The weather on Saturday, December 7 might have been cold outside, but The Mill was pretty warm and welcomed the visiting McCutcheon Maverick girls to face the Noblesville Millers in a matinee matchup in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference.
It didn't take long at all, but the Millers took complete control of this conference battle from the get-go. Three-point buckets by senior Jessica Kiser and junior Kayleigh Herron jumped Noblesville out to an early 6-2 lead. Kerstyn Lowery and Katee Kurtz added a pair of free throws each, but the Mavs had already dug themselves a hole that would be hard to get out of. McCutcheon wasn't able to knock down its first field goal until 1:53 left in the first, when Gabby Gary nailed a three.
The Millers forced 7 Maverick turnovers in the first quarter. With about 3 minutes left, NHS clung to an 11-4 lead, but that didn't last long. Two consecutive forced turnovers turned quickly into two Katelyn O'Reilly layups to put Noblesville up 15-4, causing McCutcheon head coach Jeff Knoy to call his first timeout.
Audrey DeFoe capped off the dominant first frame with an easy 3-pointer with 1:24 on the clock to put Noblesville well out in front, 21-7.
DeFoe scorched the nets with a another couple treys and got the help of her teammates spreading out the Miller scoring to distance themselves even more from the visiting Mavericks to lead 39-14 at the break.
It may have been too late, but it seemed like McCutcheon's offense woke up a little in the third, but were still outscored by the Millers 13-12. O'Reilly added two more buckets and DeFoe her fourth three to propel Noblesville to a doubling of the Mavericks after 24 minutes, 52-26.
The 4th quarter became a time for Noblesville head coach Donna Keck to utilize her bench and run the clock out on this HCC win. That's exactly what she and her staff did as they got their first Saturday in December off to an outstanding start, beating McCutcheon, 64-35.
McCutcheon (2-5, 1-2 HCC) had only one in double-digit scoring, as Kerstyn Lowery led the way, tying for a game-high 15. Gabby Gary also had 6 for the Mavericks.
Noblesville (7-1, 1-1 HCC) was really able to spread out their scoring. Junior Audrey DeFoe led the Millers with a game-high 15 points off the bench, mostly on four 3-pointers. Katelyn O'Reilly also had a stellar game off Keck's bench with 13 on six field goals. Erin Wood chipped in with 9 points and Alexis Shannon finished with 8. As a team, the Millers were able to dish out 21 assists on their 25 made field goals. Cori Cain (4), Brooke Herron (4), Kayleigh Herron (3) and Rachel Shipman (3) were four selfless passers in making sure the ball got to the right teammate to put points on the scoreboard.
Tonight, the Millers face a HCC and Hamilton county rival that they haven't had a victory against in 12 years. Hamilton Southeastern (4-4, 3-1 HCC) has beaten Noblesville in 16 consecutive meetings. The last time Noblesville was able to pull out a victory over the Royals was December 7, 2001, when the Millers were coached by Leah Wooldridge and won at Hamilton Southeastern, 75-56.
The time has come and it has been WAY too long and this particular group of Millers is definitely primed and ready to get over that hump that has been the Hamilton Southeastern Royals. Noblesville has the opportunity that they have been waiting for. It will be a packed house at Hamilton Southeastern tonight and also an epic atmosphere.
We would love to see you in attendance at Hamilton Southeastern to support the girls at 6 p.m. and the boys around 8 p.m. in a doubleheader of varsity action.
If you can't make it, get on your computers or smartphones and you get watch/listen online LIVE on highschoolcube.com or download the free HSC Live app from your Android, iPhone or iPad markets. Once you get to the site or onto the app, in the search blank, type in Noblesville at Hamilton Southeastern and you'll be LIVE! Bring your earbuds to the game and you can listen to us live also!
Craig Adkins (myself) will call the play-by-play and Dusty Mills (former Miller) provides the color commentary.
GO MILLERS!
Friday, December 13, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Butler dispatches of North Dakota and Manchester, ready for Boilers
After leaving the 2013 Old Spice Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Florida with a 4th place (1-2) finish, the Butler Bulldogs headed back to work with the goal of keeping things going, but obviously approving on it.
