By RICK SPRUNGER
DECATUR — Heartbreak.
That is the only way to describe Norwell’s 44-40 loss to Hamilton Heights in the Class 3A girls’ basketball regional at Bellmont Saturday afternoon.
An off-balance runner in the lane by Norwell’s Mackenzie Fuess with her team trailing, 42-40, was off the mark, and two free throws by Hamilton Heights’ Ella Hickok with 0:02 left nailed the lid shut on the Knights’ season.
Hamilton Heights improved to 20-5 with the win and advanced to next week’s semi-state at LaPorte, where it will meet top-ranked and undefeated Twin Lakes (27-0).
Tippecanoe Valley (22-3) and No. 7 Fairfield (25-2) will meet in the other semi-final.
Norwell, ranked No. 4 in the final Class 3A poll, closed the books on a 21-4 campaign.
Camryn Runner was the difference in the game for Hamilton Heights.
The 5-9 junior, who averages 19 points per game, dropped 25 on Norwell while missing only one shot from anywhere all night.
She was 6-for-7 from the field, including 3-for-3 from behind the arc, and a perfect 10-for-10 from the stripe.
Her only miss came on a breakaway layup off a steal at the outset of the fourth quarter when she was viciously swatted away from behind by Kennedy Fuelling.
Hickok added 14 for Hamilton Heights as those two scored 39 of the Huskies’ 44 points between them.
“They’re the heart and soul of our team,” said Hamilton Heights coach Keegan Cherry later. “They can drive, they can shoot, and we’ve got shooters parked all around them. If I could pick someone to save my life with one shot, Camryn would be on my shortlist.”
She was certainly there when her team needed her the most.
She scored 11 of the Huskies’ 13 first-quarter points, including all three of her three-pointers.
And she nailed eight of her 10 free throws in the fourth quarter, including six straight that rescued Hamilton Heights from a 35-31 deficit early in the period.
A Fuess drive through the lane had given Norwell that four-point edge, its biggest of the game, with 6:33 left.
Norwell went stone-cold after that, however, missing five of six shots, committing four turnovers, and falling into a 42-37 hole after Hickok hit one of two free throws at the 0:54 mark.
But Fuess drilled a three-pointer with 0:27 to play, and Fuelling intercepted the ensuing inbounds pass at midcourt to give the Knights a ray of hope.
“We wanted a quick look at (a three-pointer),” said Norwell coach Eric Thornton of the strategy he drew up during a timeout with 0:13 remaining. “But we were also in the bonus; so if that wasn’t there, we wanted to attack the lane and get to the line.”
Fuess entered the lane from the right side and probably had a little more time than she realized.
It was a clean look, but a little off-balance, and Hickok was able to clear the rebound.
Norwell had to play from behind for much of the game.
Jitters were clearly present at the outset when Hamilton Heights won the opening tip and was immediately whistled for an over-and-back violation when the player receiving the tip in the forecourt headed in the wrong direction.
But Runner broke the ice for both teams with a layup off a steal, then ripped three three-pointers to give the Huskies a 13-10 lead at the break.
Fuess hit back-to-back treys herself at the start of the second quarter to swing the Knights on top, 16-13.
But a 10-0 Hamilton Heights run while Norwell was missing six straight shots and committing a turnover put the Huskies in control at 23-16.
Time out, Norwell.
“Our thought was to keep Runner in front of us since she is so explosive,” said Thornton of a defensive switch made during the timeout. “But we decided to go back to how we normally play our trap, aggressive with a lot of ball pressure. As a result, we forced two turnovers.”
Vanessa Rosswurm converted a steal into a layup, then added a jumper from the lane after an Annabelle Johnson interception on the baseline at the other end.
That got Norwell back to within 23-20 at halftime, and the Knights eventually caught the Huskies at 31-31 on three straight buckets by Fuelling.
But those were Fuelling’s only six points of the contest as Hamilton Heights completely took the Norwell scoring ace out of play.
“Hamilton Heights really shaded Kennedy in their zone,” recounted Thornton. “It was their top priority to take her away.”
Cherry agreed with that assessment.
“We played our standard 3-2 zone, and our girls did a great job of knowing where she was at all times,” concurred the Hamilton Heights boss.
Another critical factor was that Norwell did not shoot a single free throw the entire game, while Hamilton Heights (actually, Runner and Hickok) swished 15 of 16.
That mattered because the Knights were just 17-for-43 from the field for a subpar .395 shooting percentage.
Fuess led Norwell with 13 points, but no one else scored more than six.
“I’m so proud of our kids,” summarized Thornton later. “We had an awesome regular season and won the sectional with no seniors. I thought it was important for us to have that taste of tourney success heading into next year. We’ll return a great amount of experience and will more than likely add some talent and athleticism that will help us raise the bar. Certainly, this was disappointing, but I can’t thank our kids enough for how they competed and represented our program and school. We’re right there, and we’ll continue to work hard to make a deep tourney run next season.”
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HAMILTON HEIGHTS 44,
NORWELL 40
at Bellmont High School
HAMILTON HEIGHTS (20-5): Ella Hickok 4-7 5-6 14, Camryn Runner 6-7 10-10 25, Kaylee Rhoton 1-5 0-0 3, Kassidy Schakel 1-2 0-0 2, Hadleigh Cherry 0-2 0-0 0, Katie Brown 0-4 0-0 0. TOTAL: 12-27 15-16 44.
NORWELL (21-4): Dekota Hubble 2-5 0-0 4, Kennedy Fuelling 3-10 0-0 6, Lillian Norris 2-6 0-0 6, Annabelle Johnson 1-3 0-0 3, Vanessa Rosswurm 3-6 0-0 6, Haley Green 1-1 0-0 2. TOTAL: 17-43 0-0 40.
Ham. Heights 13 10 8 13 — 44
Norwell 10 10 13 7 — 40
Three-point shooting: Hamilton Heights 5-16 (Hickok 1-3, Runner 3-3, Rhoton 1-5, Cherry 0-1, Brown 0-4), Norwell 6-19 (Fuelling 0-6, Norris 2-3, Johnson 1-1, Fuess 3-8, Rosswurm 0-1). Rebounds: Hamilton Heights 17 (Runner 5), Norwell 22 (Hubble 7. Turnovers: Hamilton Heights 16, Norwell 15. Personal fouls: Hamilton Heights 11, Norwell 16. Fouled Out: None.
