GBB 4A SECT. 8: North Central dumps Carmel, Westfield drills Zionsville

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By Andrew Crum
National Sports Journalism Center Intern

CARMEL – The Class 4A Sectional 8 semifinals hosted Feb. 10 by Carmel featured two very different games as Westfield and North Central (Indianapolis) won to advance to Saturday’s championship game. Here’s a review of each of the penultimate clashes …

SEMIFINAL 2: North Central (Indianapolis) 59, Carmel 48
North Central got double-doubles from seniors Rachael Gregory (20 points and 10 rebounds) and Nariah Taylor (14 points and 19 rebounds) to pace the hot Panthers (18-5), who provided the upset of the tournament thus far with Wednesday’s 42-39 opening-round upset of undefeated top-ranked Hamilton Southeastern.

Carmel junior Katelyn Nordhoff led the Greyhounds (11-11) with a team-high 14 points, including 4 of 4 from beyond the arc, and four rebounds. But it wasn’t enough on this night.

Carmel kept in close in the first half as Nordhoff had six points in the opening quarter. But the Panthers got four points each from the trio of Taylor and juniors Jasmine Falcon and Celeste Edwards to lead 14-12 at the end of one.

Carmel senior Abby Dean – coming off a lights-out 35-point performance in Wednesday’s 79-47 shellacking of Fishers – had four points in the second stanza. But Taylor and Edwards had four points apiece as North Central took a 24-21 into the half.

After the break, seniors Gregory and Taylor began to take over for North Central. They each had six points in the period as the Panthers outscored Carmel 16-9 to turn a three-point halftime lead into a 10-point advantage entering the fourth.

The Greyhounds shifted to a full-court press and slowed the tempo, getting eight points from senior Blaire Langlois. But Gregory had 10 points in the fourth, including several free throws down the stretch, to propel the Panthers to the win.

Edwards was the third of first-year coach DeeAnn Ramey’s Panthers to reach double digits, finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds. And Falcon was the fourth in finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Langlois added 13 points, four rebounds, and three assists for Carmel before fouling out late in the game. Dean. Meanwhile, finished with a more-pedestrian 11 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks in her final game.

The box score (thank you, Joe Woodward!):

                           1Q     2Q     3Q     4Q     FINAL
North Central         14     10      16     19     59
Carmel                 12       9        9     18     48

North Central (Indianapolis) 59
## Name P FG 3 Pt FT PTS ORB DRB TR PF AST TO BS ST MIN
10 * Jasmine Falcon 4/10 0/5 2/3 10 4 5 9 1 2 2 0 1 32:00
11 * Celeste Edwards 5/14 0/2 3/3 13 4 4 8 2 1 2 0 2 32:00
12 Kiara Scott 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP
14 Tia Ewing 1/1 0/1 0/0 2 0 2 2 2 0 2 0 0 12:14
20 * Shelbi Owens 0/1 0/0 0/0 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 0 0 19:46
21 Quintianna LeShore 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP
22 Erin Taylor 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP
23 Asia Green 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP
32 Penny Ingram 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP
40 Chelsea Coleman 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNP
41 * Rachael Gregory 6/14 0/0 8/9 20 5 4 9 2 0 1 0 3 32:00
54 * Nariah Taylor 7/15 0/0 0/0 14 10 9 19 4 2 4 1 1 32:00
Team 2 3 5
Totals 23/55 0/8 13/15 59 25 28 53 11 6 14 1 7 160

2 PT FG 1st Half 11/27 40.7%     2nd Half 12/28 42.9%     Game 23/55 41.8%
3 PT FG 1st Half 0/6 0.00%     2nd Half 0/2 0.00%     Game 0/8 0.00%
Free Throws 1st Half 2/3 66.7% 2nd Half 11/12 91.7%    Game 13/15 86.7%

Carmel 48
## Name P FG 3 Pt FT PTS ORB DRB TR PF AST TO BS ST MIN
2 Amy Malone 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0:17
3 * Abby Dean 3/7 1/2 2/4 11 0 4 4 1 4 5 2 3 31:23
4 Amanda Shaw 0/0 1/2 0/0 3 1 1 2 1 0 0 1 1 12:32
5 * Blaire Langlois 2/5 2/8 3/3 13 0 4 4 5 3 1 0 1 31:12
10 Ellen Teske 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0:20
12 Julie Larson 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0:20
20 * Abby Abel 0/0 0/0 1/2 1 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 1 23:14
21 Khaila Royster 0/0 0/0 0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0:20
23 * Katelyn Nordhoff 1/3 4/7 0/0 14 1 3 4 0 3 0 0 0 25:28
32 Karena Monson 0/2 0/3 1/2 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 11:30
33 * Steph Irwin 0/0 1/5 0/0 3 1 1 2 3 0 1 1 0 16:26
42 Stephanie Volkmar 1/1 0/0 0/0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 6:34
Team 1 4 5
Totals 7/18 9/27 7/11 48 4 17 21 15 11 10 4 6 159:36

2 PT FG 1st Half 2/8 25.0%     2nd Half 5/10 50.0%     Game 7/18 38.9%
3 PT FG 1st Half 5/14 35.7%     2nd Half 4/13 30.8%     Game 9/27 33.3%
Free Throws 1st Half 2/2 100% 2nd Half 5/9 55.6%     Game 7/11 63.6%

SEMIFINAL 1: Westfield 58, Zionsville 34
In the first game, Westfield junior center Jennifer Anderson led all scorers with 19 points and added six rebounds while sophomore Kayla Brown added 13 points and five rebounds for the Shamrocks (14-8).

Zionsville sophomore Maddie Yott led the Eagles with 10 points, but a slow start in the first quarter would prove to be a dagger for ninth-year coach Andy Maguire’s Eagles, who also suffered from inconsistent shooting throughout the evening.

Zionsville fell behind by 11 in the first as Anderson tallied 11 points herself to push the Shamrocks to a 17-6 lead. Brown and junior Gabrielle Lapinski then added four points apiece in the second as the ‘Rocks extended the lead to 17 at the half.

Zionsville shot better in the third quarter in getting a bucket from five different players, but Westfield continued to dominate. Anderson scored six points and Brown added five as fourth-year coach Shane Sumpter’s girls extended the lead to 22 heading to the fourth.

Sophomore Grace Maguire had five points for Zionsville over the final eight minutes, but the outcome had long been decided.

8. Carmel Sectional
Game 1 – Westfield 58, Noblesville 34
Game 2 – North Central (Indianapolis) 42, Hamilton Southeastern 39
Game 3 – Carmel 79, Fishers 47
Game 4 – Westfield 58, Zionsville 34
Game 5 – North Central (Indianapolis) 59, Carmel 48
Championship – Westfield (14-8) vs. North Central (Indianapolis) (18-5). SAT 7:30p