By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – The Noblesville boys basketball team’s first Hoosier Crossroads Conference win of the season might also be the Millers’ most memorable game of the year.
Noblesville held off Franklin Central 53-52 Friday night at The Mill. It was a back and forth contest most of the way; the Millers took a big lead midway through the fourth quarter, then weathered the storm of a huge Flashes comeback to get the victory.
Noblesville led 50-39 at midway through the fourth quarter, going on a 14-2 run that started at the end of the third when E.J. Smith made a putback to get the Millers ahead 38-37. Noblesville never trailed after that.
The Millers rolled into the fourth period with baskets from Noah Harris and Alex Hunt, then scored eight unanswered points to take their 11-point lead. Smith made a layin, then Hunt immediately got fouled on a rebound basket attempt and hit two free throws. Seconds later, Hunt scored on a tipback, then two more foul shots.
Franklin Central finished the game on a 13-3 run, pouring in nine of those points in a span of two minutes. Hunt made two free throws to get the Noblesville up 53-48, then the Flashes’ Sam Mettert scored to cut the lead to three.
Mettert scored again off a steal with 1:26 left in the game, but neither team got another point after that. Franklin Central got one last chance with 16 seconds left, but a shot didn’t go just before the buzzer. After a whistle and some discussion, 1.2 seconds were put back on the clock, but the Flashes couldn’t get a shot off.
“It was good,” said Millers coach John Peckinpaugh. “We got that 10-point lead. What it took us to get there, we kind of went away from it late. They did some things different and turned up their pressure a little bit, got us out of what we were doing. But I’m really happy we got a stop there at the end of the game. It was chaos and then we got another stop. So I’m proud of how our guys responded to the game.”
The first quarter was close, with the biggest lead three points. The Millers went up three first when Smith drained a 3-pointer to get his team up 6-3. Franklin Central also had a 3-point advantage after Jacob Whitney’s layin, getting FC up 10-7. But Brendon Fisher erased that with a triple. Whitney made a basket before the buzzer to put the Flashes up 12-10 at the end of the quarter.
Consecutive baskets from Javon Small put Franklin Central up 16-12 early in the second period, but Noblesville responded with a 9-0 run. Evan Wilson made two free throws to start the run and a 3-pointer to finish it, with Fisher making a driving layin and Hunt getting a basket in between. The Flashes used their own 7-0 run to take a 26-23 lead with seconds left, but Wilson got the last word of the first half, with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 26-26 at the break.
In the third period, it was more back and forth. Benny Ogayonne hit a 3 to put Franklin Central up 29-26, but the Millers took the lead back on layins by Harris and Hunt. Wilson’s basket got Noblesville up 34-31, with Mason Gonzales then tying the game with another 3. Ogayonne’s second 3 of the quarter put the Flashes ahead 37-36, but Smith’s putback started the Millers’ big run.
Hunt scored 21 points for the Millers, shooting 5-of-6 from the field and 11-of-12 from the free-throw line. Wilson added 10 points, including two 3-pointers, and collected eight rebounds. Smith also had 10 points.
“Alex was really big for us tonight,” said Peckinpaugh. “He really did a good job attacking it from the perimeter. Did a lot of different things. I thought he rebounded really well. Evan Wilson really stepped up with his rebounding, really brought something else to his game.”
Noblesville is now 1-3 in HCC play and 8-8 overall, having won back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Millers go on the road tonight to Logansport.
“I’ve talked to our guys a lot this season about handling success,” said Peckinpaugh. “We have a little bit here and there, but now we have to grow and take it to that next level. If we can do that, we’re doing it at the right time, headed into the last month of the season.”
Noblesville’s junior varsity team won a triple-overtime game 64-55. Luke Almodovar scored 30 points, followed by Josh Durham with 16 and Kadin Hamilton with 10.
NOBLESVILLE 53, FRANKLIN CENTRAL 52
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Jordan Gadis 0-1 0-0 0 4
Brendon Fisher 2-3 0-0 5 2
E.J. Smith 4-6 1-3 10 2
Noah Harris 2-7 1-2 5 2
Alex Hunt 5-6 11-12 21 1
Evan Wilson 3-7 2-2 10 3
David Lloyd 0-1 0-0 0 0
Preston Roberts 1-2 0-0 2 1
Trenton Reed 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 17-33 15-19 53 15
Score by Quarters
Franklin Central 12 14 11 15 – 52
Noblesville 10 16 12 15 – 53
Noblesville 3-point shooting (4-15) Wilson 2-6, Fisher 1-2, Smith 1-2, Harris 0-2, Gadis 0-1, Hunt 0-1, Roberts 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (26) Wilson 8, Gadis 4, Harris 4, Smith 3, Hunt 3, Fisher 2, team 2.
Noblesville’s E.J. Smith scored 10 points for the Millers in their win over Franklin Central Friday night at The Mill. It was the first Hoosier Crossroads Conference victory of the season for Noblesville. (Kent Graham)
Noblesville High School honored the legacy of Tony Etchison by presenting Tony’s family with his No. 20 jersey during halftime of the Millers’ game on Friday. Several members of the Hamilton Heights community were also at the game to pay tribute to Tony and the Etchison family. If you wish to donate to the Tony Etchison Memorial Foundation, a fund of the Hamilton County Community Foundation, please visit www.Etch21.com for details. (Kent Graham)