HS girls basketball: Carmel smothers Westfield in sectional final
WESTFIELD – Thanks largely to its tenacious defense, Class 4A No. 7 Carmel won its first girls basketball sectional championship in five years Saturday night with a 47-43 victory over Westfield.
The Greyhounds (22-4) forced 16 turnovers and held Westfield to 11 points under its season scoring average.
“I thought our pressure wore them down,” Carmel coach Tod Windlan said. “If you get a lot of steals, it makes up for miscues on the other end.”
Sophomore Amy Dilk sparked Carmel with an impressive 18-point performance as the Greyhounds won their first sectional title in five years.
“I’ve been dreaming of this day since I was young watching the older girls,” Dilk said. “We’re going to enjoy this tonight and then focus on our next game.”
That next game will come in the opening round of the Kokomo Regional against Zionsville (20-3), which beat McCutcheon 45-41 on Saturday.
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In an almost unheard of occurrence, especially in a postseason game, Westfield (21-4) did not shoot a free throw.
“You’re asking the wrong girl about that,” Westfield coach Ginny Smith said of the 13-0 scoring differential at the foul line. “I thought we got to the rim, we drove, we did what we could do.”
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Maddy Grennes, who led Westfield with 17 points, turned a tie game into a 15-9 Westfield lead at the end of the first quarter.
After that lead hit eight a minute into the second period, Westfield didn’t score the rest of the half, and despite shooting 7-for-30 from the field, Carmel led by one at the break.
“Things were looking good, then they switched to a zone, extended it out and increased that pressure,” Smith said. “It certainly changed how we were playing. We went from aggressive to passive.”
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The offenses finally heated up in the third quarter. Dilk and Grennes both had 11 points, as the teams fought to a 32-all deadlock going to the fourth.
After struggling with its free throws on Friday, Carmel went 7-for-10 in the final period to help put the game away.
If there was a hero for Carmel, it was Dilk, who had 15 points in the final 16 minutes.
“She was the best player on the floor,” Windlan said.
Carrie Larson (13 points) also scored in double figures for Carmel, as did Westfield’s Haliegh Reinhoel and Allison Van Dyke, who both had 11.
CARMEL 47, WESTFIELD 43
Carmel 9 9 14 15 – 47
Westfield 15 2 15 11 – 43
Carmel (22-4) – Christy 0, Funke 1, Kmec 8, Kwasniewski 0, Dilk 18, Smith 7, Larson 12. Totals: 16 13-19 47.
Westfield (21-4) – Reinhoel 11, Clary 0, Reeder 2, Foland 2, Grennes 17, Van Dyke 11, Drudge 0. Totals: 17 0-0 43.
3-point goals: Carmel 3 (Kmec, Dilk, Larson), Westfield 9 (Grennes 5, Reinhoel 3, Van Dyke).