Fishers Tigers eye history as sectionals begin
FISHERS, Ind. (WISH) — Fishers basketball has earned every bit of their No. 1 state ranking. The Tigers were nearly perfect in the regular season, finishing 22-1.
The secret? A loaded roster.
“This group, it feels special. This group definitely feels special,” senior forward Keenan Garner said.
“Each night, it’s been a different guy that’s stepped up and that’s what makes us dangerous,” head coach Garrett Winegar said. “It’s been nine or 10 guys playing, and it’s been a different guy every night that’s helped us win. So if we keep playing with that effort and intensity and unselfishness, that will really be good for us.”
The Tigers’ 16-0 start to the season was the best in school history. Chemistry has been a key factor in that early success.
“We’re just really together,” junior point guard JonAnthony Hall said. “It took us some time to bond last year. Our chemistry just wasn’t as good. We’ve come together. We do a lot of things outside of practice. A lot of times we go out to eat at people’s houses, stuff like that. So we stay together a lot.”
Fishers’ only loss this season was an eight-point heartbreaker to Carmel. So, who do the Tigers have to play first in the sectional?
Carmel.
Fishers needs three straight wins to win their first sectional title in school history, and they have some extra motivation to get that first one.
“We saw Carmel pop up on our screen — I think we were happy,” Hall said. “I think that’s just a stone that was just unturned, and I think we need to go back and finish business.”
“That does add a lot of fire to us being our one loss. So, we’re really going to take it hard this week in practice and come out and try to beat them next week,” Garner said.
In Indiana, the madness starts in February.
“This time of year, especially in our sectional with how competitive it is, obviously it’s a little stressful,” Winegar said. “You want to keep playing. I think the biggest thing for me is just I love coming to work with these guys so much that I’m not ready to be done on Tuesday. So I hope we get another couple weeks, three or four weeks, of coming to practice every day because I really love working with these guys.”
The Tigers would really love to hoist their first state championship trophy as well.