Before the Old Spice Classic had even begun, the Oklahoma State Cowboys were already inked in champions of the 8-team tournament. That really didn't settle well with the Butler Bulldogs. Heading to Disney's Wide World of Sports with a 4-0 record, Butler looked to continue that trend as long as they possibly could.
They were able to scrap and eventually slip by Washington State in their first of three games, 76-69 on Thanksgiving Day. That win pitted them against #5 Oklahoma State and highly touted sophomore Marcus Smart. The Dawgs shocked a lot of people by sticking with, and almost knocking off, the high-energy Cowboys from the Big XII and only lost by two, 69-67.
The loss to Oklahoma State dropped Butler into the 3rd place game with LSU, which is projected to be a top 5 team in the SEC this season. The Bulldogs held their own once again, but fell 70-68 in overtime to the Tigers.
Butler got back in the comforts of Indianapolis and got back to work in a couple tune-up games that will hopefully get them ready for Saturday's battle with the Purdue Boilermakers at Banker's Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.
The University of North Dakota made a long trip to Indianapolis on Saturday, December 7 to face the Bulldogs. With Butler shooting 52% (29-56) and outrebounding UND 44-28, North Dakota put up a fight, but playing on their home court helped Butler secure a 79-65 win.
Sophomore Kellen Dunham put together another stellar shooting performance by leading all scorers with a game-high 29. The 6'6 guard from Pendleton, Indiana was 9-of-15 from the floor, including 5-for-8 on his three-point attempts and all six of his free throw attempts. Khyle Marshall did his part by totaling 21 points and 7 rebounds.
Last night, Monday, December 3rd, Butler welcomed another non-conference foe to Hinkle Fieldhouse. Division III Manchester College, which resides just southwest of Fort Wayne, Indiana, made their first appearance at Butler in almost 70 years.
Butler managed to reach the century mark on the scoreboard, with a 100-41 shellacking of the visiting Spartans. The Bulldogs haven't had that much of a winning margin since the 1921-22 season when they pummeled Indiana Law School, 82-14.
With a comfortable 48-24 doubling-up halftime lead, the second half became 20 minutes where head coach Brandon Miller and staff were able to figure out which players fit into different situations. His troops outscored Manchester 52-17 in the second half to cruise past the Spartans by 59 points, 100-41.
Once again, Dunham led four Bulldogs in double-figures with 15 points in just 19 minutes. Marshall had another great game with 14 points on 6-of-9 from the floor. Kameron Woods chipped in with 11 points and 5 boards, while Erik Fromm had 7 and 7 with 3 blocks.
The Bulldogs had a couple of freshmen that were real sparkplugs off the bench that could prove to be vital parts of their offense and depth now and throughout the Big East season. Rene Castro added a career-high 12 points on 5 field goals (2-3 on 3's) in 16 minutes and Elijah Brown had 9 points (3-4 on 3's) with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
In four days, Butler (7-2) will meet up with the Purdue Boilermakers (8-2) on a neutral court. They'll tip at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network in the second game of the doubleheader at Banker's Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis as part of the 3rd annual Crossroads Classic. Radio coverage can be heard locally in Indianapolis on 1070 The Fan and 107.5 FM with the pre-game 30 minutes prior to tip.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2) and the Indiana Hoosiers (8-2) renew their rivalry in the first game of the afternoon with a 3:15 start on ESPN.
Before the Old Spice Classic had even begun, the Oklahoma State Cowboys were already inked in champions of the 8-team tournament. That really didn't settle well with the Butler Bulldogs. Heading to Disney's Wide World of Sports with a 4-0 record, Butler looked to continue that trend as long as they possibly could.
They were able to scrap and eventually slip by Washington State in their first of three games, 76-69 on Thanksgiving Day. That win pitted them against #5 Oklahoma State and highly touted sophomore Marcus Smart. The Dawgs shocked a lot of people by sticking with, and almost knocking off, the high-energy Cowboys from the Big XII and only lost by two, 69-67.
The loss to Oklahoma State dropped Butler into the 3rd place game with LSU, which is projected to be a top 5 team in the SEC this season. The Bulldogs held their own once again, but fell 70-68 in overtime to the Tigers.
Butler got back in the comforts of Indianapolis and got back to work in a couple tune-up games that will hopefully get them ready for Saturday's battle with the Purdue Boilermakers at Banker's Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.
