by
Richie Hall
Sports Editor
Hamilton County Reporter
FISHERS – The Fishers boys basketball team already has its identity set for the 2020-21 season, and it can be boiled down to three things: Depth, balance and unselfishness.
The Tigers put all of those on display in its season-opening game Tuesday at the Tiger Den, when they overwhelmed Ben Davis 75-49. It was an impressive opener for Fishers, which is ranked No. 20 in the IBCA’s one-class pre-season poll.
The Tigers were playing their first game under new head coach Garrett Winegar, who was the head coach at Warren Central last season and had spent a few years there as an assistant. When discussing the game afterwards, Winegar brought up something then-head coach Criss Beyers said during the Warriors’ undefeated state championship season in 2017-18.
“When I was at Warren with Coach Byers the year we won state, we had six players averaging between 8 and 12 points a game,” said Winegar. “He always just preached to them, like, ‘We don’t care who gets the shot, we just want the best shot.’ And I think this group, I think we see that they’re playing unselfish, they’re willing to pass up a good shot to get a great shot, and that’s exciting.
That attitude was in effect for the Tigers on Tuesday. Fishers had four players reach double figures in scoring, chipping in between 11 and 17 points. Of the nine Tigers who took to the floor, eight of them scored at least one point.
“I think that’s our strength,” said Winegar. “We don’t have one guy who’s probably going to go get 30, but we have six guys who can probably go get 15. Our depth and our balance and our unselfishness has to be something that is our strength. We’re probably never going to be the most athletic or most talented team on the floor when we play, so we have to be the most unselfish and we have to be well-rounded.”
Fishers never trailed in the game, and the score was only tied twice, early in the game at 2-2, then 4-4. Junior Charlie Smith broke that second tie with a 3-pointer, then the Tigers finished the first quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 15-7. Junior Bryce Williams got the first five points (including a 3), then junior Matt Brewer made a free throw.
The run continued at the start of the second period, with sophomore Myles Stringer hitting a couple free throws to push Fishers ahead 17-7. The Giants cut that lead to 17-12 as KJ Windham, a talented freshman, made a 3-pointer and a layin.
But the Tigers darted ahead again with a 6-0 run; senior Lucas Prewitt, Smith and senior Drew Turner each made baskets. That made the score 23-12, and Fishers maintained that lead through halftime, where it led 31-23.
The Tigers took total control in the third quarter, outscoring Ben Davis 27-8. Fishers scored the first 15 points of the period, with Williams pouring in eight points (including another 3). Turner scored seven in the middle of the quarter (also including a 3), then junior Sean Millsaps hit two 3s on his way to eight third-period points. Fishers had eight total 3-pointers in the game.
“I think the third quarter, we showed how good we possibly could be on defense,” said Winegar.
The fourth period was a little more even, but Ben Davis was never able to make a dent into the Tigers’ lead. Prewitt and Millsaps each made a 3-pointer in the quarter.
Williams finished with 17 points, followed by Turner with 16, Millsaps with 13 and Smith with 11. Fishers was playing without Jeffrey Simmons, still recovering from an injury.
“We got a long way to go to be where we want to be, offensively and defensively, but if they play with the kind of effort and energy and togetherness that they’ve been playing with, this group has a chance to surprise some people,” said Winegar.
Fishers plays another home game next Tuesday, taking on Muncie Central.