Carmel’s Taylee Fisher scored nine points and made five steals during the Greyhounds’ 57-53 win over Zionsville in the Sectional 8 semifinals. (Richie Hall)
By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – Carmel’s girls ended a drought on Friday, Feb. 6.
The Greyhounds had not won a game in Sectional 8, one of the toughest sectionals in the state, since 2021. But Carmel broke through during this year’s Sectional 8 competition, getting past Zionsville 57-53 in a hard-fought semifinal game.
“They say age matters in February,” said Greyhounds coach Jess Darmelio. “I don’t know if I believe that, because the Hounds are over here fighting and playing pretty gritty.”
It was a contest between two young squads. Carmel had two seniors in its starting lineup, Jacobi Warren and Sydney Bonds. Both would make impacts for the Greyhounds during the game.
Carmel led 12-11 after the first quarter. Sophomore Catherine Bassi, finally free to play unrestricted minutes after recovering from an injury, provided a spark with five points in the period, including a 3-pointer.
“It’s awesome,” said Bassi. “A year without playing was not very fun, but now I’m able to play. It’s the best feeling ever. It’s so much fun. And my knee feels great, too.”
The Greyhounds got going in the early part of the second period, using solid long-range shooting to lead 24-16. Sophomore Bella Ramsey and junior Taylee Fisher joined Warren in hitting triples, with Warren’s 3 giving Carmel the eight-point lead.
“All day I was thinking about, we got to get hyped up for this game. We got to be ready,” said Fisher.
The Eagles came back, finishing the half on a 9-0 run to lead 25-24 at the break. Junior McKenzie Chapman scored the final seven points of the half.
Zionsville’s run continued at the start of the third period, with junior Emily Zack and Chapman both making baskets to give the Eagles a 29-24 lead.
Sophomore Maddy Wallace stopped the run with a floater, but Zack responded with a layin to push Zionsville ahead 31-26.
The Greyhounds answered back. Fisher and Bassi both made baskets to get Carmel within 31-30, then Bonds tied the game at 32-32 with a layin.
“Sydney Bonds is the glue player, the do-everything player,” said Darmelio. “She’s going to play her butt off for you. She’s going to go after the ball. She doesn’t have the size of the other kids that we play against, but she has such a big heart, and so I trust her to be on the court, whether that’s rebounding, defending, making the right decision.
Chapman gave the Eagles their last lead of the game at 34-32 with a layin, after which Ramsey finished the quarter with four straight points to give Carmel a 36-34 lead.
That was the beginning of an 11-0 run, mostly facilitated by Ramsey. She scored six points during the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. Bassi added to the run with a 3-pointer, with Ramsey hitting two free throws to give Carmel its largest lead at 45-34 with 4:58 left.
“We tell each other, stick together,” said Fisher. “If one person is keeping their head down, we got to pick them up and tell them to keep going.”
Zionsville tried to make a comeback, but the Greyhounds held firm, not allowing the Eagles to get any closer than four points. Ramsey added seven points during the final three minutes, going 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.
Ramsey finished the game with 21 points, scoring 17 in the second half. Bassi scored 16, including three 3s. Fisher totaled nine points and Bonds scored five.