The University of North Dakota made a long trip to Indianapolis on Saturday, December 7 to face the Bulldogs. With Butler shooting 52% (29-56) and outrebounding UND 44-28, North Dakota put up a fight, but playing on their home court helped Butler secure a 79-65 win.
Sophomore Kellen Dunham put together another stellar shooting performance by leading all scorers with a game-high 29. The 6'6 guard from Pendleton, Indiana was 9-of-15 from the floor, including 5-for-8 on his three-point attempts and all six of his free throw attempts. Khyle Marshall did his part by totaling 21 points and 7 rebounds.
Last night, Monday, December 3rd, Butler welcomed another non-conference foe to Hinkle Fieldhouse. Division III Manchester College, which resides just southwest of Fort Wayne, Indiana, made their first appearance at Butler in almost 70 years.
Butler managed to reach the century mark on the scoreboard, with a 100-41 shellacking of the visiting Spartans. The Bulldogs haven't had that much of a winning margin since the 1921-22 season when they pummeled Indiana Law School, 82-14.
With a comfortable 48-24 doubling-up halftime lead, the second half became 20 minutes where head coach Brandon Miller and staff were able to figure out which players fit into different situations. His troops outscored Manchester 52-17 in the second half to cruise past the Spartans by 59 points, 100-41.
Once again, Dunham led four Bulldogs in double-figures with 15 points in just 19 minutes. Marshall had another great game with 14 points on 6-of-9 from the floor. Kameron Woods chipped in with 11 points and 5 boards, while Erik Fromm had 7 and 7 with 3 blocks.
The Bulldogs had a couple of freshmen that were real sparkplugs off the bench that could prove to be vital parts of their offense and depth now and throughout the Big East season. Rene Castro added a career-high 12 points on 5 field goals (2-3 on 3's) in 16 minutes and Elijah Brown had 9 points (3-4 on 3's) with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
In four days, Butler (7-2) will meet up with the Purdue Boilermakers (8-2) on a neutral court. They'll tip at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network in the second game of the doubleheader at Banker's Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis as part of the 3rd annual Crossroads Classic. Radio coverage can be heard locally in Indianapolis on 1070 The Fan and 107.5 FM with the pre-game 30 minutes prior to tip.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2) and the Indiana Hoosiers (8-2) renew their rivalry in the first game of the afternoon with a 3:15 start on ESPN.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Miller girls on a roll, with just one blemish
Playing together. Spreading out the scoring. Hitting the boards hard for rebounds. Defending opponents. Those are just four factors that have played a tremendous role in how head coach Donna Keck's Noblesville Millers are currently 6-1, one-third of the way through the regular season.
Noblesville 75, 3A #4 Hamilton Heights 59 (Fri. 11/15)
Millers 22 20 16 17 -- 75
Huskies 9 18 8 24 -- 59
After opening up the 2013-14 season with a very convincing home court win over Indianapolis Arsenal Tech, the Noblesville Miller girls took to the road and headed just north to face Hamilton Heights. The Huskies were the Class 3A State Runners-Up last season. That didn't phase the Miller in the least as they left northern Hamilton county with a 75-59 victory over the hosts.
The Millers scored 20-plus in each of the first two quarters to go up 22-9 after one and have a solid 42-27 lead at the halftime break.
Noblesville pulled away with an even more comfortable lead thru three frames with a 58-35 cushion. The Huskies woke up in the fourth and took the final eight minutes 24-17, but wasn't able to overcome the significant deficit that they got themselves into in the first half and Noblesville won going away, with a 16-point road win.
Balancing out their scoring, the Millers were led by sophomore forward Alexis Shannon with 18. Erin Wood had 16 on six field goals and Cori Cain dropped in 12 to go with 4 steals on the defensive end.
4A #6 Westfield 58, Noblesville 41 (Tues. 11/19)
Shamrocks 19 12 17 10 -- 58
Millers 13 11 9 8 -- 41
Just when Noblesville thought they were past a few different pieces in the Westfield offense, a new offensive option decided that she would make it impossible for the Millers to succeed on either end of the court.
