Westfield stays unbeaten with win over HSE: 'We kind of have every aspect of the game.'
WESTFIELD – The recipe for a potential setback crept in Friday night, but unbeaten Class 4A third-ranked Westfield relied on its depth and identity to keep its streak going.
Anchored by their defense this season, the Shamrocks overcame a slow scoring start and the loss of senior guard Charles Farrell due to an injury in the first quarter to remain flawless with a 42-27 win over Hoosier Crossroads Conference rival Hamilton Southeastern.
No Shamrock reached double figures, but its team-wide contributions pushed Westfield to a perfect 10-0 and 2-0 in the HCC.
Surprise, surprise: Franklin Central into Marion County final for first time since 2007
“I think it’s been that way for the last two or three games. We had a lot of guys contribute, and defensively is how we’ve been getting it done,” Westfield coach Shane Sumpter said. “They ended up with 27 points. We held Carmel to 31. We’ve been really good the last couple of games, and we have to be.”
Friday’s performance marked the second-lowest points total allowed by the Shamrocks this season. Westfield held Class A Bethesda Christian to 25 points last month.
However, this time it was done without Farrell, who went down with an ankle sprain late in the first quarter following a hard foul under the basket while on defense.
“Obviously, with Charles going down the first quarter that hurts. You don’t want one of your guys going down like that and he was upset, but we had guys like Drew Haffner who stepped up,” Westfield senior Trey Buchanan said. “Will Harvey always shows up to play, and he came up big, too, as usual. It was a good team win. It was a total team effort.”
Harvey, a junior, and Haffner, a sophomore, both filled in and provided six and five points, respectively, along with two steals and five rebounds combined.
Yet, it was senior Caleb Wise who supplied the boost, burying 3-of-7 3-pointers, including two to start the game before the Shamrocks caught a rhythm. He finished with a game-high nine points, three rebounds and an assist.
The Shamrocks shot 7-of-20 from behind the arc and turned their sub-40 first-half shooting percentage into 54.5% through the second half to top HSE (8-5, 0-3 HCC) in nearly every statistical category.
“It was a total team effort. We had some guys hit some shots,” Sumpter said. “I’ve said this before, but I think this team has a little bit more balance than maybe some of the other teams that I’ve had, but the consistent thing is defensively, we’ve just been really good.”
Wise’s third 3-pointer put the Shamrocks ahead by 10 points to open the second quarter, and the margin swelled to 18 points off a 3-pointer by Haffner in the fourth, as HSE struggled offensively.
The Royals, who had won six in a row before losing to Warren Central, 46-42, on Jan. 6, ended with a 26.8 shooting percentage for the game and went 0-for-14 from 3-point range.
Coupled with 27 defensive rebounds by the Shamrocks, the Royals couldn’t get any closer than two possessions in the third quarter.
“That’s what we preach here at Westfield. You have to guard if you play at Westfield. You have to defend, and we’ve done that,” Sumpter said.
Junior Carsen Melvin had seven points and three rebounds. Junior Durante Morton chipped in six points and five rebounds. Nic Book, who was averaging 12.8 points per game, had one point but a team-high 10 rebounds and two blocks. Buchanan fell below his 10.6 ppg average, but he dished out five assists, hauled in two rebounds and had five points.
“We kind of have every aspect of the game. We have shooters. We obviously play good defense. That’s what we pride ourselves on and giving up under 30 to any team is pretty good, especially in a conference game,” Buchanan said.
No more so than in the stretch the Shamrocks are facing.
On Wednesday, Westfield travels to No. 5 Noblesville for a makeup game that was postponed earlier. It will be their second of three-straight HCC contests.
On Saturday, the Shamrocks head to Brownsburg to kick off a back-to-back weekend that ends at 3A No. 12 Tri-West on Jan. 20.
“It’s an NBA schedule. You throw a Wednesday night game in there with Noblesville where now we have to come back and prepare for that in the middle of the week. Then we have to come right back and have one day to prepare for Brownsburg. It makes it really tough, especially when those are conference games,” Sumpter said.
“So far so good. If you want to compete for conference, you have to take care of business at home, but we have some tough ones coming up these next couple of weeks.”
Westfield beat Noblesville during the regular season a year ago, 48-43, but later lost in the sectional, 47-45, last March.
“Noblesville will arguably be our best test of the year, so we’ll find out a lot about ourselves in that game,” Buchanan said. “It’s on the road, so we’re going to have to be on our A-game, if we’re going to come away with that.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA boys basketball: Westfield beats HSE to remain unbeaten
