Of all the holiday tournament going on over the next couple weeks, there were probably none tougher than the Bedford North Lawrence girls tournament on Wednesday.
Three of Class 4A’s top five teams were there, including No. 3 Noblesville. The Millers started the event with a convincing victory over the No. 1-ranked team, defending 4A state champion Crown Point, by the score of 57-32. In the championship game, Noblesville lost to the No. 5 and host Stars 59-40.
The Millers were in control from the beginning against the state champion Bulldogs, leading 11-5 in the first quarter and 28-16 at halftime. Ashlynn Shade scored 12 points in the second quarter.
“I thought we played really well in that morning game,” said Noblesville coach Donna Buckley. The coach said the Millers “did a great job on both ends of the floor” of pressuring Crown Point’s Jessica Carrothers, the reigning Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year. Carrothers was held to four points, two in each half. In fact, no Crown Point player scored more than six points.
“I think we were great in our box-and-1,” said Buckley. “Kaitlyn Shoemaker and Meredith Tippner chased Carrothers all over the gym out of that box-and-1. They were really good.”
Shade finished with 22 points, and earned a double-double with 14 rebounds. Tippner collected seven rebounds, Reagan Wilson had five assists and four steals, while Brooklyn Smitherman blocked three shots.
“As a team, we had a lot of kids contribute and were really good on both sides,” said Buckley.
The title game saw Bedford North Lawrence get out to a 13-10 lead after one quarter, and the Stars pushed the lead to 29-16 by halftime. BNL then led 48-25 after three periods.
“They were really good,” said Buckley. “I thought we played tired and they were awesome.”
Buckley noted that the Stars shot the ball well, making eight 3-pointers for the game. Chloe Spreen scored 28 points for Bedford and Karsyn Norman scored 17 points; Buckley said those players “just put on a show.”
Shoemaker and Tippner both scored 11 points, with Shoemaker draining three 3s. Shade had seven rebounds and Wilson dished out another four assists.
“Anytime you’re going to play two top five teams and you get to travel a little over two hours to do that, it’s a great opportunity for our team,” said Buckley. “I think we’ll learn a lot from this and grow from it.”
The Millers are 12-3 and return home to The Mill on Monday to play Fort Wayne Northrop.
NOBLESVILLE 57, CROWN POINT 32
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Kaitlyn Shoemaker 0-5 0-0 0 1
Ashlynn Shade 9-21 2-2 22 2
Reagan Wilson 3-10 0-0 7 0
Meredith Tippner 2-7 0-0 5 0
Brooklyn Smitherman 2-2 1-1 5 2
Brooklyn Ely 1-2 0-0 3 1
Dani Mendez 1-2 2-2 4 2
Ava Shoemaker 3-4 0-0 8 0
Marit McLaughlin 0-0 0-0 0 1
Aubrey Novinger 0-0 0-0 0 0
Kate Rollins 1-1 0-0 3 0
Carly Motz 0-0 0-0 0 0
Bri Gray 0-1 0-0 0 0
Totals 22-55 5-5 57 9
Score by Quarters
Noblesville 11 17 19 10 – 57
Crown Point 5 11 7 9 – 32
Noblesville 3-point shooting (8-23) Shade 2-6, A. Shoemaker 2-2, Wilson 1-4, Tippner 1-3, Ely 1-2, Rollins 1-1, K. Shoemaker 0-5.
Noblesville rebounds (39) Shade 14, Tippner 7, K. Shoemaker 4, A. Shoemaker 3, Wilson 2, Mendez 2, Smitherman 2, McLaughlin 1, Gray 1, team 3.
BEDFORD NORTH LAWRENCE 59, NOBLESVILLE 40
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Kaitlyn Shoemaker 4-9 0-0 11 2
Ashlynn Shade 4-12 0-0 9 3
Reagan Wilson 1-8 0-0 3 1
Meredith Tippner 4-12 2-2 11 3
Brooklyn Smitherman 0-2 2-4 2 2
Brooklyn Ely 0-2 0-0 0 0
Ava Shoemaker 1-3 0-0 3 0
Dani Mendez 0-1 1-2 1 1
Totals 14-49 5-8 40 12
Score by Quarters
Noblesville 10 6 9 15 – 40
Bedford NL 13 16 19 11 – 59
Noblesville 3-point shooting (7-27) K. Shoemaker 3-7, Wilson 1-6, Tippner 1-5, Shade 1-4, A. Shoemaker 1-3.
Noblesville rebounds (25) Shade 7, Tippner 4, Mendez 4, Smitherman 4, K. Shoemaker 2, A. Shoemaker 1, Wilson 1, team 2.