By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
INDIANAPOLIS – Any coach will tell you that someone does not need to be the leading scorer in a game in order to be the key player.
There was never a better example than Perry Meridian’s girls basketball victory Jan. 23 over Indianapolis Cathedral. For the final eight minutes and one second, Falcon junior forward Sam Hawk could do no wrong. Her teammates took her cue and produced a fourth-quarter barrage that ended in a come-from-behind 51-43 victory over the Fighting Irish.
After hitting her initial shot of the game – a 3-pointer from the left baseline two minutes into the contest – Hawk struggled shooting the ball for most of the first three quarters. However, with time running down in the third quarter and her Falcons trailing 35-31, Hawk nailed a 21-foot trey at the buzzer.
The shot shifted the momentum and set the stage for the Falcons’ fourth-quarter rampage. After the game, coach Mike Armstrong was quick to point to Hawk’s shot as the key play of the game. (Stay tuned our HoosierAuthority.com conversation with Armstrong and Hawk!)
This contest had a little of everything. Perry Meridian (11-6) led 11-8 after just three minutes of play, and it looked like this would be an offensive shootout as the Falcons led 17-15 after the opening stanza. Then, suddenly in the second quarter, it appeared that someone had snuck on the court and put lids over the baskets.
The two teams combined to score just two field goals and a total of six points in the quarter. Though Perry Meridian led 21-17 at the break, it was anybody’s game.
It appeared throughout the third quarter that Cathedral (10-9) was the team that had found answers during halftime. While the Irish’s 2-3 zone continued to prove troublesome for Perry, Cathedral began to heat up from the field. The visitors took the lead midway through the quarter and still led by four when Hawk began her heroics.
Perry Meridian took the lead with the opening bucket of the fourth quarter. Then Hawk took over again. She hit one of two free throws to up the lead to two. When Cathedral’s Adrienne Sahn hit a three to bring the Irish within 41-40 a minute later, Hawk responded by going inside and scoring off a nifty move in the post.
On the Falcons’ next possession, she fired a bullet pass from the top of the key to frontcourt mate Kristen Raker for another deuce. A Raker 3-pointer on the next trip down the floor made it 48-40, and Cathedral never recovered.
Perry Meridian now sets its sights on a Jan. 26 matchup at 4A No. 8 Bloomington South (14-3) that will decide the Conference Indiana championship. Both squads enter the game 6-0 in league play.
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