Anxious would be the best word to describe the Noblesville Millers prior to their semifinal matchup with Fishers. As fans walked through the doors, they were in the hall outside the gym, almost greeting everyone that came in. With the crazy, snowy weather that has hit Central Indiana lately, mix in after work traffic on 86th street from 5:00 on and that equaled Fishers' bus being late.
Friday's first semifinal between two ranked teams was put on hold until around 6:25. The much longer than anticipated bus ride must have given Fishers the right mental preparations. The Tigers got off the bus and were into the locker room and back out with their warm-ups on in fast fashion. They kept this speed up throughout the entire game, like they all drank some caffeine on the ride to North Central. To say the least, Fishers wanted revenge on Noblesville and that's exactly what they got in a 58-43 drubbing of the Millers to advance to the Sectional Championship on Saturday.
4A #14 Fishers 58, 4A #15 Noblesville 43 (Sectional Semifinal at North Central)
Millers 9 10 8 16 -- 43
Tigers 12 16 21 9 -- 58
Fishers' quest to get revenge from their 48-46 home loss to Noblesville was written all over their faces from the start. A tight game from the start, the Millers knew that this would be a full-on sprint to the finish.
Senior Alex Hochstedler got things started with a quick bucket for the Tigers, but we were tied 2-2 right away at the other end with Kayleigh Herron slashing and driving her way through the lane for two.
Noblesville was able to force a couple turnovers and turned those into points off turnovers. Fast break layups by Alexis Shannon and Cori Cain gave the Millers a 6-2 lead on a 6-0 run, forcing Fishers head coach Michael Gaines to burn a timeout.
Just out of the timeout, the Tigers seemed pretty poised. Hochstedler brought in back to a one possession game with a basket, leaving Noblesville up 6-4. Then, Kara Gerka got herself into a groove, scoring 5 consecutive points to put Fishers up 9-6 with 0:55 left in the first.
The Millers were able to tie it up again when Kayleigh Herron dropped a pass down to Erin Wood for a soft layup. Wood was fouled by Hochstedler and made the free throw for a 9-9 tie. Fishers had enough time on their next trip down the court to set up the perfect play. Hochstedler swished a three as time expired, giving she and her Tigers a 12-9 edge after one.
It didn't take long for the Millers to knot things up again. Kayleigh Herron found a seam in the Tiger defense and sliced her way for a layup and managed to get fouled. The 5'5 junior point guard got the and-1, sinking the attempt from the charity stripe and we were tied 12-12.
The next Tiger possession, Gerka was fouled, making just 1 of 2 for a 13-12 lead. Fishers' lead grew to 18-14 and 21-14 on consecutive makes from three by Brooke Sugg and Hochstedler. Point guard Adrianna Murphy knocked down two points for a 23-14 lead.
Kayleigh Herron knocked down a three to bring it back to a two possession game, 23-17. Gerka added another score for her 8th point of the first half and the Tigers now led 25-17. Cori Cain made her way to the basket for a layup with 1:36 left until halftime, hoping to keep it at that six-point deficit. Just at the right time, Murphy caught a pass, made a move and launched a trey that swished at the buzzer.
Two quarters, two buzzer-beater shots. Fishers now had a 28-19 lead and a big surge of momentum heading into the locker room.
After halftime, things went from bad to worse for the Millers. Fishers wasted no time in tacking more points on the scoreboard. Brooke Sugg nailed a three on the Tigers' first possession of the third for a 31-19. Fishers' lead grew to its biggest of the game at the end of the third at 49-27. This was the second quarter in a row that Adrianna Murphy hit a buzzer-beating three. Murphy's three gave Fishers the momentum it needed.
They held Noblesville to single digits twice in three quarters, which hasn't been done in quite some time, the Millers were held to just 8.
Fishers (19-4) cruised from there despite being outscored 16-9 by the Millers in the final quarter. Senior all-state candidate Alex Hochstedler led all scorers with a game-high 18 points on six field goals, three from outside the arc. Kara Gerka (14) and Brooke Sugg (10) were both also able to get into double-figures.
Noblesville finished their season with its best record (16-5) since the 2001-02 campaign when then-head coach Leah Wooldridge led the Millers to an 18-3 final mark.
The Millers were led in scoring by junior guard Cori Cain with 9 points. Kayleigh Herron, Alexis Shannon and Erin Wood all three were second with 8 points apiece. Jessica Kiser finished with 4 points in the final high school game of her four-year varsity career. Brooke Herron and Katelyn O'Reilly rounded out the Noblesville numbers, tallying 3 each.
The Tigers earned themselves a berth in the 4A Sectional 8 Championship game against Hoosier Crossroads Conference foe Westfield. The Shamrocks narrowly edged another HCC rival in Hamilton Southeastern in the second semifinal on Friday, 44-40.
The Tigers were able to slide past Westfield for their first ever sectional championship, 46-34. Fishers (20-4) will play this Saturday in the Kokomo Regional. The #14 Tigers meet up with the #4 Homestead Spartans (23-1) at 10 a.m. for the right to play for the title that night against the winner of Carroll (Allen) (10-12) and the #7 Logansport Berries (22-2).
As per usual, thank you for reading my season-long blog about Noblesville Miller girls basketball! We all wish that the season would have extended longer than it did, but what a great season it was! Stay tuned for my final blog of the season, as I recap this 2013-14 season (16-5, 7-2 HCC), Donna Keck's best yet at the helm of the Millers!
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