Just two Shamrocks were able to get into double-figures on the Millers' home court at Noblesville, but those two almost equaled the total offensive output for Keck's crew. Kayla Brown (25) and Jalyn Foland (14) did their best to get Westfield the win and almost outscored their opponent (41) on the road as a duo. It didn't help the Millers that Brown and Foland were able to combine for 12-of-17 shooting, most importantly, 6-for-7 from 3-point range.
The Millers were only down seven at halftime (31-24), so it would have been a very doable task to find ways offensively and create turnovers on defense. In the end, it was Westfield's tenacious defense that didn't allow Noblesville to get its own way at home.
Westfield's lead grew to 15 with a 48-33 advantage through three and would increase to a 58-41 final score after holding Noblesville to just 17 second half points.
Audrey DeFoe led the Millers with a team-high 13 points on four field goals, including three made from outside-the-arc. Erin Wood had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists to her credit, while Alexis Shannon managed to scrap her way to 10.
Noblesville 66, 3A #6 Lebanon 46 (Fri. 11/22)
Millers 18 13 21 14 -- 66
Tigers 10 15 9 12 -- 46
It became Noblesville biggest road test thus far and the Millers responded just like coach Keck had hoped. By the time that Noblesville had sprung out to a 19-point lead after three, it was too late for Lebanon to make any sort of comeback. It was a pretty similar situation that the Millers had put Hamilton Heights in just seven days prior.
Once again, the main objective for Noblesville was to spread out the scoring and to not worry about who led the team in scoring. That's exactly what happened in a huge road game for the Millers.
Once again, Alexis Shannon led the Millers in scoring with 17, knocking down 8-of-15 from the field. She was joined by Erin Wood in double-digits with 12. The trio of Jessica Kiser, Cori Cain and Katelyn O'Reilly each poured in 8 points each. Those five were able to outscore the host Tigers 53-46 by themselves.
Noblesville 64, Carmel 56 (Tues. 11/26)
Greyhounds 16 11 17 12 -- 56
Millers 22 16 6 20 -- 64
The Millers did something that they haven't done as a program since November 25, 2003, pretty much 10 years to the day. That was the last time that Noblesville beat Carmel in girls basketball. Prior to Noblesville's eight-point victory over the visiting Greyhounds, Carmel owned the Hamilton county rivalry, taking 13 of the last 14 of the series. Leah Woolridge was in her final season as Noblesville head coach before Kurt Gassensmith took over from 2004-2008.
Noblesville rolled to a 22-16, two possession lead after one quarter, which was aided by 8 from sophomore leading scorer Alexis Shannon.
Despite taking the second quarter 16-11 and leading 38-27 at halftime, it wasn't easy to fend off the feisty Carmel Greyhounds. Noblesville seemed to have the first half wrapped up with a bow on it, until around the last 1:33 of the second period.
Carmel was able to force four of Noblesville's 19 turnovers in that final span of 1:33 in the 2nd. Those four turnovers led to five points by the visiting Hounds and the Millers found themselves only up 11 at half, instead of the comfortable 16-point margin they had just 93 ticks earlier.
The third quarter was all Greyhounds, as they climbed right back into the ballgame, outscoring the Millers 17-6, knotting things up at 44-44.
That third quarter domination by Carmel woke up Noblesville on both ends of the floor. The Millers were able to get the crowd involved and take the road savvy Greyhounds right out of the game at just the right time.
Noblesville got big help in the 4th, just like in the 1st, by Alexis Shannon scoring 7 of her points. The biggest key for Keck's team in the fourth was that they made 9-of-12 at the charity stripe. Those nine at the line alone, kept Carmel at enough of a distance to put the ballgame away.
Junior Abby Abel of Carmel led all scorers with a game-high 21. She was helped out by teammates Amanda Shaw (9) and Kennedy Kantner (8).
Alexis Shannon was Noblesville's leader with 19 points and 8 rebounds, but the Millers got a nice surprise off the bench. Freshman Brooke Herron poured in 14, seven of which came in the 4th. Balanced across the rest of the Miller stat sheet for sure. Jessica Kiser added 7, while Kayleigh Herron, Rachel Shipman and Katelyn O'Reilly each had 6.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT (Sat. 11/30)
Noblesville 88, Munster 30
Millers 28 13 26 21 -- 88
Mustangs 8 6 7 9 -- 30
Heading up to Tippecanoe Valley for their annual Thanksgiving Holiday Tournament, Noblesville had one goal. Keep the momentum rolling. Prior to the Thanksgiving Day holiday, the Millers were coming off their biggest victory in 10 years by taking down the Carmel Greyhounds at The Mill.
