By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – The theme for Wednesday night’s girls basketball game at The Mill between Noblesville and Hamilton Southeastern was “aggressive defense.”
The Millers came out tough on defense, which enabled them to take control of the contest and build up a big lead by the third quarter. The Class 4A No. 4 Royals used their aggressive defense to mount a comeback during the late third and fourth periods before Noblesville held on to win 50-39.
With the win, the Millers improved to 4-1 for the season. It also gave Noblesville a unique achievement: The Millers now have wins over the past two 4A state champions. Southeastern won in 2019 and Noblesville beat last year’s champ Lawrence North to begin its season. And the Millers are doing this despite not having their full lineup available for a few weeks now.
“I love this group of kids,” said Noblesville coach Donna Buckley. “They’re so mentally tough. Nothing’s rattled them. We played Homestead, played seven kids. They just want to play basketball. That’s the most important thing. Our kids just love playing basketball, love being together, and we’re just going to keep rolling and see what happens.”
The Millers led wire-to-wire, rolling to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Emily Wood and Ashlynn Shade each scored baskets, with a Kaitlyn Shoemaker 3-pointer in between. Lauren Stewart got the Royals on the board with a 3-pointer.
Noblesville was in front 9-4 going into the second quarter, and that became 11-4 when Wood made a hook shot. Lydia Self scored HSE’s first basket of the period, a layin to cut it to 11-6.
Shade took over again, hitting back-to-back baskets, then her two free throws were the last points of the half, which ended with the Millers in front 18-10. Those free throws were also the first points of a 14-0 run that stretched well into the third quarter. Wood again opened a quarter with a basket, Shade scored four more and Jayla Jones finished the run with a 3-pointer to put Noblesville up 30-10.
The Royals began to rally at that point, as they began playing more aggressive on defense. Self got things started, scoring four points on two free throws and a basket off a steal.
Shade hit a short jumper to put the Millers ahead 37-15, but the Royals finished the third quarter on a lightning-quick 9-0 run, staying within 37-24. Makayla Hinshaw nailed a 3-pointer, Stewart converted a traditional three-point play, and Ryan Viele ended the period with a triple.
“I thought we got more aggressive as the game went on and that’s why we were able to climb back into the game,” said HSE coach Chris Huppenthal. “This is a young group we’re dealing with. We know we’re going to go through some growing pains and I think they grew up a lot in the second half.”
Shade began the fourth with another set of back-to-back baskets, after which Southeastern went on a 7-0 run. Stewart hit a 3 and made a layin, with Viele scoring off a steal in between. The Royals thus cut Noblesville’s lead to 41-31 with 4:54 remaining.
The Millers wouldn’t let them get closer, though, going on their own 8-0 run to move ahead 49-31 with under two minutes to go. Brooklyn Smitherman started the run by grabbing an offensive rebound, then eventually laying the ball in. Shoemaker added four points and Mallory Miller capped it off with a layin.
“They really made a nice little run at the end of the third,” said Buckley. “They kind of rattled us a little bit and then we settled in some. Ashlynn made some big plays. She is just, obviously, a phenomenal basketball player, really made plays to settle us down. Smitherman had a huge rebound late, that offensive rebound gave us an extra possession and a score. We settled in and kids made plays.”
Southeastern battled to the end, with Stewart and Olivia Brown hitting back-to-back 3s. Brown also scored on a layin for the final basket of the game.
“When we started pressing and got more aggressive, it got our kids going,” said Huppenthal. “Again, that may be something we have to look at and come out and get them in that mindset right away.”
Shade led all scorers with 24 points, and was 9-for-9 from two-point range. She also made six steals and collected five rebounds. Miller led on the boards with eight rebounds. Stewart hit three 3-pointers to score 14 points for the Royals. Self led the rebounds with six and Brown made four steals.
Noblesville will host Mishawaka Marian, the No. 4 team in 3A with a 6-0 record, on Saturday afternoon. Southeastern, now 4-2, also plays its next game Saturday afternoon, making a trip to McCutcheon.
NOBLESVILLE 50, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 39
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Lydia Self 2-4 3-5 7 3
Makayla Hinshaw 1-5 3-4 6 4
Riley Makalusky 0-3 0-0 0 0
Olivia Brown 3-7 0-1 7 4
Ryan Viele 2-9 0-0 5 3
Teegan Acres 0-1 0-0 0 0
Caleigh Scott 0-0 0-0 0 1
Lauren Stewart 5-10 1-1 14 1
Totals 13-39 7-11 39 16
Southeastern 3-point shooting (6-22) Stewart 3-7, Hinshaw 1-5, Brown 1-4, Viele 1-4, Self 0-1, Acres 0-1.
Southeastern rebounds (23) Self 6, Viele 4, Stewart 4, Acres 2, Makalusky 1, Brown 1, team 5.
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Kaitlyn Shoemaker 2-4 2-2 7 3
Ashlynn Shade 9-10 6-7 24 3
Mallory Miller 2-7 1-4 5 3
Brooklyn Smitherman 1-4 0-2 2 2
Emily Wood 3-3 0-0 6 4
Jayla Jones 2-4 1-2 6 1
Brooklyn Ely 0-1 0-0 0 0
Ava Shoemaker 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 19-33 10-17 50 16
Noblesville 3-point shooting (2-10) Shoemaker 1-3, Jones 1-3, Miller 0-2, Ely 0-1, Shade 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (23) Miller 8, Shade 5, Smitherman 4, Ely 2, Shoemaker 1, Jones 1, team 2.
Score by Quarters
Southeastern 4 6 14 15 – 39
Noblesville 9 9 19 13 – 50