By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – Noblesville ended a long drought with style on Tuesday as the Millers began hosting Class 4A Sectional 8 at The Mill.
In the opening game of the sectional, Noblesville took care of Zionsville 67-53. It’s an upset on paper, as the Eagles are ranked No. 16 in the IBCA one-class poll. But the Millers had beaten Zionsville in the regular season, and took care of business in the post-season, scoring its first sectional game win since 2017.
The Millers led 14-6 after the first quarter. E.J. Smith and Luke Almodovar both scored five points, with Smith hitting a 3-pointer. Cooper Bean added four points as well, including the final basket of the period.
“I thought the boys did a really, really nice job defensively, set the tone early,” said Noblesville coach Scott McClelland.
Smith then opened the second quarter with a three-point play, and Noblesville had its first double-digit lead at 17-6. The Eagles came back a little after that, cutting the Millers’ lead to five points on multiple occasions, and were within 25-20 at halftime.
Zionsville was still within 29-25 early in the third quarter, but the Millers went on a 7-0 run. More precisely, Preston Roberts went on a 7-0 run. He already had scored a layin before the spurt, but then scored on a short jumper, a putback that led to an and-1, and another layin. That increased Noblesville’s lead to 36-25.
Logan Imes scored to stop the run, but Almodovar’s layin and a huge dunk by Roberts gave the Millers a 40-27 lead at the end of the third. Noblesville’s lead stayed in double digits for the entire fourth quarter; a Smith triple helped out along the way. The Millers finished the game from the free-throw line, with Aaron Fine going 7 of 8 and Smith making 3 of 4.
Almodovar scored 16 points, while Roberts poured in 15, all in the second half. Smith added 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. McClelland was happy with the team’s balance, pointing out that Fine had nine points and Bean scored seven.
“I thought we had contributions from different guys at different moments,” said McClelland. “That really says a lot about our team. Most importantly, we get a chance to play again, and that’s what you want to do this time of year.”
“I thought Hunter Walston gave us some great minutes defensively, got a couple loose balls. “Almo got downhill in the second half, Preston’s third quarter. I thought E.J.’s defense all night was really good.” The coach said keeping Imes in check – “which is not an easy task” – was one of the big keys to the game. Imes finished with nine points.
McClelland also credited Bean with hitting a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, and also said that Cameron Karns “gave us a great lift off the bench,” getting a couple rebounds.
Noblesville is 13-10 and plays Carmel (No. 3 in the 4A Associated Press poll and No. 4 in the IBCA poll) in the first semi-final, which tips off at 6 p.m. Friday.
NOBLESVILLE 67, ZIONSVILLE 53
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
E.J. Smith 4 4-5 14 2
Luke Almodovar 7 2-2 16 4
Aaron Fine 1 7-10 9 0
Preston Roberts 7 1-3 15 2
Hunter Walston 2 2-2 4 1
Cooper Bean 3 0-0 7 1
Cameron Karns 1 0-0 2 3
Luke Wilson 0 0-0 0 0
Luke Etchison 0 0-0 0 0
Aidan Brewer 0 0-0 0 0
Evan Wright 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 25 16-22 67 13
Score by Quarters
Zionsville 6 14 7 26 – 53
Noblesville 14 11 15 27 – 67
Noblesville 3-pointers (3) Smith 2, Bean 1.