By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
It didn’t take long for this year’s Noblesville boys basketball team to establish its identity.
This year’s Millers are 1) tenacious, tough defenders who 2) don’t quit. The first part had already manifested itself in Noblesville’s season-opening win last week, and the second part was revealed in fantastic form Friday night when the Millers played at Fishers in a county rivalry and Hoosier Crossroads Conference opener for both teams.
Noblesville dominated in the second half to eventually win 27-22 in one of the crazier high school basketball games in recent history. The Tigers had the Millers down 15-4 (yes, FOUR) at halftime.
“It’s a crazy game,” said Noblesville coach Brian McCauley. “We scored zero in the second. They scored two in the third. Then we scored 17 in the fourth. It can be a funny game sometimes.”
Funny, yes. But it was also a game that proved that “low scoring” need not mean “low quality.” Friday’s game at the Tiger Den was an entertaining show of patience and strategy, with persistent defense as the main theme. Simply put, it was good, old-fashioned basketball.
Fishers led 8-4 after the first quarter. Zack Johnson started the game with two free throws for Noblesville, but the Tigers went on an 8-0 run after that. Terry Hicks scored six of those points on easy baskets.
Xavier Hines scored for the Millers towards the end of the period, and that would be it for Noblesville until halftime. Fishers went ahead 13-4 after Hicks made a free throw at the 4:23 mark, then the Tigers held the ball until the two-minute mark.
At that point, Noblesville began to come in, and Fishers started passing the ball. The Tigers were waiting for a last-second shot, and sort of got what they wanted: Willie Jackson made two free throws with 10.2 seconds left.
The Millers got the first points of the second half when Johnson got credit for a basket after Fishers was called for basket interference.
“It gave us a little bit of confidence,” said McCauley. “It got us a little closer to them. We kept telling ourselves that even though we’re not scoring, we’re doing a pretty good job defensively, which kept us close. Our defense kept us in it. And then in the fourth quarter, we really came alive and a lot of that goes to Zack Johnson.”
Indeed, there was still plenty of time for Noblesville to make a comeback, and the Millers got their baskets slowly but surely. Johnson scored again off a steal, then Ryan Barnes made a layin. Hicks did get Fishers on the board in the third with a layin, keeping the Tigers ahead 17-10 going into the fourth period.
“I told our guys that we need to have a good start in the third,” said McCauley. “First couple possessions weren’t exactly how we wanted them, but we had some defensive stops.”
Noblesville began the quarter with baskets by Johnson and Barnes to cut the Tigers lead to 17-14. Jeremy Szilagyi then nailed a 3-pointer to get Fishers back up 20-14 with about five minutes left.
But after that, it was all Millers, which finished the game on a 13-2 run. Johnson made a couple free throws at the 4:26 mark. Then the Millers grabbed the lead: Hines scored off a steal, then after another defensive stop, Johnson drained a 3-pointer to get Noblesville ahead 21-20.
“Xavier did a really good job in the fast break,” said McCauley. “We got a steal, he drove in and had a finger roll over the front of the rim, which was a big basket.”
After that, the Millers finished the job from the free-throw line. Johnson put Noblesville up 23-20 with foul shots. Hicks cut that lead to 23-22 with a layin, and the Millers had the ball again with 25 seconds left.
Eventually Fishers fouled, and Johnson was sent back to the line. Two more free throws for Zack, a 25-22 lead for Noblesville. The Tigers had one more chance, but Barnes came up with a steal under the basket with 5.5 seconds left. The Tigers fouled Jordan Schmidt with 0.4 seconds remaining, and his two foul shots sealed the game.
“Ryan did a good job inside in the second half, being strong,” said McCauley.
The Millers’ defense played extremely well in the second half, forcing Fishers into 10 turnovers. Noblesville was disrupting passes all throughout the half.
“We were in attack mode, and then by the time they went into attack mode, the pressure was on them a little bit more,” said McCauley.
“They did a good job of being the aggressor,” said Tigers coach Matt Moore. “Anytime you’re the aggressor, calls go your way and momentum can go your way. I thought our guys played not to lose.”
“If we make plays and hit free throws and get to the line, we stretch it out,” said Moore. “But we started throwing it away. We didn’t make the simple play.”
Johnson finished the game with 17 points, including a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. Barnes wound up with four rebounds.
Hicks scored 11 points for the Tigers.
“A lot of credit goes to them,” Moore said of Noblesville. “They found a way to win the game. That has a lot to do with the character of his guys and their ability to just stay the course.”
The 22 points that the Millers allowed Fishers was the lowest amount a team had scored against Noblesville since Dec. 16, 2006, when the Millers permitted just 21 points to Hamilton Heights in a 57-21 win over the Huskies. Meanwhile, the 27 points that the Tigers allowed Noblesville was the fewest since Fishers re-opened in 2006.
The Millers (2-0) are back home at The Mill tonight to play Columbus East. That game was to be played last Saturday, but was pushed back due to the Olympians’ run to the Class 5A state championship. Fishers (1-2) will play again at the Tiger Den, welcoming Fort Wayne Snider.
Noblesville’s Zack Johnson (23) scoops the ball to the basket during the Millers’ 27-22 win at Fishers Friday night. Also pictured are Noblesville’s Eagan Keever-Hill (left) and Fishers’ Brendhan Russom (right). (Kent Graham)