Heading into Saturday night’s premier top five showdown at the Forum Tip Off Classic, Fishers came into the game undefeated running through reigning champions Ben Davis and a very good Noblesville squad.
Kokomo came in at 4-1 with their lone loss to Westfield. Led by Kansas commit Flory Bidunga averaging 18 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks per game, it is hard to find a team with more top end talent than Kokomo.
During the first quarter, Fishers got out to a 9-4 lead. Forcing anyone but Bidunga to beat them, the 6’ 10” forward put up an empty statline in the opening quarter.
Junior wings Millen McCartney and Nathan Baker paced the Tigers with a perimeter shot each, one to start the quarter and one to end the quarter.
Starting the second quarter, the Tigers continued to make Bidunga earn every single stat in the box score. Senior forward Keenan Garner displayed a bundle of flashy fast break scores while freshman guard Cooper Zachary was impressive running the offense and diving for loose balls.
Using a flurry of alley oops, the Wildcats took a brief lead before junior wing and highly touted wide receiver was able to put fishers back in the lead with a fast break jumper.
Despite being limited offensively, Bidunga made up for it on the defensive end with two blocks and a steal.
Each time Fishers would extend the lead, junior guard Zion Bellamy or senior guard Karson Rogers would make sure it stayed in reach for the Wildcats as they combined for 23 points despite the Tigers leading 34-28 heading into the break.
Entering the second half the Tigers started right where they left off, passing the ball and spreading the wealth on offense while focusing all their attention on Bigunda.
Although doing an excellent job defending, Garner recorded his third foul early in the second half. Faced with a decision, head coach Garrett Winegar would wind up making the right one as the former U16 German National Team player would drain a three to extend the lead 41-29.
Bigunda would not let his team go down without a fight as he would begin to impact the game more in the third period, entering the final stanza with four points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
The Tigers would continue to shoot lights out from deep, as Zachary, Garner and Baker would each go into the final period with multiple three pointers made. Behind 12 points from Garner, the Tigers took a commanding 60-43 lead into the final quarter of play.
With such a prominent lead the Tigers would be more laid back in their offensive approach, milking every second they could in their offensive sets.
With a dominant win against one of the states best squads, this Fishers team showed they are legit en route to improving to 6-0 on the season. They have just one player shorter than 6’ 0” on the roster and that is 5’ 9” freshman Cooper Zachary who nearly led the team in scoring with 13 points.
Running a nine man rotation, the Tigers had each rotational player in the scoring column and x players in double digits.
Despite losing Jaden Haralson to La Lumiere in the off season, the additions of freshmen Cooper Zachary and Jason Gardner along with the emergence of Garner, Hall and Baker this Tigers squad was the best team I saw play in the loaded Forum Classic. They are an extremely deep squad that plays defense, shoots the ball and is coached to play as if there is a shot clock.
This is not to say Kokomo is bad in any stretch of the imagination, but if they cannot get Bigunda going early offensively every game they showed it will be tough sledding. Rogers was able to finish the night with 17 points while Bellamy chipped in 12 as well.
Overall this was an exciting match up to cap off a full day of hoops in Southport, but led by 19 points from Garner and 15 steals as a team, Fishers proved to be the better team by far today returning home with a 77-55 victory.