Game Report: Sectional 8 Championship

<p>In 49 states it is just basketball, but this is Indiana. Nothing beats the Hoosier Hysteria around the state tournament and it was in full force at Noblesville High School on Saturday night. In front of a sell-out crowd of over 4200 fans, Westfield and Carmel put on an absolute show. 64 teams around the state cut down the nets to advance to Regional action next weekend. Let’s recap last night’s exciting contest from Sectional 8.</p> <p>Westfield was in control of the game from the opening tip it seemed like. Future Purdue Boilermaker [player_tooltip player_id="870222" first="Braden" last="Smith"] had things rolling early with six points and two assists in the opening quarter to put the Shamrocks on top 16-10. They would extend that advantage to 33-23 by halftime. Their defense was excellent, Smith was orchestrating an efficient offense, and Westfield got timely contributions from others to take the 10-point lead into the locker room.</p> <p>Pretty quickly in the second half the momentum started to shift. Carmel went on a run to cut it to five points forcing a Westfield timeout with 5:43 to play in the period. Just a couple of minutes later, [player_tooltip player_id="769662" first="Peter" last="Suder"] hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 40 a piece. Eventually, the Greyhounds pulled on top and held onto a 44-43 lead heading into the fourth quarter. [player_tooltip player_id="769678" first="Charlie" last="Williams"], a William &amp; Mary signee, was excellent in the third as was junior wing [player_tooltip player_id="1391463" first="Garwey" last="Dual"], as the Greyhounds made their comeback.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="870245" first="Cameron" last="Haffner"] reclaimed the momentum for Westfield to begin the fourth quarter. The Eastern Illinois commit knocked in a corner three in front of the massive Shamrocks student section and followed it up with a tough transition layup to take a 51-46 lead. They would never look back from there. Suder hit a pull-up three with just under a minute remaining to bring the Greyhounds within three points, 55-52, but that is as close as their last comeback attempt would get. Westfield secured their first sectional championship in school history with a 59-54 win over rival Carmel.</p> <p>Mr. Basketball candidate [player_tooltip player_id="870222" first="Braden" last="Smith"] led the way with 22 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 6 assists. [player_tooltip player_id="870245" first="Cameron" last="Haffner"] 18 points including five three-pointers while Alex Romack chipped in 13 points. For Carmel, Bellarmine signee [player_tooltip player_id="769662" first="Peter" last="Suder"] had 14 points and [player_tooltip player_id="769678" first="Charlie" last="Williams"] added 11 points.</p> <p>Westfield will take on Homestead in the first round of the Logansport Regional on Saturday.</p>