Snap judgments: No. 1 Fishers wins and other highlights from Friday hoops
Snap judgments from Friday night’s high school basketball action:
*Fishers wins battle of No. 1 vs. No. 3: I watched Class 4A top-ranked Fishers take control against No. 3 Noblesville with a 14-0 run to start the second half on the way to a 56-40 win. Jason Gardner Jr. sparked the run with six of his game-high 20 points during that stretch, which was punctuated by a Kai McGrew dunk. Fishers (3-0 overall, 1-0 Hoosier Crossroads Conference) never completely put No. 3 Noblesville (1-2, 0-1) away until the last two minutes but it was never really in doubt after the 14-0 run. Junior guard Cooper Zachary added 13 points for the Tigers.
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*Fishers looks different, same results: This was my first in-person look at Fishers this season and obviously the Tigers look a lot different from the last two years after the graduation of JonAnthony Hall, Justin Kirby, Millen McCartney, Nathan Baker and Logan Sigler. Gardner Jr., Zachary and 6-9 Lawrence North transfer McGrew are the go-to players, but the supporting cast looked promising. Senior Torey Breland knocked down a couple of 3-pointers, 6-4 junior Levi Walker looked the part and senior Jean Claude L’homme had a couple nice assists. Player to watch in the future: 6-2 freshman Tristan Breland. He took on some tough assignments on defense and played well. As the game slows down for him, Breland is going to be a really nice player.
*Noblesville puts up a fight: Noblesville led by three points at halftime behind a big first half from Max Flanagan, who drilled four 3-pointers and scored all 12 of his points before half. But the avalanche right after halftime was the story. Scott McClelland burned a couple timeouts but the damage was done and Noblesville could never really climb that mountain again after falling behind by 11. Valparaiso commit Justin Curry finished with 19 points but had to work for them. Noblesville has to turn the corner quickly with No. 7 Lawrence North up next on Saturday at the Sneakers for Santa event at Brownsburg (4:45 p.m.).
*Carmel knocks off Lawrence Central: Carmel improved to 2-0 with a 70-62 win over Lawrence Central in one of the games that had my attention. Cash Daniels had another good game for the Greyhounds with 18 points (10-for-10 on free throws), eight assists and eight rebounds. Bellarmine commit Evan Harrell added 15 points and nine rebounds and Ben Bremer had 12 points. Caleb Wells led Lawrence Central (1-1) with 20 points and Doron Harris added 19 for the Bears, who host Lawrence North on Wednesday.
*Coolman shines ahead of Crown Point game: Sophomore Caleb Coolman scored a career-high 34 points in the season opener for Penn in a 63-53 win over Fort Wayne Carroll. The Kingsmen play at No. 2 Crown Point on Saturday night in the season opener for the Bulldogs. Fun stuff. Coolman is a big-time player.
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*Ertel goes for 27 in Mt. Vernon win: Purdue recruit Luke Ertel led 4A fifth-ranked Mt. Vernon (3-0) with 27 points in a 61-36 win over Delta in the Hoosier Heritage Conference opener for both teams. The task gets tougher for the Marauders on Saturday against No. 1 Fishers in the finale of the Sneakers for Santa Shootout at Brownsburg (8:15 p.m.). Can’t wait.
*Zionsville wins again: Zionsville (2-1 overall, 1-0 Hoosier Crossroads Conference) followed up its win over Ben Davis on Saturday with a 55-51 win over 4A No. 8 Westfield in the conference opener for both teams. Rylon Gore led the Eagles with 19 points and Preston Johnson added 14. Brock Detamore had 20 for Westfield (1-2, 0-1), which lost 60-56 to Pendleton Heights earlier in the week.
*Decatur Central keeps rolling: The Hawks improved to 3-0 with a 70-47 win over Franklin in their Mid-State Conference opener. Decatur Central has handled Tri-West, Terre Haute South and Franklin by at least 20 points in each win.
10 more scores of note from Friday night
*Chesterton 73, South Bend St. Joseph 55: South Bend St. Joseph, the defending 3A champs, came into the season opener ranked No. 4 in 4A.
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*Plainfield 64, Whiteland 52: The Quakers (3-0) play New Albany in the second game of the Sneakers for Santa Shootout at Brownsburg at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
*Greenwood 65, Martinsville 47: Did you know Greenwood was once blue and gold and not green and gold? It is true. The Woodmen wore throwback blue and gold uniforms on Friday for the first time since 1969-70, when the school changed colors.
*Pendleton Heights 52, Lapel 47: Pendleton Heights is 4-0 with wins over Anderson, Wapahani, Westfield and Lapel. It was the season opener for the Bulldogs.
*Bloomington North 59, Center Grove 53
*Brownsburg 60, Franklin Central 45
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*Hamilton Southeastern 66, Avon 60
*New Palestine 79, Eastern Hancock 67
*Warren Central 52, Southport 51
*Silver Creek 65, Columbus North 53
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Get IndyStar’s high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Snap judgments from Friday night high school basketball games