Stingy defensive effort helps Fishers girls basketball team earn berth in 4A title game
To some, the old adage of ‘Defensive wins championships’ is an overused cliche. But for the Fishers girls basketball team, lockdown defense is a mindset and a mentality that has them 32 minutes away from an Indiana Class 4A state championship.
The Tigers began their semi-state Saturday at Huntington North with a battle against a team that accounted for one of their only two losses on the season, Fort Wayne Snider. For such a stout defensive club, the matchup turned into an irregular occurrence as they conceded 66 points.
But with revenge on their minds. Fishers came out on top of what turned out to be a back-and-forth battle, as the Tigers edged the Panthers 67-66.
But before their semi-state championship matchup on Saturday night, the Tigers got back to their roots.
“Well, we really do pride ourselves on defense. I think our defensive average for the season is right around 45 (points allowed per game),” said Fishers coach Lauren Votaw. “Obviously, Snider is a very talented offensive team and they really gave us all we could handle (Saturday) morning. But we knew coming in tonight, if we chose to play defense, we could hold them under 45, but this was beyond our expectations. I was really proud of our kids.”
The reason why she was so proud of the performance that her players turned in was because they held Lake Central well below the 45-point threshold.
They allowed an astonishingly low 24 points – the 20th time this season they did not allow their opponent to score more than 50 points.
Senior guard Olivia Smith shared how the team knew the importance of defending and persevering if they wanted to advance.
“This game was all about defense," she said. "We had one game, we knew our legs were going to be tired, but we had to push through and trust each other as teammates. We did scout before this game and at the end of the day, our coaches make us right every time and they made sure we were very prepared to play against who we played and just trust each other as teammates.”
The Tigers are capable of playing a suffocating style of defense.
They forced Lake Central to earn every basket throughout the evening. Their first half display was a clinic in how to play elite defensive basketball. The first quarter was impressive enough, as they gave up only six points. But the second quarter was a defensive performance that you do not see often.
In the second eight minutes, they did not allow a single point.
While Lake Central did manage to score 11 points in the third, there was never a moment when Fishers did not appear to be in control. In spite of having been outscored in the quarter, 11-10, the Tigers kept their composure and finished the game in style, giving up only seven points in the final quarter in a 41-24 win.
Even with the state championship game looming, the significance of the moment and the opportunity to cut down the net was not lost on the Tigers.
“It means a lot," said Hailey Smith, a senior guard who had a team-high 28 points and 19 rebounds in Saturday's two victories. "We’re making history here at Fishers High School. So, just to do it with amazing teammates, staying together the whole time, it feels good.”
Votaw added, “It means everything because of these kids. These girls have done every single thing that our coaching staff has asked of them, trusting us that that would provide good results, and I’m really proud that we’re getting them.”
But amidst the celebrations, thoughts quickly turned to the challenge that awaits against Bedford North Lawrence (26-3) in the Class 4A state championship game, a contest where familiarity could be a factor.
“They’re obviously very talented," Votaw said. "Our kids play AAU with some of them. It’ll be a good battle."
The Tigers (26-2) have proven time and again this season that they are up for the task.
If the idea that defense travels and wins championships holds true, Fishers could be cutting down the nets for the second weekend in a row, this time at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
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