By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – During halftime of its 1000th game Friday night, the Noblesville girls basketball team honored its past by spotlighting former coaches and players.
All of those players have contributed to a Millers program that – at the time – had a 606-393 record. A little while later, the current group of Noblesville players picked up win No. 607, and proved the future of the program is very bright.
The Class 4A No. 2 Millers used scorching 3-point shooting to pull away from backyard rival Hamilton Heights 67-41. The Huskies were able to hang with Noblesville in the first quarter, but a big run in the second period broke the game open, and the Millers kept up the pace in the second half.
There was a large crowd at The Mill to witness the historic game, and it was a battle in the first quarter. Noblesville led 3-0 at first, but Heights jumped ahead 5-3 when MyKayla Moran made two free throws and Mia Shields hit a 3.
Both teams then traded 8-0 runs. The Millers went first, cruising to an 11-5 lead after Ava Shoemaker nailed a 3 and Reagan Wilson poured in the next five points, on a layin and a triple.
The Huskies’ answer to that run started with a 3 from Ella Hickok, then Camryn Runner made a layin to cut Noblesville’s lead to 11-10. That would be the score at the end of the first, and Runner opened the second period with a 3 to give Heights a 13-11 advantage.
After that, it was all Millers, as they went on a 15-0 run. Meredith Tippner scored the first two baskets, Ashlynn Shade added five points and Brooklyn Ely drained back-to-back triples. When the dust settled, Noblesville led 26-13, although the Huskies were able to cut that lead to 28-21 by halftime. Runner scored the final five points of the half.
“Noblesville’s just a really good basketball team,” said Heights coach Keegan Cheery. “The first half, we were on the ropes and showed some resiliency. I was proud of the fight and the way we closed that first half.
Noblesville coach Donna Buckley admitted that her team played “a little tight during those opening minutes.
“It was awesome, and I thought our kids were a little nervous,” said Buckley. “And Heights played pretty well.”
Wilson scored the first three points of the second half on a free throw and a layin, but Shields’ triple got the Huskies within seven again at 31-24. But then it became a Millers three-for-all, with Noblesville putting in five 3s during the third quarter. Kaitlyn Shoemaker and Ely had back-to-back triples, then after a Kaylee Rhoton basket, Ely nailed another 3 to give Noblesville a 40-26 lead.
Runner drained a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 40-29, but the Millers then took off on a 22-0 run that lasted well into the fourth quarter. Ava Shoemaker and Ely finished the third period with two more 3s, putting Noblesville up 46-29. Shade then got going at the start of the fourth, scoring five straight points. Kaitlyn Shoemaker, Tippner and Shade all hit 3s to finish the run and give the Millers a 62-29 advantage. Noblesville finished the game with 12 3-pointers.
“Third quarter, we came out and hit some shots and it was good to just get rolling. We had so many kids hit some big 3s. I thought Brooklyn Ely just really opened that game up. And then you take her away, and Shoemaker and those kids really did a great job of making big plays.”
Ely finished the game with 17 points, and went 5-of-7 from 3-point range. She was the first of four Millers in double figures, with Shade adding 13 points, Wilson 11 and Tippner 10.
“It was nice to see those other kids come in and do some great things,” said Buckley. “We had really nice depth last week in scoring as well, just a little different group this time.”
Shade collected 10 rebounds for a double-double, and also had six steals and five assists. Wilson dished out eight assists and pulled six rebounds, while Dani Mendez had four rebounds.
Runner led the Huskies with 16 points and six rebounds, while Shields finished with four 3-pointers and 12 points. Moran also collected six rebounds and Hickok handed out five assists.
“They got some other girls that can make it and we knew we were going to give some things up,” said Cherry. “But Noblesville’s really good. We’ll learn from it. All of our goals are still in front of us. It’s a short-term memory thing and we get back at it tomorrow.”
Noblesville improved to 2-0 with the win and hosts 3A No. 4 Garrett tonight. The junior varsity starts at 5 p.m., with the varsity tipping off at 6:30 p.m. Heights is 1-1 and hosts Madison-Grant tonight.
NOBLESVILLE 67, HAMILTON HEIGHTS 41
Heights FG FT TP PF
Ella Hickok 0-5 0-0 0 1
Mia Shields 4-12 0-0 12 5
Camryn Runner 5-10 2-3 16 3
Kaylee Rhoton 1-5 0-0 2 0
MyKayla Moran 0-2 2-3 2 2
Hadleigh Cherry 0-3 2-3 2 1
Kennedy Cherry 2-2 0-1 4 0
Aubrey Baber 0-0 0-0 0 0
Katie Brown 1-1 0-0 3 1
Morgan Ottinger 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 13-40 6-10 41 13
Heights 3-point shooting (9-25) Shields 4-10, Runner 4-6, Brown 1-1, Hickok 0-3, Rhoton 0-3, H. Cherry 0-2.
Heights rebounds (30) Runner 6, Moran 6, H. Cherry 4, K. Cherry 2, Shields 1, Rhoton 1, team 10.
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Kaitlyn Shoemaker 3-5 0-0 8 4
Ashlynn Shade 4-16 3-4 13 0
Reagan Wilson 5-14 0-0 11 3
Meredith Tippner 3-5 4-6 10 3
Brooklyn Smitherman 0-3 0-0 0 0
Brooklyn Ely 5-8 2-2 17 0
Ava Shoemaker 2-5 0-0 6 2
Dani Mendez 0-1 0-0 0 4
Marit McLaughlin 0-0 0-2 0 0
Aubrey Novinger 0-1 0-0 0 0
Kate Rollins 1-2 0-0 2 0
Carly Motz 0-0 0-0 0 1
Bri Gray 0-0 0-1 0 0
Totals 23-60 9-15 67 17
Noblesville 3-point shooting (12-29) Ely 5-7, Shade 2-5, K. Shoemaker 2-4, A. Shoemaker 2-3, Wilson 1-7, Novinger 0-1, Tippner 0-1, Rollins 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (36) Shade 10, Wilson 6, Mendez 4, Tippner 3, Smitherman 3, K. Shoemaker 2, Ely 2, McLaughlin 1, A. Shoemaker 1, Gray 1, team 3.
Score by Quarters
Heights 10 11 8 12 – 41
Noblesville 11 17 18 21 – 67