Noblesville stepped foot on the court at Tippecanoe Valley on a strict mission to bring two wins back home before starting Hoosier Crossroads Conference play.
By the time Munster woke up from their morning bus trip from Northwest Indiana, the Millers had bolted out to a 28-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The trend wasn't as heavy in the 2nd, but Noblesville still doubled up the Mustangs 13-6 for a dominating 41-14 score at the half.
The Millers almost tripled up Munster in the final two periods, 47-16 to once again, find themselves playing for the championship.
Freshman guard Brooke Herron got scored in double-figures for the second straight game, leading all scorers with 18, hitting 5-of-6 treys. Her junior sister Kayleigh Herron was the second leading scorer with 13, swishing 3 of her 6 three-point attempts. Erin Flynn sparked the Miller frontcourt with 12 points on 5 field goals. Katelyn O'Reilly (11) and Cori Cain (10) rounded out five in double-digits for Noblesville.
Forcing 31 Munster turnovers and draining 10-of-24 (42%) of their 3-point attempts, Noblesville found itself in the championship game with a 58-point drubbing of the Mustangs, 88-30.
Championship game: Noblesville 70, Tippecanoe Valley 63
Vikings 16 17 14 16 -- 63
Millers 18 16 18 18 -- 70
Coming into the championship game on a high note, the Millers knew it would be quite a challenge to knock off the host Tippecanoe Valley Vikings in their own holiday tournament.
They accepted the challenge and rose up to the occasion. With previous wins over Bremen and Warsaw to open the season, earlier in the day, Portage became the Vikings' latest victim and TV headed into their own tournament undefeated (3-0).
In a tight first half, Noblesville led by two (18-16) after the first and with Tippecanoe Valley outdueling the Millers 17-16 in the second, coach Keck and staff clung to just a 34-33 halftime edge.
Slowly, but surely, the speed and tenacity of Noblesville's youthful squad was able to pull themselves away slightly in the final eight minutes. Pressure mounted on the Millers but they didn't fold and held on for the 70-63 victory. Noblesville won the Tippecanoe Valley Holiday Tournament for the 2nd year in a row and 3rd in their 5th appearance during Donna Keck's 6th season at the helm.
Alexis Shannon had a team-high 17, converting 7-of-9 field goal attempts and all three of her free throws. Erin Wood had another solid game with 16, half of which came from sinking 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. Jessica Kiser and Brooke Herron each chipped in with 11, while Cori Cain (6) and Kayleigh Herron (4) added to the championship effort.
The Millers figured some pretty vital things as a team during their two wins at Tippecanoe Valley. Shooting 48% overall (55-115) and 37% (14-37) from three-point range, confidence was on the rise, which were big reasons Noblesville took the tourney title for the 3rd time in five season. Improvement at the free throw line, knocking down 79% (34-43) in two games, might have helped turn the corner that's needed to continue the greatness that's been started.
Noblesville (6-1) continues its season this Saturday, December 7 for a matinee affair with McCutcheon (2-3) to open up league play in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference. JV tips at Noon and varsity will hit the floor around 1:30 p.m.
Come back for more on the Millers throughout the season!
GO MILLERS!!!!!!!
Voice of the Millers,
Craig Adkins
Noblesville 75, 3A #4 Hamilton Heights 59 (Fri. 11/15)
Millers 22 20 16 17 -- 75
Huskies 9 18 8 24 -- 59
After opening up the 2013-14 season with a very convincing home court win over Indianapolis Arsenal Tech, the Noblesville Miller girls took to the road and headed just north to face Hamilton Heights. The Huskies were the Class 3A State Runners-Up last season. That didn't phase the Miller in the least as they left northern Hamilton county with a 75-59 victory over the hosts.
The Millers scored 20-plus in each of the first two quarters to go up 22-9 after one and have a solid 42-27 lead at the halftime break.
Noblesville pulled away with an even more comfortable lead thru three frames with a 58-35 cushion. The Huskies woke up in the fourth and took the final eight minutes 24-17, but wasn't able to overcome the significant deficit that they got themselves into in the first half and Noblesville won going away, with a 16-point road win.
