Prep Hoops Indiana Game Report: Sectional 10 Championship

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Saturday night at Noblesville High School was the perfect encapsulation of what Indiana High School Basketball is all about. Over 4,200 fans packed into one of our state's many beautiful gymnasiums. That crowd sold the game out with 30 minutes of tickets going on sale at 10:00 p.m. on Friday night. They also were lined up two hours before tip-off waiting for the doors to open. By 6:00, an hour before tip-off, the place was pretty much full and we could have started the game. Then, with two of the best teams in the state competing for a Class 4A Sectional 8 championship, the contest somehow lived up to the extreme hype.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fishers held a small, but steady lead through most of the game including 12-11 and 24-20 advantages at the quarter and halftime breaks. However, midway through the third quarter, sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='1534261' first='Justin' last='Curry II'] got hot for Noblesville. He scored seven unanswered points to put the Millers ahead 30-28 with about 3:30 remaining in the period. JonAnthony Hall helped to bring Fishers back on top though, 35-34, heading into the final eight minutes of play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1534261' first='Justin' last='Curry II'] gave Noblesville another lead at 38-37 with 5:31 remaining, but the Tigers responded with two free throws from [player_tooltip player_id='2079500' first='Keenan' last='Garner'] and a beautiful three-point shot off of a flare from [player_tooltip player_id='1297069' first='Justin' last='Kirby']. They would never look back from that 42-38 advantage with about 3:50 remaining. Fishers would go on to win 49-47, but the ending was as eventful as any game you could possibly imagine.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Noblesville struggled from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, but ultimately had the ball after stealing an inbounds pass down two points with about 30 seconds remaining. [player_tooltip player_id='1275012' first='Hunter' last='Walston'] tied the game on a putback with 13 seconds on the clock. Then, freshman [player_tooltip player_id='2267046' first='Jason' last='Gardner Jr.'] raced the ball up the floor and found a wide open [player_tooltip player_id='1578452' first='Parker' last='Perdue'] cutting to the basket for a layup that put Fishers on top 49-47 with about 5 seconds left as the ball went through the net. That is when things really went off the rails.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Walston quickly inbounded the ball to [player_tooltip player_id='1158209' first='Aaron' last='Fine'] who went the length of the floor and laid the ball in with 0.8 seconds to spare. However, a timeout was called. The Noblesville staff was confused because they did not ask for the timeout, but one of the Millers' players had signaled for it as the ball was being brought up the floor. That obviously waved off the layup and the ball was given to Noblesville at half court with 3.2 seconds coming out of the timeout. Fine got a decent look to win it, but the shot came up just short. One of the best Indiana High School Basketball games of the season ended with the Fishers Tigers coming out on top 49-47.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2079500' first='Keenan' last='Garner'] finished with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead Fishers who will now take on Kokomo next Saturday in the Regional. Junior guard JonAnthony Hall added 13 points for the Tigers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the loss for Noblesville, senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1158209' first='Aaron' last='Fine'] led all scorers with 16 points. [player_tooltip player_id='1534261' first='Justin' last='Curry II'] added 15 points and [player_tooltip player_id='1275012' first='Hunter' last='Walston'] finished with 10 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->