knock down free throws down the stretch.”
Aaron Etherington ended the run with a 3-pointer, and the game continued roughly
basket-for-basket for most of the second half. The Royals got their closest with 3:50
left in the fourth period, after two Birchfield free throws got HSE within 47-43.
But the ‘Hounds went off on a 10-4 run to all but clinch the game. Mulloy converted
a three-point play, then Heady added five more points, with a free throw pushing
Carmel up to its biggest lead, 57-47 with 33.6 seconds left. The Royals threw in three
3-pointers in the final 30 seconds of the game, but the Greyhounds were able to
neutralize those baskets at the foul line, making 5-of-6 free throws.
“I think our guys have matured a lot over the year,” said Osborn. “Just different
situations, different environments. We’ve played some tough games against some
really good teams with some different atmospheres. I think early we didn’t handle
those situations very well. Now that we’ve gone through it as a group together, they’ve
learned how to keep their composure a little better and that makes a difference.”
Jenkins led the way for Carmel with 19 points and six rebounds, while Heady’s
11-of-14 performance from the line was a big part of his 16 points. Mulloy added 14
points, along with six rebounds and two blocked shots. Osborn said Mulloy “played
like a veteran” at the end of the game.
“And Cole Jenkins was a leader,” said Osborn. “He was a senior leader tonight that
controlled the game and made great decisions and got everybody involved and knew when to back it out and take some time off the clock.”
Birchfield had a sensational game for HSE, with 23 points and four rebounds.
Noah Smith added 13 points, while Etherington scored 11 (including three 3-
pointers) and grabbed four rebounds as well.
“The thing that I love and admire about our guys is, we played hard,” said
Satterfield. “We knew it would be a dogfight, but the kids played hard,” said
Satterfield. “They didn’t give up.”
Carmel is now 17-7, while Southeastern finished its season 17-8.
