Fishers (2,500) Built 2005
November 12, 2025: Anderson vs. Fishers (Girls)
November 12, 2025: Anderson vs. Fishers (Girls)
As I prepped for this blog I found myself spending way more time than I thought I would be looking up old aerial maps of Fishers. I started with the current high school as I wasn't exactly sure what year the gym was built. The school's first basketball season on record was 2006-2007, but the gym first appears in 2005 so that's what I'm going with here. Then I started looking at old aerials of Fishers Elementary School. If this seems odd, that's because Fishers High School has a very odd history. The original Fishers High School played in its first sectional game back in 1918. In those early days, the high school sat on the current grounds of Fishers Elementary School on Lantern Road. The Tigers presumably played their games here until 1966 when they consolidated into Hamilton Southeastern. I was scouring old aerials to see if any part of the current elementary building was around back in those days, and it appears only one small wing was, and it's definitely not a gym. Whatever portion of the original building that housed the gym seems to have been torn down soon after the high school closed. When a high school consolidated in the mid-60s, it was dead. It may have carried on as a middle or elementary school, but its days of participating in Hoosier Hysteria and all the delights that came with it were finished. This was the reality for hundreds upon hundreds of schools. To my knowledge, only one school ever bucked this trend. Only one school ever rose like a phoenix from the ashes of consolidation to once again form a high school and participate in the revelry that is Indiana high school basketball. That school would be Fishers.
The town of Fishers today is a far cry from what it was back in 1966. It's gone from a typical rural Indiana community to one of the fastest growing and wealthiest communities in the entire country. In the mid-2000s Hamilton Southeastern was bursting at the seams, and it was decided that a new high school was needed. They naturally named it Fishers and brought back the Tiger mascot, forever linking it to the former modest high school. I'm not sure if the current high school considers themselves a direct descendent of the old school, but they're definitely related at least. Personally I think they should embrace it. It would ground them a little bit in what otherwise is a picture of what Hamilton County has become, for better or worse (it's like 98% for worse). It's everything you would expect a brand new (relatively speaking) high school and gym in Hamilton County would be. It's bright. It's flashy. It's expensive. It's completely devoid of character. The nicest thing I can say about it is that it at least beats its sister gym over at HSE, which really isn't saying anything at all. On the bright side, you'll at least get to watch some awesome basketball here.
The amount of red in the gym just about knocks you over when you walk in. It's pervasive. At first I couldn't really tell why it bothered me so much, then I realized it reminded me so much of the shade of red that is all over the Indiana Wesleyan campus and gym where I went to school. I hated that gym (even though it was perfectly fine for their needs, and now they're building a brand new one, I guess just because they can? Don't get me started). I hated that shade of red. I hated the awful plastic bleachers. I hated the generic Wildcat logo. This gym reminds me so much of it all. The listed capacity I found is 2,500 but it feels bigger than that. It's a single level gym with seating on all four sides. All of it is generic red plastic crap with some grey sprinkled in to spell out "FHS". On the sidelines the seats go up 14 rows and on the baselines they go up 11. Not a big difference, but enough for my five year old to want to move from the baseline section to the sideline because he always wants to find the highest point in the gym to sit. At the top and in the middle of the sideline sections are little cages where camera operators can do their work. Right above the bleachers, a thick red stripe has been painted all the way around the gym. Above that are many of the noise-deafening wall adornments that make any place feel like an elementary gym. The only upshot about the upper walls are old school square and rectangular windows. These along with the classic slightly-arched ceiling with exposed steel beams give the place at least the slightest sense of personality.
The baseline walls have more going on and bring a little bit of pizzazz as well. The wall above the main entrance features the generic vinyl state championship banners you find at all big Indy schools. Right underneath those are the same Hoosiers Crossroad Conference team plaques you see at every school in the conference. They're basic but not terrible (though every time I see the HSE logo I'm reminded of how much I hate it). The opposing baseline wall features a huge mural of a tiger breaking through the cinder block wall. It's not the most original concept, but the mural actually looks like something from the 80s which breaks the sterile design concept used throughout the rest of the gym which I appreciate. You'll also find small jersey plaques above one door honoring past Tiger greats. They don't look like typical Indiana All-Star jerseys so I'm not exactly sure what specific achievement they're honoring. Both baseline walls have massive brand new video scoreboards. Usually I'm against these because schools usually just use them for advertisements or in other even dumber ways. Fishers uses them fantastically though. The in-game display is very clean, informative, and adds a lot to the experience. They also did a great job incorporating them into the pre-game introductions. I was impressed. What didn't impress me was the floor design. The very blah Tiger logo sits at center court. "Fishers" is written in big grey letters against a red background along the baselines. "Tigers" is written right inside each sideline in normal script. There is more red inside the foul lanes and grey inside the three-point arcs. It all has that modern, opaque sheen to it that the newest floors have (opaque is a terrible way to describe it, but I'm not sure what other adjective to use. Those who've seen it a lot know what I'm talking about).
I first visited this gym a couple years ago before I started the blog to watch Jalen Haralson drop over 40 points in a close loss against Anderson. That was just the precursor to the ridiculous run Coach Winegar has taken the boys program on over the course of the last three years. You won't find better basketball being played anywhere else in the state. Not only do they have the most talent, but they play as a team and do everything the right way on both ends of the court. I'm sure all of those guys say they love playing in this gym, and I'm sure they probably do. When you're awesome, the crowds are going to make anywhere you call home feel like a great environment. They deserve something so much better though. I can't wait to watch them on the road this year.
