FISHERS – Nearly a mirror image of a year ago, the Class 4A Sectional 8 bracket has sixth-ranked Hamilton Southeastern and defending champion Fishers set for a potential collision course by this weekend’s sectional final.

During the quarterfinals Tuesday night at HSE, both programs took the necessary first steps to make that rematch possible.

Host HSE (20-3) opened the night fast, building a 17-point lead early before running away from rival Westfield (13-10), 52-21, to advance into Friday’s first semifinal round against Zionsville (16-6) at 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, Fishers (17-6) faced an early uphill battle and trailed by 11 points after the first quarter against Carmel (11-12) until the Tigers broke free in the second to upend the Greyhounds, 52-38.

The Tigers will play Noblesville (14-8) in Friday’s second semifinal game at 7:30 p.m.

“As you roll into tournament time, you’re always curious to see how the kids are going to react, and what I loved about what I saw tonight is our girls seemed locked in and ready to go from the start,” HSE coach Brian Satterfield said. “That’s a big thing for us, and hopefully, it’s something we can build on.”

HSE wasted little time against the Shamrocks, a team the Royals beat 64-37 during their regular-season Hoosier Crossroads Conference on Jan. 12.

The Royals strung together a 9-0 run from the opening tip and led by 23 points midway in the second quarter.

The margin grew to 31 points by the end of the third quarter with Indiana commit Maya Makalusky, a 6-4 junior guard, posting a game-high 13 points for HSE.

Sophomore Kayla Stidham finished with 11 points. Sophomore Kennedy Holman had eight points, followed by senior Zoe Lawless with six and both juniors Kayla Brinley and Addison Van Hoesen with four apiece.

“That was part of the message. We needed to make sure we tried to get out there and set the tone. Not even let them think that they would be able to get in there and be in the game,” Satterfield said. “One thing we’ve really been trying to work on is getting back to where we were defensively, and I thought we did that a little bit tonight.”

HSE’s defense and Westfield’s poor shooting first half put the Shamrocks behind quickly. Westfield scored its first seven points on free throws while shooting 0-for-10 from the field through the initial 12 minutes, 33 seconds.

“In our sectional, to get on top of a team first is really important. You always want to, like we say, make the first punch at a team. We harped on that because that’s the one thing that if you don’t play defense in our sectional, then you’re not getting out,” Makalusky said.

Westfield junior Lindsey Van Dyke had a team-high eight points, and junior Aubrey Crockett had six. HSE spread the ball around with nine players scoring at least one point.

“This was a really good confidence booster. I think it showed everybody on our team can score, not just a couple of people,” Makalusky said. “It was a good group win, and I think we’re showing we have an overall great team.”

The Royals reached last year’s sectional final by beating Zionsville, 46-42, in the semifinals. HSE rallied back and defeated the Eagles during their regular-season HCC meeting, 76-72, on Jan. 19.

“We had season one, and this was game one of season two. We’re just trying to play, get out there and compete and do what we can to see where it will take us,” Satterfield said.

The Tigers’ sectional title defense almost ended prematurely in the opening round, as Carmel turned a 3-0 deficit into a 14-3 lead by the second quarter.

Fishers senior Talia Harris buried the first shot of the game, a 3-pointer at the top of the key, but the Tigers offense fell silent the rest of the quarter, which opened the door for Carmel.

The Tigers shot 0-for-8 after Harris’ initial trey. However, consecutive 3-pointers to begin the second quarter by Harris and junior Allison Scheu, who finished with a game-high 19 points, reestablished their rhythm and confidence.

Scheu scored 10 points in the second quarter, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, including two 3-pointers, to push the Tigers ahead 23-21 by halftime.

A 17-5 run in the third put Fishers up by 12 over a team it beat 44-37 on Jan. 16.

“We started to look like ourselves a little bit more in that second quarter, but credit to Carmel. They came out and shot the ball well early, and they were swarming defensively,” Fishers head coach Lauren Votaw said. “We were finally able to get some stuff to fall and then everything changes, right? When you’re hitting shots, your defensive intensity changes, and so we were able to get going.”

Harris had a seven-point second quarter and finished with 13 points and eight rebounds overall. Junior Nevaeh Dickman added seven points, and senior Joirdyn Smith chipped in six points.

Senior Morgan Roberts provided five points off the bench for the Tigers, who will look to extend their winning streak against No. 13 Noblesville to four straight on Friday.

Fishers defeated Noblesville 67-64 in overtime during last year’s semifinal.

“Teams know how good Talia is, so when they’re playing her tight, I know I need to step up. We rep these shots every day, so if Talia is able to be doubled, then I’m able to get easy baskets,” Scheu said. “We knew we would be able to be better offensively in quarters to come, so it was staying relaxed and staying together.”

Junior Isabelle Shepherd paced the Greyhounds with 13 points and a trio of 3-pointers. Junior Lauren Perry had nine points. Junior Taryn Fisher finished with seven points, and junior Mackenzie Woods added six.

“We talked the past two weeks about defending our title. Everyone wants to defend something they have, and right now we’ve held the title for the whole year and coming in and wanting to hold onto it has given us a lot of confidence,” Scheu said. “It’s funny. When we saw the draw, it was practically the exact same draw (as last year), except we flipped time slots, so that’s kind of funny.”

The Tigers weren’t projected to win the sectional in 2023, and again, they are the underdog despite claiming their third sectional title overall, second in four years and finishing state runner-up last season.

“I think everybody knows we’re the defending champion in this sectional, and I think we’re like the fourth lowest ranked team in the sectional right now. So as far as that goes, we’re the lowest ranked team remaining in the sectional now,” Votaw said. “I don’t know if this year’s team has a target on its back, but I think obviously from winning it last year, you always carry that with you and you have to know you’re here to defend it, and everybody wants to come and take it away from you.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA girls basketball: Fishers, HSE advance in loaded sectional