Heading into their Jan. 12 matchup, the two HCC programs have had different stories to tell this season. Westfield, a consensus top five team in the state entered the match up at a flawless 9-0 with their closest contest coming in a 62-57 season opening win against Kokomo.
On the other hand, Hamilton Southeastern (HSE), came into the contest at a less than ideal 8-4. However after starting at a miniscule 2-3 midway through December, the Royals have gone 6-1 in their last seven match ups and are starting to play at the level most expected them at.
After winning the opening tip, the Shamrocks got quick to work with a pair of deep range shots from their senior sharpshooter Caleb Wise before senior guard and Purdue football commit Donovan Hamilton was able to score two of his own to stop the bleeding.
Not before long, a deep Charles Farrell three would give the Shamrocks a 9-2 advantage. Prior to the buzzer of the opening quarter, a Carson Melvin lay up would give a 13-6 advantage to Westfield.
Exchanging turnovers to start the second stanza, Wise would connect from deep once again to put the Shamrocks up 16-6 midway through the second quarter.
After a pair of layups from senior guards Hamilton and Deion Miles, HSE suddenly found themselves on a 9-4 run before a converted and-one from Melvin would send the teams into the locker rooms with a 23-15 score in favor of the ‘Rocks.
Coming out from the break, Westfield continued to rely on the deep shot and continued to nail them from range. With shots from senior guards Will Harvey and Trey Buchanan, the hopes for the Royals seemed to dwindle as the states fourth ranked squad got out to a commanding 31-20 lead deep into the third quarter.
With no shot clock, double digit leads are hard to overcome in the Hoosier state.
To start the final period of play, the Rocks continued to keep their foot on the pedal as sophomore wing Drew Haffner opened up the scoring with yet another triple.
Out to a 40-24 lead late with just six minutes of action remaining, the dwindling visiting crowd and rambunctious Shamrock student section is all anyone needs to know about how the final minutes of this one would likely play out.
In a vicious cycle of holding the ball, beating the press and dribbling around the perimeter the seconds kept ticking away from any miraculous comeback.
As the clock quickly ticked down to zero, Westfield would wind up flexing their muscles in a 42-27 triumph over HSE.
Improving to 10-0, this may have been Westfields best win yet. Being able to have five lethal shooters on the court at once will help them do serious damage down the stretch.
However, what was most impressive is holding a team like HSE to just 27 points. That is just under seven points per quarter. By far the Royals lowest mark of the season, and 30 points less than what they average. 27 points is even seven points fewer than what their football team averaged this past season.
Although Westfield deserves their flowers, I do think this was an anomaly of a game for Southeastern. Their shot selection was poor and even the good looks just were not falling.
The Royals schedule does not get any easier with HCC play just starting, but I expect them to bounce back and be competitive and their sectional per usual.
As for Westfield, there is a good chance their incredible team talent goes to waste in that loaded sectional eight that includes Carmel, Fishers, HSE, Noblesville and Zionsville.
I would not be surprised if the winner of this sectional is playing in Gainbridge, because it will be a gauntlet to survive.