By CRAIG ADKINS
NOBLESVILLE – The first quarter between the Greyhounds and host Millers was what the game was anticipated to be throughout, but Carmel had other ideas in mind.
Carmel scorched the nets from 3-point land for a majority of the game as the Greyhounds cruised to a 74-44 win on Tuesday night over the Millers at The Mill.
Right away, Noblesville sophomore Emily Wood converted an and-1 and junior Anna Kiser dropped in a layup for an early Miller 5-0 lead.
The ‘Hounds came right back with a 10-0 run that forced a Noblesville timeout, seven of those coming from senior Macy Berglund.
A couple more buckets by Wood and Kiser and it was cut back to a 10-9 Carmel lead, but that only fueled the fire for Carmel’s offense to take off from there.
The Greyhounds would go on a 22-9 run to end the first half. Much of the second period was highlighted by a pair of treys off the bench from sophomore Tally Seitz and sixth consecutive points from Berglund helped Carmel storm out to a 42-22 halftime lead.
“We were lucky we got to play all 10 of our girls tonight and kind of see what a difference they can make when they come in,” said Erin Trimpe, Carmel acting head coach.
“It also helps when you hit shots. We haven’t done that in a while and we came out today and were knocking down some pretty good shots and that really helped the flow of offense and defense,” Trimpe continued on her team’s ability to get it done at both ends of the floor.
She was right. Carmel had little to no trouble making everything happen offensively that they wanted. They would continue to shoot lights out from outside, finishing 12-of-33 for 36 percent from downtown.
“We’re really fortunate that some of our shooters are young and so they’ve had a couple rough games, but we’ve told them in practice and games to just let it fly and eventually we’ll knock it down,” Trimpe referring to the numerous attempts taken from the perimeter by her team.
“They shot the ball really well. It didn’t even matter who was out there. We had a box-and-1 on their stud freshman (Clarke). She didn’t play much in the first half and they were still on fire,” Noblesville head coach Donna Buckley on Carmel’s hot shooting from three-point range.
The Millers just couldn’t get into a rhythm on either end of the court. They shot just 14-of-41 for 34 percent overall from the floor and got out-rebounded by a margin of 40-21.
Carmel kept widening the gap, which was aided by 6’0 frosh Kate Clarke sinking two from outside to make it 50-24 late in the third.
The Greyhounds continued to run, which would eventually wear down the Millers.
“We obviously aren’t very deep with injuries and things we’ve got going on and I thought we were just exhausted. They just kept coming at us and we didn’t have any answers,” Buckley continued on Carmel’s continuous play throughout the game.
The visitors would have a commanding lead of 63-32 through three before eventually winding up with a final of 74-44.
Noblesville (3-4) looks to right the ship on Saturday for a midday tipoff against Avon (4-1) at The Mill.
The Millers were led by Mallory Johnson’s 15 points, while Sarah Etchison had nine on three from outside and Maddie Knight added eight.
Carmel (3-2) won its second in a row before hosting 4A No. 4 Hamilton Southeastern (7-0) for an afternoon showdown at home on Friday.
The Greyhounds were led by 14 points each from Macy Berglund and Bridget Dunn off the bench. Kiara Gill chipped in with 10, while Kate Clarke added nine.
Carmel 74, Noblesville 44
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Bridget Dunn 5-10 0-0 14 1
Macy Berglund 6-8 1-1 14 2
Mackenzie Wood 3-6 0-0 7 2
Reagan Hune 4-6 0-0 9 3
Tally Seitz 2-10 0-0 6 1
Kiara Gill 5-7 0-0 10 0
Kate Clarke 3-7 0-0 9 2
Lauren Gartenhaus 0-1 0-0 0 3
Sophie Bair 0-0 0-0 0 2
Riley Pennington 2-3 1-1 5 0
Totals 30-58 2-2 74 16
Carmel 3-point shooting (12-34) Dunn 4-9, Clarke 3-7, Seitz 2-10, Hune 1-2, Wood 1-2, Berglund 1-2, Gill 0-2.
Carmel rebounds (31) Berglund 7, Dunn 5, Wood 4, Gill 3, Clarke 3, Seitz 3, Pennington 2, Hune 2, Bair 1, Gartenhaus 1.
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Mallory Johnson 5-14 3-4 15 3
Maddie Knight 2-12 4-8 8 1
Anna Kiser 2-2 0-0 4 2
Emily Wood 2-6 1-2 5 2
Abby Haley 0-1 2-3 2 0
Sarah Etchison 3-5 0-0 9 0
Mallory Miller 0-1 1-2 1 0
Totals 14-41 11-19 44 8
Noblesville 3-point shooting (5-16) Etchison 3-5, Johnson 2-8, Knight 0-4.
Noblesville rebounds (21) Johnson 5, Kiser 5, Miller 3, Etchison 2, Wood 2, Knight 1, Haley 1, team 2.
Score by Quarters
Carmel 18 24 21 11 – 74
Noblesville 13 9 10 12 – 44
Carmel’s Mackenzie Wood puts up a shot during the Greyhounds’ game at Noblesville on Tuesday. Carmel won 74-44. (Kent Graham)
Noblesville’s Abby Haley takes a shot while being guarded by Carmel’s Lauren Gartenhaus (21) and Kate Clarke (12). (Kent Graham)