Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers advanced to the semi-finals of Sectional 8 with a 65-51 victory over Anderson Tuesday at Carmel’s Eric Clark Activity Center.

The Tigers got off to a solid start, leading 20-11 after the first quarter. Willie Jackson scored seven points, while Jeffrey Simmons added six. Things slowed down for both teams in the second period, but Fishers was able to extend its lead to 27-17 at halftime.

“For our guys, playing sometimes versus getting the bye is important,” said Tigers coach Matt Moore. “And I thought for his group, based on the match-ups that we got, playing was important for us. We got to get the nerves out, we got to settle in.”

The coach credited Anderson with playing “extremely hard,” and said his team “did enough in the first quarter to get a good lead. As they made their runs, we settled in and responded.”

Alex Szilagyi began to heat up in the third quarter for the Tigers, nailing his first 3-pointer of the game. Fishers led 40-28 after three. The Indians got to within 46-40 with around five minutes left in the fourth, but Szilagyi took over afterwards, pouring in 11 of his 13 fourth-quarter points in the final 4:45.

“Alex had a huge third and fourth quarter for us,” said Moore.

Szilagyi led the way with 20 points, while Simmons scored 12. Justin Long also had a good game, scoring 12 points.

Fishers is 17-7 and will play the sectional host and No. 1-ranked Carmel in Friday’s second semi-final.