Balancing out their scoring, the Millers were led by sophomore forward Alexis Shannon with 18. Erin Wood had 16 on six field goals and Cori Cain dropped in 12 to go with 4 steals on the defensive end.
4A #6 Westfield 58, Noblesville 41 (Tues. 11/19)
Shamrocks 19 12 17 10 -- 58
Millers 13 11 9 8 -- 41
Just when Noblesville thought they were past a few different pieces in the Westfield offense, a new offensive option decided that she would make it impossible for the Millers to succeed on either end of the court.
Just two Shamrocks were able to get into double-figures on the Millers' home court at Noblesville, but those two almost equaled the total offensive output for Keck's crew. Kayla Brown (25) and Jalyn Foland (14) did their best to get Westfield the win and almost outscored their opponent (41) on the road as a duo. It didn't help the Millers that Brown and Foland were able to combine for 12-of-17 shooting, most importantly, 6-for-7 from 3-point range.
The Millers were only down seven at halftime (31-24), so it would have been a very doable task to find ways offensively and create turnovers on defense. In the end, it was Westfield's tenacious defense that didn't allow Noblesville to get its own way at home.
Westfield's lead grew to 15 with a 48-33 advantage through three and would increase to a 58-41 final score after holding Noblesville to just 17 second half points.
Audrey DeFoe led the Millers with a team-high 13 points on four field goals, including three made from outside-the-arc. Erin Wood had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists to her credit, while Alexis Shannon managed to scrap her way to 10.
Noblesville 66, 3A #6 Lebanon 46 (Fri. 11/22)
Millers 18 13 21 14 -- 66
Tigers 10 15 9 12 -- 46
It became Noblesville biggest road test thus far and the Millers responded just like coach Keck had hoped. By the time that Noblesville had sprung out to a 19-point lead after three, it was too late for Lebanon to make any sort of comeback. It was a pretty similar situation that the Millers had put Hamilton Heights in just seven days prior.
Once again, the main objective for Noblesville was to spread out the scoring and to not worry about who led the team in scoring. That's exactly what happened in a huge road game for the Millers.
Once again, Alexis Shannon led the Millers in scoring with 17, knocking down 8-of-15 from the field. She was joined by Erin Wood in double-digits with 12. The trio of Jessica Kiser, Cori Cain and Katelyn O'Reilly each poured in 8 points each. Those five were able to outscore the host Tigers 53-46 by themselves.
Noblesville 64, Carmel 56 (Tues. 11/26)
Greyhounds 16 11 17 12 -- 56
Millers 22 16 6 20 -- 64
The Millers did something that they haven't done as a program since November 25, 2003, pretty much 10 years to the day. That was the last time that Noblesville beat Carmel in girls basketball. Prior to Noblesville's eight-point victory over the visiting Greyhounds, Carmel owned the Hamilton county rivalry, taking 13 of the last 14 of the series. Leah Woolridge was in her final season as Noblesville head coach before Kurt Gassensmith took over from 2004-2008.
Noblesville rolled to a 22-16, two possession lead after one quarter, which was aided by 8 from sophomore leading scorer Alexis Shannon.
Despite taking the second quarter 16-11 and leading 38-27 at halftime, it wasn't easy to fend off the feisty Carmel Greyhounds. Noblesville seemed to have the first half wrapped up with a bow on it, until around the last 1:33 of the second period.
Carmel was able to force four of Noblesville's 19 turnovers in that final span of 1:33 in the 2nd. Those four turnovers led to five points by the visiting Hounds and the Millers found themselves only up 11 at half, instead of the comfortable 16-point margin they had just 93 ticks earlier.
The third quarter was all Greyhounds, as they climbed right back into the ballgame, outscoring the Millers 17-6, knotting things up at 44-44.
That third quarter domination by Carmel woke up Noblesville on both ends of the floor. The Millers were able to get the crowd involved and take the road savvy Greyhounds right out of the game at just the right time.
Noblesville got big help in the 4th, just like in the 1st, by Alexis Shannon scoring 7 of her points. The biggest key for Keck's team in the fourth was that they made 9-of-12 at the charity stripe. Those nine at the line alone, kept Carmel at enough of a distance to put the ballgame away.
