The Noblesville boys basketball team finally returned to the floor on Tuesday after a 17-day layoff, as the Millers began hosting their annual holiday basketball tournament.
Noblesville took on Roncalli in its first game of the event, the finale of the four first-round games that were played at The Mill on Tuesday. The Millers built a big lead by the third quarter, then held off a serious run by the Royals in the fourth period to win 64-58 and advance to today’s semi-finals.
“It’s a good win, especially under the circumstances that we’ve had,” said Noblesville coach Scott McClelland. “We had them at 32 after three and that just got a little lackadaisical. They made some big plays. I thought we got fatigued.”
The Millers powered through the first quarter and that led them to a 29-19 advantage at halftime. E.J. Smith played outstanding during the first period, scoring 11 points in that quarter alone on three 3-pointers and a pair of free throws. Smith finished the half with 13 points, and four other Noblesville players also scored during the first half, with Aaron Fine chipping in seven points.
The Millers continued to roll during the third quarter, going on an 18-5 run to lead 47-24. Smith threw in two more 3s, and Cooper Bean made a triple as well. Fine added another seven points; it was his jumper that gave Noblesville its largest lead.
Roncalli began to make a run towards the end of the period, but two free throws from Fine kept the Millers ahead 51-32 going into the fourth quarter. A layin from Smith kept Noblesville ahead 53-35 early in ther period.
The Royals used a series of short runs to make their comeback. Roncalli outscored the Millers 13-3 to get the lead into single digits. A putback from Fine pushed Noblesville ahead 58-48, but the Royals went on another run, this one a 10-2 spurt with under two minutes left in the game to get within 60-58.
But the Millers were able to hang on from there. Fine made a pair of foul shots to push Noblesville’s lead back to four, and Roberts clinched the game with two more free throws with 6.1 seconds left.
McClelland was encouraged by the Millers’ balance. Smith led the way with 21 points, with Fine right behind him at 20 points. Bean added 11 and Roberts scored nine.
Noblesville had its last three games postponed, and now the Millers are in a stretch of playing three games in two days at their tournament. Noblesville plays Chesterton at 12:45 p.m. today in the second semi-final game, following the first semi-final contest against Norwell and Crown Point.
It’s a sudden and tough stretch, and McClelland wants to make sure his players are taking care of themselves.
“They’ve got to eat, they’ve got to rest,” said McClelland. “We’ll bring them in in the morning, let them leave, come back. We’ve got a tough challenge ahead, obviously, in a very, very good, well-coached Chesterton team.”
Chesterton is undefeated at 7-0 and ranked No. 7 in the Class 4A Associated Press poll. The Trojans beat Northridge 64-40 in their first-round game.
Placement games start at 2:30 p.m. today, leading up to the championship game at 7:45 p.m. A full slate of results and today’s schedule appears below.
FIRST-ROUND RESULTS
Norwell 69, Lawrence Central 59
Crown Point 63, Columbus North 56
Chesterton 64, Northridge 40
Noblesville 64, Roncalli 58
CONSOLATION GAMES
Lawrence Central 62, Columbus North 61, OT
Northridge 69, Roncalli 52
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
SEMI-FINALS
Norwell vs. Crown Point, 11 a.m.
Chesterton vs. Noblesville, 12:45 p.m.
PLACEMENT GAMES
Seventh-place: Columbus North vs. Roncalli, 2:30 p.m.
Fifth-place: Lawrence Central vs. Northridge, 4:15 p.m.
Third-place game: 6 p.m.
Championship game: 7:45 p.m.
NOBLESVILLE 64, RONCALLI 58
Team FG FT TP PF
E.J. Smith 7 2-2 21 2
Aaron Fine 7 5-7 20 1
Cooper Bean 5 0-1 11 1
Preston Roberts 3 2-2 9 3
Cameron Karns 0 1-2 1 2
Hunter Walston 0 2-2 2 0
Luke Wilson 0 0-0 0 1
Evan Wright 0 0-0 0 1
Totals 22 12-16 64 11
Score by Quarters
Roncalli 7 12 13 26 – 58
Noblesville 18 11 22 13 – 64
Noblesville 3-pointers (8) Smith 5, Bean 1, Roberts 1, Fine 1.