By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – Noblesville won its sixth consecutive game on Wednesday, using a big first quarter to beat county rival Carmel 59-46 at The Mill.
The Millers dominated that first period, leading the Class 4A No. 8 Greyhounds 17-5 by the end of the quarter. Six different Noblesville players scored; Emily Wood had four points. Carmel got within 12-5 towards the end of the quarter, but Wood made a basket, then Kaitlyn Shoemaker hit a 3-pointer.
The ‘Hounds were missing their two Division I commits, Bridget Dunn and Kate Clarke, but Millers coach Donna Buckley pointed out that it was still a dangerous Carmel team.
“You don’t want to let them hang around, you want to get out and get a good start,” said Buckley. “They’re going to come at you. This is their third game without an unbelievable player in Clarke and obviously they miss Dunn, as well.”
Buckley noted that before playing Noblesville, the Greyhounds overwhelmed Lawrence Central and played Penn tough before falling to the 4A No. 4 Kingsmen.
“It was 10-11 after the first quarter against Penn, so we talked about making sure we had a good start and not letting them stay around,” said Buckley. “We wanted to dictate tempo as well.”
The other three quarters were more even, but Noblesville was able to hold a comfortable lead throughout the game. Carmel got within 17-10 after Emily Roper made a layin and Hannah Lach hit a 3-pointer to open the second quarter, but Shoemaker ended that with a triple, then Ashlynn Shade was good on a three-point play.
The Millers led 30-19 at halftime. Carmel scored the last four points of the second quarter and the first four of the third, getting them within 30-23. Riley Pennington scored six of those points during the 8-0 run. But Noblesville responded with its own 7-0 run; Mallory Miller and Wood each had baskets and Shade drained a 3.
“Our girls played so hard,” said Carmel coach Erin Trimpe, who acknowledged that the first quarter put her team at a disadvantage.
“Against a team like that, it’s very hard to dig yourselves out of a hole from that,” said Trimpe. “We played them exactly even the rest of the game. It was just that first quarter that put us in a hole.”
The Millers kept their lead in double digits from that point forward, with one exception: A 3-pointer by Emily Roper got the ‘Hounds within 52-43 with around two minutes left. Noblesville responded with back-to-back layins from Shoemaker and Miller, and finished things up from there.
Four players scored in double figures for the Millers, led by Shade’s 17 points. Shoemaker contributed 14 points, Miller scored 12 and Wood had 10. Shade reached double-double status with 10 rebounds, and also had seven steals and five assists.
Pennington and Lach each scored 15 points for the Greyhounds, with Lach draining three 3s. Roper collected eight rebounds, with Pennington pulling five, and Mackenzie Thomas blocked three shots.
“The girls are doing everything we’re asking them to, it’s just learning to get over that hump and finish games,” said Trimpe.
Noblesville is 13-3 and plays Saturday afternoon at Lawrence Central. Carmel is 8-5 and hosts Center Grove Friday for a Metropolitan Conference game.
NOBLESVILLE 59, CARMEL 46
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Erin Baker 2-7 0-0 4 3
Evan Spidel 0-1 0-0 0 0
Riley Pennington 3-7 9-12 15 5
Hannah Lach 5-13 2-2 15 0
Emily Roper 2-5 1-2 6 5
Laura Valiente 0-0 0-0 0 0
Mackenzie Thomas 3-5 0-0 6 3
Tori Tomalia 0-0 0-0 0 0
Maya Berglund 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 15-38 12-16 46 16
Carmel 3-point shooting (4-14) Lach 3-10, Roper 1-1, Baker 0-2, Spidel 0-1.
Carmel rebounds (24) Roper 8, Pennington 5, Baker 4, Lach 3, Thomas 2, Valiente 1, Thomas 1.
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Ashlynn Shade 6-12 3-3 17 1
Reagan Wilson 1-8 1-2 3 2
Mallory Miller 3-10 6-7 12 3
Brooklyn Smitherman 1-1 0-0 2 1
Emily Wood 5-7 0-0 10 4
Kaitlyn Shoemaker 5-10 2-3 14 2
Dani Mendez 0-0 1-2 1 0
Jayla Jones 0-4 0-0 0 2
Brooklyn Ely 0-1 0-0 0 0
Totals 21-53 13-17 59 15
Noblesville 3-point shooting (4-19) Shoemaker 2-4, Shade 2-4, Wilson 0-5, Jones 0-3, Miller 0-2, Ely 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (27) Shade 10, Wilson 4, Wood 3, Shoemaker 2, Ely 1, Miller 1, Mendez 1, Smitherman 1, team 4.
Score by Quarters
Carmel 5 14 13 14 – 46
Noblesville 17 13 15 14 – 59