By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
NOBLESVILLE – When Hamilton County teams meet up on the basketball court, it doesn’t matter what each team’s record is, it just turns into a battle.
That’s exactly the case with Carmel and Noblesville in girls basketball and it was no different on Tuesday night. The host Millers were able to use a big third quarter push that propelled them to a 65-48 home court win over the visiting Greyhounds.
The Millers jumped out to an early 8-2 lead with a pair of three-pointers, one each by Reagan Wilson and Ava Shoemaker.
Carmel came right back on a 5-0 run, all by Lauren Perry on a layup and a three to cut it to 8-7.
Noblesville then went on a run of their own to end the first. Meredith Tippner hit Dani Mendez on a backdoor cut and bounce pass for a layup for 10-7.
A Tippner three, Wilson floater and two free throws from Kaitlyn Shoemaker pushed it to an eight-point advantage after one at 17-9.
“They did a great job of doubling. We’ve been posting up Tippner coming into this game and they did a great job of doubling and making her uncomfortable,” said Noblesville head coach Donna Buckley on Carmel’s defense.
Izzy Shepherd brought it back to a five-point deficit for the ‘Hounds at 17-12 with her first three.
Tippner took a pass from C.C. Quigley and nailed a three from the right to get it back to an eight-point lead 20-12.
The Millers were getting comfortable against Carmel’s defense. Tippner dished out one of her game-high seven assists, this time to Ava Shoemaker on the left wing for three and Noblesville’s first double-figure lead of 23-12, forcing Carmel to burn its first timeout.
“We’re young and very sophomore-heavy. When you look at Noblesville, they’re very similar in how they balance themselves. They know how to win right now and push to that next level,” said Carmel head coach Erin Trimpe.
Greyhound sophomore Rilee McBride hit one of two free throws and then Shepherd drained another three, bringing it back to 23-16, before Noblesville put together another mini run before halftime.
Tippner sank another short range shot and then Ava Shoemaker made her second two-point field goal from her older sister Kaitlyn’s assist to get it back above 10 at 27-16.
Keaton Gatlin made a driving floater to make it 27-18 and Carmel was still fighting to keep it within reach late in the first half.
Then, with 25 seconds left in the second, Ava Shoemaker got fouled shooting a three by Lauren Perry. The junior made all three from the charity stripe, making it 30-18.
Jamie Elliott made a layup in the final seconds of the second for a 30-20 halftime score in favor of Noblesville.
“I think with a young team, that’s something we’re figuring out. We’ve been in every game that we’ve played. The scoreboard doesn’t always reflect that, because we’re having to trap and foul,” stated Trimpe on the fight of her team, even though currently their record might show otherwise.
Noblesville used a big third quarter to lengthen their lead to 19 points through three at 53-34.
Numerous people contributed to the Millers taking complete control of the game.
Tippner got the third going with an offensive rebound putback basket. Dani Mendez took a feed from Kaitlyn Shoemaker for another two. Reagan Wilson stole a pass and took it in for a fast break layup and Carmel would call another timeout to regroup and slow down Noblesville’s momentum.
Out of the timeout, Mendez found Tippner down loan for another two and it was up to 18 at 38-20 for an 8-0 run to start the third.
As Noblesville kept growing their lead, there was one thorn in their side that kept coming back at them. Isabelle Shepherd made another two treys in the third, but both Ava and Kaitlyn Shoemaker both made one from outside late in the third and the Millers took a 53-34 lead into the fourth.
“Ava made people pay, if they doubled off of her. We did a better job of running out offense and being a little more patient,” said Buckley on her team’s offensive execution leading to the final margin of 17 points.
“Our kids are learning new roles. For the last few years, we’ve run everything through Ashlynn and now other kids are learning,” continued Buckley on the Millers’ ability to adapt to new roles and make it work well early on this season.
