Is Fishers No. 1? Its coach is unsure. But Tigers stay unbeaten with win over Noblesville

FISHERS — Nothing against the Associated Press voters, but Garrett Winegar does not necessarily agree with their latest high school basketball poll — even if it has his team at No. 1.

“I don’t know if we’re the No. 1 team if I’m being honest,” said Winegar, in his fourth season at Fishers. “I think Lawrence North is pretty dang good, I think Westfield is pretty dang good, Kokomo is pretty dang good, Noblesville is pretty dang good. And I’m probably missing people, so I don’t want to disrespect anybody.”

And no disrespect to his own team, which he said “is in the conversation” for that top spot after Friday night’s comeback 66-59 win over Class 4A No. 10 Noblesville. The Tigers (4-0) trailed by 10 points at halftime before rallying behind 6-6 senior Keenan Garner, who scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the second half.

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Takeaways from Friday night’s game:

Keenan Garner stepping into a big role

From about age 9 until 16, Garner lived in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on a United States military base. He played basketball in Germany but had no connection to Fishers until his family moved to Indiana last year.

“My dad got a pretty big promotion, which is what brought us to Indiana,” Garner said.

Garner jumped right into it last year as a junior, playing a key role on a team that also had super sophomore Jalen Haralson. Right away, Winegar said Garner’s leadership was evident.

“He’s engaged, I’d say about 98% of the time,” Winegar said. “When he’s not, it takes about two words to get him back to being engaged. He talks. He’s our leader vocally. He plays hard. He’s first to the floor. He’s physical and he’s strong. Our guys respond (to him).”

This year when it came time to vote for captains, Garner received every vote — including his own. Winegar said it’s a combination of hard work and communication that puts Garner in the position to lead.

“I feel like this is a great group of guys,” Garner said. “They make it easy to lead. It’s not just me in the locker room, it’s everybody communicating. I might be the one who sets things up but at the end of the day it’s everybody communicating.”

His on-floor presence was important for Fishers Friday night and will be through the season.

“His skill development from when he got here to now is pretty remarkable in all honesty,” Winegar said. “I could only imagine the player he could be if he was here for four years. … Based on what I’ve seen, if you gave me a ballot after four games and he’s not an Indiana All-Star … I don’t know how he isn’t. He’s been very impressive.”

Quick hits

∎ JonAnthony Hall is a big-time wide receiver football prospect who was offered two weeks ago by Indiana. But the junior guard is also going to be an impact player for the Tigers this season. Hall had 10 of his 16 points in the first half to keep Fishers at least in shouting distance, trailing 33-23 going into the break.

∎ Fishers is going to be a full-court pressing team this season. The Tigers have been at times under Winegar, but I’d expect the personnel on this group to allow Fishers to press often.

“It’s always kind of been what we want to do,” Winegar said. “It’s been getting guys to buy into how hard you have to play to do that and how much condition you have to be in to do that.”

Winegar preferred that style when he coached at Warren Central and early in his tenure at Fishers. The full-court style seems to fit this group. It certainly helped the Tigers turn the game around in the third quarter.

∎ Freshman guards Cooper Zachary and Jason Gardner Jr. are going to have freshman moments, but they are more ready to play than most freshmen. Zachary does not get sped up and controls the pace like a senior. He’s also a pest on defense. Gardner Jr., the son of 1999 Mr. Basketball Jason Gardner, is an athletic slasher who can score. The freshman duo combined for eight points Friday but will have some bigger games.

∎ Taden Metzger can really shoot it. The Fishers senior guard had three 3s, including a huge one from the corner to put Fishers up 62-55 with 1:37 left. The Tigers missed him a couple times when he was open. His 3-pointers are as good as a layup.

∎ Aaron Fine was tough as nails down the stretch for Noblesville, which dropped to 2-1 after wins over Hamilton Heights and Franklin. The senior guard played off the ball a little more than he has in previous seasons, but it looks like a smart move. He finished with 26 points, including 13 in the second quarter as the Millers took a 10-point lead into halftime. Fine also had 11 in the fourth quarter.

∎ Justin Curry II is going to be an outstanding player on his current trajectory. The 6-3 sophomore finished with 11 points for the Millers. He’s still a little slight but showed he can shoot and get to the rim. Put Curry on your radar of players to see this season.

∎ Do we like the new foul rules? I think I might. Let me know what you think.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school basketball: No. 1 Fishers beats No. 10 Noblesville