By RICHIE HALL
Saturday night’s boys basketball game at The Mill began with a blast of heat.
Noblesville was stunned by an early hot-shooting performance by Anderson during the first couple minutes of the first quarter. But the Millers didn’t panic – instead they played it cool, and used hot shooting of their own to come back and eventually beat the Indians 73-66.
Anderson blasted off to a 9-0 lead after junior Joseph Jones drained three consecutive 3-pointers. Noblesville got on the board when senior Eagan Keever-Hill connected on a short jumper, and that seemed to break the ice for the Millers – it was the start of an 11-0 run. Senior Zack Johnson nailed a 3, then senior Xavier Hines made back to back triples, putting Noblesville up 11-9.
“I was really proud of our guys for not panicking,” said Millers coach Brian McCauley. “Obviously we didn’t have the intensity or the awareness that we needed to start the game with their shooters, particularly No. 10 (Jones).”
Emmanuel Stowes hit a free throw to make the score 11-10, which is where the first quarter ended. Anderson briefly took a 12-11 lead in the second quarter when Arriyone Hall hit a hook shot.
Noblesville answered with the first of two 8-0 runs in the period. Hines threw in another 3, then junior Alex Hunt scored five straight points, the final three on a three-point play to put the Millers up 19-12.
“I thought Hunt was really good in the second quarter,” said McCauley. “A great spark for us.”
Another Jones 3 got the Indians within 21-18, then Noblesville began its next 8-0 run. Hunt continued his sensational second quarter with another three-point play, then a 3-point basket. Johnson finished the run with two free throws.
“Really pleased with our composure throughout that stretch, and then offensively, I thought we did a good job of, throughout that stretch, finding the open man, making the right pass and taking good shots,” said McCauley.
The Millers led 33-20 at halftime. Noblesville would keep its lead between seven and 13 points throughout the third quarter, making timely baskets, getting contributions from everyone on the floor and also using its defense to keep Anderson in check whenever it threatened to heat up again. McCauley said his team “did a good job of spreading them out” in the third quarter.
The Millers made some gutsy plays as well: When Daveyon Turner made a 3 (another one!) to bring the Indians within 38-30, Keever-Hill launched a football pass to Hines on the other side of the court, then Hines made the easy basket to get the lead back up to 10.
Jones heated up again with back-to-back 3s to bring Anderson within 43-36 late in the third quarter, but the Millers cooled that off with two free throws from Keever-Hill, then Hines scored to push Noblesville ahead 47-36.
“Eagan did a good job of knocking down free throws,” said McCauley.
The Indians cut the Millers’ lead to 47-40 by the end of three, but Johnson hit a quick 3 to start the fourth quarter. A short time later, Brendon Fisher hit a 3-pointer.
“They went to the trap in the fourth quarter,” said McCauley. “We did a good job with our formation and passing, and Fisher hit a big 3 to put us up 13.”
Anderson kept fighting, and were still within 58-49 with 5:08 left. The Millers then used good passing to take time off the clock, and ended that sequence with Johnson making a layin. Another Johnson basket put the Millers ahead 62-49; he scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and hit Noblesville’s last basket of the game, a layin to put them ahead 70-57.
Four Noblesville players finished the game in double figures: Johnson scored 24, Hines had 19, Hunt scored 13 (on 5-of-5 field-goal shooting and 2-of-2 free-throw shooting) and Keever-Hill added 11. Hines had four rebounds, while Fisher handed out four assists. As a team, Noblesville shot 25-for-34, or 73.5 percent.
“Great team performance and great individual performances as well,” said McCauley.
The Millers are now 2-2 and will travel to Westfield on Friday for a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game.
“They’ve been working hard and they earned this win,” said McCauley. “So now we’ll try to get ready for a really tough game against a conference opponent in Westfield.”
Noblesville 73, Anderson 66
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Xavier Hines 7-9 2-2 19 2
Alex Hunt 5-5 2-2 13 2
Zack Johnson 9-11 3-5 24 2
Eagan Keever-Hill 3-6 5-6 11 3
Jordan Schmidt 0-2 1-2 1 4
Brendon Fisher 1-1 0-0 3 1
Jared Crandall 0-0 0-0 0 0
Jordan Gadis 0-0 1-2 1 0
Parker Davis 0-0 0-0 0 0
Evan Wilson 0-0 1-2 1 0
Keagan Smith 0-0 0-0 0 0
Trenton Reed 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 25-34 15-21 73 14
Score by Quarters
Anderson 10 10 20 26 – 66
Noblesville 11 22 14 26 – 73
Noblesville 3-point shooting (8-11) Johnson 3-4, Hines 3-4, Fisher 1-1, Hunt 1-1, Schmidt 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (17) Hines 4, Keever-Hill 3, Johnson 3, Fisher 2, Hunt 2, Schmidt 1, team 2.
Noblesville’s Alex Hunt was a major part of two seconds-quarter runs for the Millers in their 73-66 win over Anderson Saturday. Hunt scored 11 points in the second period and 13 overall. (Kent Graham)