Carmel made a decent push in the fourth, but being down 19 heading into the final frame turned out to be too big of a deficit to overcome. Noblesville got another three each from Wilson and Ava Shoemaker, plus Mendez, Tippner and Ava each added another two-point make to help the Millers win going away, 65-48.
“They’re right there and we truly believe that every game we’re just getting better and the buy-in from these girls is just unbelievable. They’re just so coachable and they battle and that’s all that we can ask of them right now,” Trimpe continued on Carmel being in every game, despite their record and still searching for their first win.
“Obviously Tipp and Reagan are kids that we’re going to do a lot of things around them. The Shoemakers can score. Dani can score. We have a lot of kids that can do things, “stated Buckley on the balance and how all who see the floor can be counted on for production.
“It was nice having that kid that you know they can put 20 in the book every night, but it’s also nice knowing that we’ve got a bunch of kids that are going to step up and do things. They’re just really great, unselfish basketball players that will do whatever it takes, on either end of the floor, to help us win basketball games,” continued Buckley on her team’s selfless approach on both ends of the floor that have helped pave the way to a 6-0 start.
Carmel was led in scoring by sophomore Izzy Shepherd’s team-high 17 points, shooting 5 for9 from three-point range. Jamie Elliott had nine, Mackenzie Woods six, while both Lauren Perry and Rilee McBride added five apiece.
The Greyhounds (0-5) will host fifth-ranked Hamilton Southeastern (7-0) on Friday for an afternoon game. The Royals stayed unbeaten with a win last night at home over Brownsburg, 74-63.
Noblesville was led by Ava Shoemaker’s game-high 21 points on 4-of-7 shooting from outside the arc and she also added five rebounds.
Meredith Tippner filled up her stat line with another double-double, scoring 16 and grabbing 11 boards and also dished out seven assists. Reagan Wilson was the third Miller in double-figures with 15 to go along with four assists. Dani Mendez had six and Kaitlyn Shoemaker chipped in with five.
The Millers (6-0) will face their toughest opponent to date on Saturday. They will match up with 4A No. 1 South Bend Washington (6-0) in the fifth of six games in the Sneakers for Santa Shootout at Brownsburg. That tipoff is set for approximately 6:30 p.m.
NOBLESVILLE 65, CARMEL 48
Carmel FG FT TP PF
Izzy Shepherd 6-13 0-0 17 1
Mackenzie Woods 3-3 0-0 6 1
Lauren Perry 2-6 0-2 5 1
Jamie Elliott 4-5 0-0 9 0
Hannah Lach 1-6 0-0 2 3
Brooke Thoren 1-1 0-0 2 1
Taryn Fisher 0-0 0-0 0 1
Keaton Gatlin 1-2 0-0 2 1
Rilee McBride 0-1 5-6 5 2
Totals 18-37 5-8 48 11
Carmel 3-point shooting (7-17) Shepherd 5-9, Perry 1-3, Elliott 1-2, Lach 0-3.
Carmel rebounds (23) Lach 7, Woods 3, McBride 3, Gatlin 1, Shepherd 1, Fisher 1, team 7
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Kaitlyn Shoemaker 1-6 2-2 5 3
Ava Shoemaker 6-9 5-5 21 1
Reagan Wilson 6-12 0-0 15 0
Meredith Tippner 7-19 0-0 16 1
Dani Mendez 3-8 0-0 6 1
Kate Rollins 1-2 0-0 2 0
C.C. Quigley 0-0 0-2 0 2
Brooklyn Ely 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 24-56 7-9 65 9
Noblesville 3-point shooting (10-23) A. Shoemaker 4-7, Wilson 3-6, Tippner 2-5, K. Shoemaker 1-5.
Noblesville rebounds (31) Tippner 11, Mendez 6, A. Shoemaker 5, Quigley 4, Wilson 3, K. Shoemaker 2.
Score by Quarters
Carmel 9 11 14 14 – 48
Noblesville 17 13 23 12 – 65