The Noblesville boys basketball team won its first game of the season on Saturday, holding off Columbus East 72-68 at The Mill.
The Millers led 19-18 after the first quarter and 31-27 at halftime. Noblesville began to pull away in the third period, at one point leading 39-29 before the Olympians cut it to 49-46 by the end of the quarter.
Columbus East took the lead in the fourth quarter, going up 58-54 with 5:32 left in the period. The Olympians were still ahead 63-60 at the four-minute mark before Noah Harris made a dunk to get Noblesville within 63-62. After another defensive stop, EJ Smith put the Millers ahead 65-63 by converting a three-point play.
Columbus East came back to tie the game at 68-68 with under a minute left, but Noblesville made free throws to clinch the victory. Josh Durham put the Millers ahead for good with his foul shots, then Smith put the game out of reach by making both ends of a 1-and-1.
“Team effort, everyone did their job down the stretch,” said Noblesville coach John Peckinpaugh. “We could’ve easily folded.” The coach said his team showed “a little bit of resilience” and toughness down the stretch.
Luke Almodovar led the Millers scoring with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. Smith scored 15 while David Lloyd added 12 and led the rebounds with six. Harris collected five rebounds.
The Millers are 1-1 and host Fishers Friday to open Hoosier Crossroads Conference play.
NOBLESVILLE 72, COLUMBUS EAST 68
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Josh Durham 1-3 4-4 6 4
EJ Smith 6-11 3-4 15 1
Noah Harris 3-6 3-4 9 3
Luke Almodovar 7-15 0-0 17 1
Preston Roberts 3-4 0-0 7 5
Aaron Fine 3-7 0-2 6 2
David Lloyd 5-9 0-0 12 4
Luke Wilson 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 28-55 10-12 72 20
Score by Quarters
Columbus East 18 9 19 22 – 68
Noblesville 19 12 18 23 – 72
Noblesville 3-point shooting (6-24) Almodovar 3-9, Lloyd 2-5, Roberts 1-2, Smith 0-4, Fine 0-2, Durham 0-1, Harris 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (22) Lloyd 6, Harris 5, Almodovar 3, Roberts 3, Fine 2, Smith 2, Durham 1.
Thank you for covering the Noblesville Millers games.