Hamilton Southeastern junior Abby Orme helped the Royals to a defense of their Sectional 8 championship last week. Orme also serves as a ball girl for the Noblesville Boom in addition to playing for Southeastern, which goes for a regional championship on Saturday. (Richie Hall)
By RICHIE HALL
When Hamilton Southeastern’s girls basketball team won Sectional 8 last year, Abby Orme was a sophomore and came off the bench.
This year, Orme is a junior and in the starting lineup. She is an integral part of a Royals team that defended its Sectional 8 title and will play McCutcheon Saturday for the Frankfort regional championship.
“Last year, I was getting limited minutes and we had a stacked roster,” said Orme. The 2025 HSE team featured Miss Basketball Maya Makalusky, along with then-juniors Kennedy Holman, Kayla Stidham and Antonette Green, all of whom are committed to play in college.
“This year, I think it feels even greater because we know we’ve had younger players step up,” said Orme. Among those players are sophomores Piper Brinley and Eevey Tolliver, both of whom have helped out Southeastern during the course of the season.
Orme is averaging 5.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists for the Royals. She’s had three double-digit scoring games this season, the highest a 13-point effort in Southeastern’s Dec. 29 win over Valparaiso.
Orme is quick to credit her teammates with her success.
“They always were lifting me up and they’re always telling me to keep shooting,” said Orme. “I struggled at the beginning of the year to keep shooting after a miss, but they always pick me back up.”
In addition to her participation on the Royals’ team, Orme gets a chance to be a part of another basketball team: she is a ball girl with the Noblesville Boom.
“It’s a cool experience,” said Orme. “I get to watch basketball games every Sunday.”
Orme said being a ball girl helps with her basketball IQ, since she gets to watch high-level basketball up close. Orme is also able to work her Boom duties around her Southeastern practice schedule.
“I normally don’t work during the weeks because of practice, but I work on Saturdays and Sundays,” said Orme. “Days when I practice until 5, I’ll come in late if it’s a 7 p.m. game.”
Some of the HSE junior varsity players have been at Boom games, so they get to see Orme and her teammate Cameron Catlin in action.
“It’s kind of embarrassing because I’m in my khakis and they’re watching me get the water and stuff,” said Orme. “They mess with me.” But she enjoys the experience and working with her teammate Catlin – “it’s fun,” she said.
The Royals made it all the way to the final four last season, falling in the semi-state championship game to Warsaw. Orme believes the team is capable of another such run.
“We’ve known it since the beginning of the season that it’s going to be a big change with losing a bunch of seniors, but it’s nothing that we haven’t set our minds to,” said Orme. “And I think we’ve been working hard all season and we have players who, we all go 100 percent every game and I think that’s what is going to help us beat other teams throughout the tournament.”
