On Thursday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m., the men’s basketball team will host Hamilton Southeastern in a battle of top five ranked Class 4A opponents. Carmel (15-1) is ranked first with HSE (14-2) ranked fifth.

Athletics Director Jim Inskeep said he is expecting the biggest home crowd of the year for the game, and busing will be available from the football stadium parking lot.

Senior James Volovic said he expects the potentially large crowd to be a factor in the game.

“I think that everyone’s going to come out,” James said. “There’s an IU versus Illinois game that night, but I still feel like a lot of our fans will come out. (Hamilton Southeastern’s) student section gets really rowdy. I think it will be fun.”

Senior Michael Volovic, who echoed James’ comments about expecting a good environment for the game, said he thinks HSE will play with a chip on their shoulder after Carmel defeated them in the Sectional Final last season.

“They’re playing the defending State Champions, so of course they are going to come and try to do their best, especially after we beat them last year when they were ranked number one,” Michael said. “It’s obviously a really big game for them, but it’s also a really big game for us.”

HSE is led by Zak Irvin, a 6’8” senior and Michigan-commit who averages 25.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Junior Zach McRoberts said the key to stopping star players thus far this season has been their team defense. Michael said that the team will use the junior varsity team to simulate the players on HSE and learn how to stop them. Carmel gave up multiple transition baskets in their Feb. 1 game against Lawrence North, and McRoberts stressed the importance of limiting transition points for HSE.

“The key will be limiting our turnovers,” McRoberts said. “We definitely have to slow down their transition game.”

Defense has been a staple for this year’s team, as they allow only 47.8 points per game, while HSE allows an average of 56.4 points per game. Hamilton Southeastern holds the upper hand in points scored per game, however, as they average 67.4 points per game compared to Carmel’s 61.4 points per game.