By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – In its 10th game of the season, the Hamilton Southeastern girls basketball team reached the 10-win mark.
The Class 4A No. 4 Royals kept their undefeated campaign going Wednesday night with a 65-31 Hoosier Crossroads Conference win over Noblesville at The Mill. Southeastern had to battle in the first half, but began to get going in the second half, cruising through and solidifying its place atop the HCC standings at 3-0.
The Millers had an early 9-5 lead on the Royals in the first quarter, with senior Maddie Knight scoring all nine of those Noblesville points, and Amaya Hamilton scoring all five of HSE’s points. Southeastern started to roll in the later minutes of the first, finishing the period on a 9-0 run. Jackie Maulucci and Bailee Poore each 3-pointers.
The Royals began to slowly edge ahead in the second quarter, extending their lead to 25-14 by halftime. Maulucci drained another 3, while Hamilton added another three points (free throw and putback).
Maulucci kept shooting hot to begin the third quarter, nailing two quick 3-pointers to put HSE ahead 31-14 and force the Millers to call a timeout. Then, everybody started to get hot: Malea Jackson hit two 3s, and Tayah Irvin drained one. Maulucci’s layin gave the Royals a 46-23 lead; Southeastern scored 21 points in the third and never allowed Noblesville more than nine in any quarter.
“In the second half, we talked to the kids about what we should do, how to attack it and everything,” said Royals coach Chris Huppenthal. “We just settled down.”
“Beyond that, defensively, I wasn’t happy with how we played at all,” said Huppenthal. “I think they did a great job back-cutting us, being patient in their offense, and we did not defensively guard the ball in front of us very well. And again, we didn’t handle their back-cuts very well.”
The Millers held HSE’s Sydney Parrish to four points in the first three quarters, but she got going in the fourth period by scoring 13 points. That gave Parrish 17 points, tying her with Maulucci for Southeastern high-scoring honors. Maulucci had five 3-pointers.
“Jackie can hit shots,” said Huppenthal. “They left her open, they were going to allow her to shoot it. She can do that.”
Hamilton scored 13 points, corralled nine rebounds and dished out five assists, while Parrish pulled eight rebounds.
Knight continued to play well for the Millers throughout the game. She hit her second 3 of the contest in the fourth quarter, and wound up leading all scorers with 20 points. Knight also grabbed six rebounds, while Anna Kiser had five.
Noblesville coach Donna Buckley thought her team played “pretty well,” noting that her team missed shots in the first half.
“I think we were 4-of-19 from the floor , and if we make a few shots in the first half and it’s a one- or two-possession game instead of 11 points, it could’ve been interesting in the second half,” said Buckley. “Obviously they’re very talented with four, maybe five D-I kids. I thought we did a great job. Parrish had four points going into the fourth quarter and we made other kids make plays.”
Southeastern will travel to Dixie Heights, Ky. for the Hoops for Harvest Tournament on Saturday. The Royals will play Ryle (Ky.) at 4 p.m. The Millers, now 3-6 and 0-3 in the HCC, are off until Dec. 7 when they play at Fishers.
Southeastern 65, Noblesville 31
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Malea Jackson 2-6 2-2 8 2
Amaya Hamilton 4-12 5-7 13 0
Jackie Maulucci 6-13 0-2 17 1
Tayah Irvin 1-3 0-2 3 0
Sydney Parrish 7-12 2-4 17 5
Molly Walton 1-2 0-0 2 4
Lydia Self 1-2 0-0 2 3
Bailee Poore 1-3 0-0 3 1
Lauren Morris 0-0 0-0 0 1
Bri Baker 0-0 0-0 0 0
Allie Poyer 0-0 0-0 0 0
Makayla Hinshaw 0-0 0-0 0 0
Ryan Viele 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 23-53 9-17 65 17
Southeastern 3-point shooting (10-34) Maulucci 5-12, Jackson 2-6, Parrish 1-4, Irvin 1-3, Poore 1-3, Hamilton 0-5, Walton 0-1.
Southeastern rebounds (31) Hamilton 9, Parrish 8, Walton 4, Self 3, Irvin 3, Jackson 2, Maulucci 1, Morris 1.
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Mallory Johnson 2-12 0-1 4 2
Maddie Knight 6-9 6-9 20 1
Abby Haley 0-3 0-0 0 3
Mallory Miller 0-1 2-2 2 1
Anna Kiser 2-4 1-2 5 5
Emily Wood 0-1 0-3 0 2
Sarah Etchison 0-4 0-0 0 2
Totals 10-34 9-17 31 16
Noblesville 3-point shooting (2-15) Knight 2-4, Johnson 0-7, Etchison 0-3, Haley 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (23) Knight 6, Kiser 5, Johnson 2, Haley 2, Miller 2, Wood 1, team 5.
Score by Quarters
Southeastern 14 11 21 19 – 65
Noblesville 9 5 9 8 – 31
Noblesville’s Abby Haley keeps control of the ball while being guarded by Hamilton Southeastern’s Tayah Irvin during the Millers-Royals girls basketball game Wednesday night at The Mill. (Kent Graham)
Noblesville’s Maddie Knight takes a shot while being guarded by Hamilton Southeastern’s Sydney Parrish (left) and Amaya Hamilton (right). (Kent Graham)