Junior Abby Abel of Carmel led all scorers with a game-high 21. She was helped out by teammates Amanda Shaw (9) and Kennedy Kantner (8).
Alexis Shannon was Noblesville's leader with 19 points and 8 rebounds, but the Millers got a nice surprise off the bench. Freshman Brooke Herron poured in 14, seven of which came in the 4th. Balanced across the rest of the Miller stat sheet for sure. Jessica Kiser added 7, while Kayleigh Herron, Rachel Shipman and Katelyn O'Reilly each had 6.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT (Sat. 11/30)
Noblesville 88, Munster 30
Millers 28 13 26 21 -- 88
Mustangs 8 6 7 9 -- 30
Heading up to Tippecanoe Valley for their annual Thanksgiving Holiday Tournament, Noblesville had one goal. Keep the momentum rolling. Prior to the Thanksgiving Day holiday, the Millers were coming off their biggest victory in 10 years by taking down the Carmel Greyhounds at The Mill.
Noblesville stepped foot on the court at Tippecanoe Valley on a strict mission to bring two wins back home before starting Hoosier Crossroads Conference play.
By the time Munster woke up from their morning bus trip from Northwest Indiana, the Millers had bolted out to a 28-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The trend wasn't as heavy in the 2nd, but Noblesville still doubled up the Mustangs 13-6 for a dominating 41-14 score at the half.
The Millers almost tripled up Munster in the final two periods, 47-16 to once again, find themselves playing for the championship.
Freshman guard Brooke Herron got scored in double-figures for the second straight game, leading all scorers with 18, hitting 5-of-6 treys. Her junior sister Kayleigh Herron was the second leading scorer with 13, swishing 3 of her 6 three-point attempts. Erin Flynn sparked the Miller frontcourt with 12 points on 5 field goals. Katelyn O'Reilly (11) and Cori Cain (10) rounded out five in double-digits for Noblesville.
Forcing 31 Munster turnovers and draining 10-of-24 (42%) of their 3-point attempts, Noblesville found itself in the championship game with a 58-point drubbing of the Mustangs, 88-30.
Championship game: Noblesville 70, Tippecanoe Valley 63
Vikings 16 17 14 16 -- 63
Millers 18 16 18 18 -- 70
Coming into the championship game on a high note, the Millers knew it would be quite a challenge to knock off the host Tippecanoe Valley Vikings in their own holiday tournament.
They accepted the challenge and rose up to the occasion. With previous wins over Bremen and Warsaw to open the season, earlier in the day, Portage became the Vikings' latest victim and TV headed into their own tournament undefeated (3-0).
In a tight first half, Noblesville led by two (18-16) after the first and with Tippecanoe Valley outdueling the Millers 17-16 in the second, coach Keck and staff clung to just a 34-33 halftime edge.
Slowly, but surely, the speed and tenacity of Noblesville's youthful squad was able to pull themselves away slightly in the final eight minutes. Pressure mounted on the Millers but they didn't fold and held on for the 70-63 victory. Noblesville won the Tippecanoe Valley Holiday Tournament for the 2nd year in a row and 3rd in their 5th appearance during Donna Keck's 6th season at the helm.
Alexis Shannon had a team-high 17, converting 7-of-9 field goal attempts and all three of her free throws. Erin Wood had another solid game with 16, half of which came from sinking 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. Jessica Kiser and Brooke Herron each chipped in with 11, while Cori Cain (6) and Kayleigh Herron (4) added to the championship effort.
The Millers figured some pretty vital things as a team during their two wins at Tippecanoe Valley. Shooting 48% overall (55-115) and 37% (14-37) from three-point range, confidence was on the rise, which were big reasons Noblesville took the tourney title for the 3rd time in five season. Improvement at the free throw line, knocking down 79% (34-43) in two games, might have helped turn the corner that's needed to continue the greatness that's been started.
Noblesville (6-1) continues its season this Saturday, December 7 for a matinee affair with McCutcheon (2-3) to open up league play in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference. JV tips at Noon and varsity will hit the floor around 1:30 p.m.
Come back for more on the Millers throughout the season!
GO MILLERS!!!!!!!
Voice of the Millers,
Craig Adkins
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