By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – The Noblesville girls basketball team was going crazy Wednesday night as the Millers’ game at Hamilton Southeastern was right at the end.
The only Noblesville player who was staying calm was Dani Mendez. The irony is that Mendez was the reason everyone was going crazy, although it was a good reason: Mendez had just made the game-winning layin for Noblesville, allowing the Class 4A No. 1 Millers to escape the Royals’ gym with a 66-64 victory, keeping them unbeaten for the year at 8-0 overall, 3-0 in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference.
Yet even in all the excitement, Mendez still in game mode. She thought there was still time on the clock.
“Everything was going on, I didn’t know what to do,” said Mendez. “Just thought there were seconds left and getting back on defense.”
The many fans who were at the game would understand. The Millers-Royals game was a dramatic one, with Southeastern taking big leads in the first and fourth quarters, and Noblesville coming back both times. There was also a ton of energy at the gym, as the Royals were honoring retired coach Chris Huppenthal, who had been the Southeastern coach for the past 16 years, compiling a 282-86 record for the Royals, and winning the 2019 Class 4A state championship.
With all that going on, Millers coach Donna Buckley knew HSE would be fired up.
“I thought they’d come out hot,” said Buckley. But Noblesville was able to handle it, coming back from 60-49 down with five minutes left in the fourth quarter.
“We showed so much toughness tonight,” said Buckley. “Just incredible toughness to get that win.”
Southeastern had built its 11-point lead after freshman Maya Makalusky hit back-to-back 3-pointers. The Millers responded with a quick 10-0 run to get within 60-59. Freshman Meredith Tippner started the comeback with a triple and a free throw, then Ashlynn Shade hit a jumper. Mendez made a layin, then Tippner drained two more foul shots.
A basket by Riley Makalusky got the Royals back up 62-59, but Noblesville’s Brooklyn Ely tied it up with a 3. Shade then gave the Millers a lead with a layin, but Riley Makalusky matched that with a jumper.
So, the score was now 64-64. After a succession of timeouts, Noblesville had the ball with 3.8 seconds left. Tippner inbounded the ball to Shade, who rushed up the court and sent it to Mendez under the basket. Mendez made the easy layin, and the Millers had the win.
“We wanted to hit Ashlynn on the move, knowing that they would have to draw some defenders over,” said Buckley. “We had Dani at the 3-point line, just told her to dive. I had Beely (Brooklyn Ely) in the corner in case they helped off, because I felt like either one of those kids were going to have a chance to make a play if they helped off Dani. Credit Ash. That’s hard to do when you’re the best player in the gym to make that pass and to trust, and she did that. And then Dani to just make that play. She made a couple huge plays for us down the stretch, so really proud of her and proud of everybody executing on that last play.”
Mendez said that she was just thinking about the play that was drawn up, then “just to take the shot and make it.” Mendez remembered the last time she hit a game-winner: It was in middle school, during a game with Fishers.
Noblesville’s comeback was a big one, especially since the Millers were down by double digits twice in the game. Southeastern got off to a spectacular start, leading 12-2 midway through the first quarter. Riley Makalusky had eight points by that time. Olivia Brown scored the game’s first basket off a steal, and she would be brilliant on defense all game long, getting seven steals on the night.
Noblesville got back to within 17-10 before a quick 6-0 run by HSE gave the Royals their largest lead of the game at 23-10. Maya Makalusky hit a 3, then Brown scored off a steal again, this time while getting fouled. She made the ensuing free throw for the traditional three-point play.
“I loved the energy the girls played with, especially the way we came out,” said Royals coach Brian Satterfield. “Got a great start.”
The Millers began to close the gap, and were within 23-15 by the end of the first quarter. Noblesville then tied things up at 28-28 with a 3 from Kaitlyn Shoemaker and a putback from Shade. But Maya Makalusky was there with another triple, and the Royals led 31-28.
The Millers used a 6-0 run to get their first lead of the game at 37-36 with seconds left in the first half. Shade put Noblesville in front by making a steal, then rebounding her own miss and getting the putback. Southeastern would have the halftime lead, though, as Lauren Stewart nailed a 3 to give her team a 39-37 lead.
In the third quarter, the Millers got in front 47-46 after a Shade 3-pointer. Then it became the Makalusky show, as the two sisters put together a 14-2 run for the Royals. Riley Makalusky scored the first five points, then Maya Makalusky threw in three 3-pointers, putting HSE back up double digits for the second time in the game before the Millers made their comeback.
“They’re one of the best, if not the best team in the state,” said Satterfield. “We knew that they were going to make a run at us. The best part about it is, they made a run there early to get back into it, and we responded. Start of the second half, we get out there and we pulled away, even into the fourth quarter. But when they made that run, we had a few key mistakes that really hurt us. But you got to give them credit.”
Shade finished the game with 23 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and five assists. Tippner had 13 points and five rebounds, while Ely’s three 3-pointers gave her nine points. Reagan Wilson dished out four assists.
Maya Makalusky totaled 21 points, going 7 of 8 from the 3-point line. Riley Makalusky added 20 points, while Stewart hit three 3s for nine points. Brown finished with nine points, seven steals and six assists. Maya Makalusky dished out four assists and Zoe Bolding had three blocked shots.
Noblesville finishes its five-game road trip Saturday up at Class 3A No. 2 Mishawaka Marian. Southeastern is 2-1 in conference action and 5-4 overall, and plays Tuesday at Pendleton Heights.
Click here to see action shots of the game.
NOBLESVILLE 66, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 64
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Kaitlyn Shoemaker 3-5 0-0 8 4
Ashlynn Shade 9-17 3-3 23 1
Reagan Wilson 3-7 1-2 7 2
Meredith Tippner 3-6 6-8 13 2
Brooklyn Smitherman 0-2 0-0 0 3
Brooklyn Ely 3-3 0-0 9 0
Ava Shoemaker 0-3 0-0 0 0
Dani Mendez 3-6 0-0 6 1
Totals 24-49 10-13 66 13
Noblesville 3-point shooting (8-16) Ely 3-3, K. Shoemaker 2-3, Shade 2-3, Tippner 1-3, Wilson 0-3, A. Shoemaker 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (25) Shade 8, Tippner 5, A. Shoemaker 4, Mendez 3, Ely 1, Wilson 1, team 3.
Southeastern FG FT TP PF
Maya Makalusky 7-11 0-0 21 1
Mikayla Hinshaw 0-1 1-2 1 2
Riley Makalusky 8-15 4-4 20 1
Olivia Brown 4-5 1-2 9 2
Zoe Bolding 2-4 0-0 4 1
Lauren Stewart 3-5 0-0 9 3
Caleigh Scott 0-0 0-0 0 0
Gabi Layman 0-1 0-0 0 0
Maine Hooks 0-0 0-0 0 2
Totals 24-42 6-8 64 12
Southeastern 3-point shooting (10-17) M. Makalusky 7-8, Stewart 3-4, R. Makalusky 0-3, Brown 0-1, Layman 0-1.
Southeastern rebounds (12) Bolding 5, R. Makalusky 3, M. Makalusky 1, Brown 1, Stewart 1, Hinshaw 1.
Score by Quarters
Noblesville 15 22 10 19 – 66
Southeastern 23 16 15 10 – 64