By RICH TORRES
For The Reporter
WESTFIELD – The Westfield Shamrocks needed to make a stand Friday night.
Down by three points, 33-30, early in the fourth quarter to Hoosier Crossroads Conference rival Class 4A No. 6 Noblesville, Rocks junior Trey Buchanan answered the call by tying the game with a big 3-pointer.
Then, he did it again, giving the 4A No. 14 Rocks the lead for good with another 3-pointer two minutes later, while 6-foot-6 senior Alex Romack poured in six clutch points to end Noblesville’s quest at perfection, 48-43 at CSI Gymnasium.
Buchanan scored team-high 17 points on 5 of 11 shooting from beyond the arc and dished out a team-best five assists. Romack posted 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, as Westfield (4-1, 1-1 HCC) evened up their conference record and secured head coach Shane Sumpter’s 100th career win.
“I’m just really proud of our guys. We had to hang on. Noblesville is a very good team. They’re very well-coached. I have a lot of respect for them. I just felt like we had to make some plays down the stretch in the fourth quarter and we did,” Sumpter said. “We made some free throws. Our guys are really tough competitors.”
They’re new to the atmosphere as well with the graduation of eight seniors from last year’s sectional championship roster.
Relying on two key returners in Buchanan and Romack, the Rocks recovered from an early 5-0 deficit and battled through five lead changes overall and a pair of ties with Noblesville (4-1, 1-1 HCC) trailing by as many as nine points before knotting the game up 21-21 by halftime.
The Millers fell behind 18-9 in the second quarter, but an 8-0 run steered by junior Aaron Fine, who had a game-high 21 points, cut the margin 18-17.
Neither team led by more than four points until the fourth quarter when Westfield pulled ahead by five and buried 6 of 6 free throws in the final eight minutes to upset the Millers.
“They’re very poised. A lot of these kids, this is their first year playing varsity basketball. We had eight seniors last year, and from the first game, really, we’ve had a lot of guys out here without that experience. I’m just really impressed by these kids,” Sumpter said.
“We knew we would have our hands full, and we knew it was going to be this type of game in the 40s. All these conference games are with all of these teams. I told the guys beforehand; it’s not going to be 85-74 or 88-75. It’s going to be a low-scoring, grind it out type of game. Usually, the teams that make the plays in the last four minutes win these types of games.”
The Millers did their best to be the team on the winning end, keeping Romack scoreless in the third quarter and taking a 24-21 lead off a rim-rocking dunk by Luke Almodovar off a steal and an assist by Hunter Walston.
A layup by Cooper Bean put Noblesville ahead 31-27 late in the third, as the Millers’ defense forced six turnovers and used a 7-0 run to take a 31-30 lead.
Fine tied the game, 21-21, before the buzzer at the half with a steal and a layup, but despite nine second-half Westfield turnovers, the Rocks found their composure.
Buchanan, who shot 1-for-6 from deep in the first half, went 4 of 5 in the second half and all four began falling through from the 6 minute, 25 second mark.
“They gave Romack a lot of attention as they should. Alex Romack is a very good basketball player, but he was able to find some guys, and then other guys were able to make plays like Trey Buchanan. How big was he? He hit some big shots,” Sumpter said.
“We were down three, called a timeout to run a set for him and it felt like the ball touched the roof of this place and it swished. That was such a big shot in a crucial moment. That kid is in the gym all the time and he hit huge shots.”
Up 36-33 after Buchanan’s final two 3-pointers of the second half, Romack added a pair of free throws and a bucket before slamming home his final two points on an outlet pass from Buchanan to neutralize the Millers’ full-court press in the game’s final minute.
“We had to really stay calm there. If you make a big mistake, it could cost you the game, but I think everyone did a really good job tonight of not panicking, hitting free throws at the end and making good passes. I’m really proud of my team for that,” Romack said.
“They started face guarding me and doubling, and it really relieved some pressure for Trey to start knocking down a bunch of shots. That shot got us back in the game and showed us we can stay in this, and we can still win it. It was a big momentum shift.”
The Millers pulled within three points twice in the final minute, but each time the Rocks responded.
“I thought they were just the tougher team tonight. Reason I say that is they won the 50-50 balls and out toughed us on a couple of boards,” Millers head coach Scott McClelland said. “I’m really disappointed in our guys in the first half just their mindset and mentality of just chucking shots. That’s not what has gotten us in the spot that through the first four wins. The first half, we just decided to shoot it once we touched it. That’s not what we’ve done to be successful this year.”
Almodovar had nine points and three steals. Walston added five points, three rebounds, two assists, a block and two steals. Preston Roberts narrowed the margin, 42-39, with 41.8 seconds left in the game, and a pair of foul shots by Fine made it 46-43 with 10 seconds remaining.
A breakaway layup by Walston made nailed down Westfield’s second straight victory. Sam Bishop had six points for the Rocks. Charles Farrell had four and Max McComb provided three off the bench.
“Free throws are critical, and Alex Romack made two big ones. Trey Buchanan made two and then Sam Bishop made two,” Sumpter said. “We just kind of had to hang on there a little bit. It was a great program win for our guys.”
For the Millers, it was a wakeup call.
“Give credit to Westfield. They out toughed us. Buchanan and Romack are good players, and I don’t think it was much of a one- or two-possession game. They, with their toughest and mentality to beat us up on loose balls and then our mentality to chuck shots, that’s when the game was established and decided,” McClelland said.
“We made a little bit of run there late, but right now, we have to kind of step back and I have to help the guys handle a little bit of success. We kind of took a couple of steps back tonight with our demeanor and mentality and shot selection. We have a lot of things to clean up, and we have to really focus on us before we can worry too much about our next opponent.”
WESTFIELD 48, NOBLESVILLE 43
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Luke Almodovar 2 5-7 9 3
Aaron Fine 6 7-10 21 0
Cooper Bean 1 0-0 2 2
Aiden Brewer 0 0-0 0 2
Hunter Walston 2 0-0 5 1
Luke Etchison 0 0-0 0 1
Preston Roberts 3 0-0 6 3
Justin Curry 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 14 12-17 43 12
Noblesville 3-pointers (3) Fine 2, Walston.
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Trey Buchanan 5 2-2 17 2
Sam Bishop 1 3-4 6 1
Charles Farrell 1 2-2 4 3
Alex Romack 6 2-2 15 3
Armani Middlebrooks 1 0-0 2 2
Seth LaRavia 0 1-2 1 2
Max McComb 1 0-0 3 0
Will Harvey 0 0-0 0 3
Totals 15 10-12 48 16
Westfield 3-pointers (8) Buchanan 5, Bishop, Romack, McComb.
Score by Quarters
Noblesville 7 14 10 12 – 43
Westfield 11 10 13 14 – 48