Millers pull away from Zionsville for 11th win in a row

By CRAIG ADKINS

For The Reporter

NOBLESVILLE – Friday night’s first game of the girls-boys doubleheader at The Mill started out tight, but the final three quarters saw the eighth-ranked Noblesville girls go on multiple runs on their way to a convincing 54-35 Hoosier Crossroads Conference win over Zionsville.

The Millers got out to a 4-0 lead with buckets from Meredith Tippner and Ally Hutchinson. But, a pair of threes from the Eagles’ Ellie Frobig started the first of five lead changes in the opening frame.

With the teams trading buckets back and forth, it was a defensive battle in the first eight minutes. Then, with 0.8 seconds left in the period, C.C. Quigley tied it up at 11-11 when she was fouled. The junior forward made the free throw for a 12-11 Miller lead through one.

“They’re a really big team and they did a really good job of taking away paint touches for us,” said Noblesville head coach Donna Buckley.

“We fell in love with shooting a lot of long jumpers early. They do a good job of dictating what they want you to get. Once we settled in and got the ball outside and got out in transition and that kind of changed everything. But, early on they really controlled what was happening,” Buckley continued.

Zionsville grabbed the lead with the sixth and final lead change to begin the second on a Kenzie Chapman three from the right for a 14-12 score.

Just as she did at the end of the first, Quigley tied it again (14-14). From that point, the Millers went on a 14-2 run to end the first half to lead by a dozen at the break, 28-16. Tippner scored eight during the run over the final four minutes of the quarter.

It would be clutch Kate Rollins who was able to separate the Millers from the Eagles. The senior guard drained two three-pointers from the left corner, the second as the final seconds of the half wound down.

“Those were back breakers right before the half. Kate hit one and Tipp did a great job in transition of finding her and giving her an opportunity to go back-to-back and Kate answered by hitting that jumper down on the baseline to really open the game up. From there, we just took control and were able to build on our lead from there,” Buckley said.

Building on the lead is exactly what Noblesville did. The Millers stretched the margin to as much as a lead of 20 at the end of the third for a 41-21 count.

After scoring just five in the second, the Eagles would be held to seven in the third, thanks to swarming defense that caused numerous turnovers.

“Our kids did a great job of flying around and just being active, no matter what we ran on defense. They did a great job of just being athletic and getting out in passing lanes and trapping. Anytime we can turn it over, we’re pretty darn good in transition. Our defense led to a lot of easy opportunities in transition and that’s where we’re really good,” said Buckley.

Noblesville’s largest lead got to 24 on Hutchinson’s basket that made it 49-25. Zionsville made a late 10-5 push, but that still gave the Millers a 54-35 win.

Zionsville (8-10, 1-4 HCC) dropped its second game in three outings. Caroline Sampson (12), Ellie Frobig (11) and Emma Tinder (8) combined for a majority of the Eagles’ points.

Noblesville (15-3, 4-2 HCC) won its 11th consecutive game and 13th of their last 14. The Millers forced 25 Eagles turnovers, 15 of which were steals.

Tippner led all scorers with a game-high 24 points while pulling down six rebounds to go with four assists and a pair of steals.

Quigley scored 12 with six boards and Hutchinson added 10, eight rebounds and four assists, joining Tippner in double figures. Rollins scored eight while dishing out four assists.

The Millers hit the road Tuesday at Harrison (6-14) and Saturday at Franklin Central (14-6, 1-4 HCC).