By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – At the end of a busy week, the Noblesville boys basketball team has discovered its balance.
The Millers again had multiple players reach double digit scoring, and that helped Noblesville to win its second all-county home game in less than 24 hours, as it beat Guerin Catholic 67-57 on Saturday. The Golden Eagles had come into The Mill on a four-game win streak and challenged the Millers in the first quarter, but Noblesville began to pull away in the second period and stayed reasonably ahead from that point forward.
Noblesville led 18-16 after one quarter, with Luke Almodovar ending the period with a jumper. Robert Sorensen gave Guerin Catholic a 19-18 lead to begin the second quarter by hitting a 3-pointer.
Almodovar took over after that, nailing back to back triples. That put the Millers ahead 24-19 and they wouldn’t trail again.
A 3 by Kamea Chandler got GC within 28-27 late in the quarter, but Noblesville scored the last seven points of the half to lead 35-27 at the break. Preston Roberts and Cooper Bean both made two free throws, then E.J. Smith drained a 3 off an Almodovar steal.
“Good win,” said Millers coach Scott McClelland. “We’ve been talking about sharing it. I use the term ‘spray it.’ Share the ball, trust each other, you’re going to get them back.”
Noblesville extended its run to 11-0 at the start of the third quarter, with Roberts making consecutive layins. Will Grissom’s putback ended the run, but Smith and Aaron Fine made baskets to give the Millers a 43-29 lead. Seconds later, Bean drained a 3 to put Noblesville up 46-31, its largest lead of the game.
“We played really good, I think,” said Smith. “Passing the ball, moving, screening. I think we got to get a little bit better with offensive rebounding and just defending on the ball.”
The Golden Eagles finished the quarter with a 9-1 run, getting within 47-40 as the game entered the fourth quarter. The Millers’ lead was still 49-42 early in the period, but Noblesville quickly pushed the lead up to 54-42 with a Bean 3 and an Almodovar dunk. The Millers would keep its lead at least nine points for the remainder of the game.
Bean scored 18 points, followed by Almodovar with 17; both made three 3s. Smith added 15 points.
“We always want more than one person to score in double digits,” said Smith. “That’s a great, solid game.”
“Three in double figures tonight, one with eight, one with nine,” said McClelland. “That’s great balance. Last night, four in double figures, so that was really encouraging. I think we’re having different guys make some shots. That’s a good thing.”
Almodovar and Roberts both collected six rebounds, while Bean and Hunter Walston both pulled five.
Grissom led all scorers with 26 points, while Sorensen made three 3s on his way to 11 points. Matthew Etchison dished out five assists and Aden Cannon had four rebounds.
“Noblesville’s a very good team,” said Guerin Catholic coach Bobby Allen. “They’re well-coached. A lot of athletes, a lot of guys that can make shots. We felt like we’ve been playing well and this afternoon, our Achilles’ Heel is, when we make mistakes, the other team capitalizes. And we made too many mistakes tonight. But our guys fought. I thought we played hard. This is not a step back for us, we’re still moving in the right direction. But Noblesville’s a very good team.”
The Millers are 9-7 and play Thursday at Mount Vernon. The Golden Eagles are 10-7 and host North Central next Saturday.
NOBLESVILLE 67, GUERIN CATHOLIC 57
Guerin Catholic FG FT TP PF
Jack Cherry 0-2 0-0 0 4
Robert Sorensen 4-8 0-0 11 2
Patrick Baird 2-5 0-0 5 4
Will Grissom 10-17 5-7 26 4
Lucas Parker 1-6 0-0 3 1
Aden Cannon 0-1 1-2 1 0
Matthew Etchison 0-0 0-0 0 3
Kamea Chandler 5-5 0-0 11 2
Josh Holba 0-0 0-1 0 0
Totals 22-44 6-10 57 20
Guerin Catholic 3-point shooting (7-18) Sorensen 3-5, Parker 1-5, Baird 1-3, Grissom 1-3, Chandler 1-1, Cherry 0-1.
Guerin Catholic rebounds (17) Cannon 4, Parker 3, Sorensen 2, Baird 2, Grissom 2, Etchison 1, Holba 1, Chandler 1, team 1.
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
E.J. Smith 4-7 6-6 15 3
Luke Almodovar 5-9 4-7 17 2
Aaron Fine 4-9 1-4 9 2
Cooper Bean 5-7 5-6 18 2
Preston Roberts 3-6 2-2 8 4
Hunter Walston 0-0 0-0 0 1
Cam Karns 0-1 0-0 0 0
Luke Wilson 0-0 0-0 0 0
Evan Wright 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 21-39 18-25 67 14
Noblesville 3-point shooting (7-13) Almodovar 3-6, Bean 3-4, Smith 1-3.
Noblesville rebounds (26) Almodovar 6, Roberts 6, Bean 5, Walston 5, Smith 2, Karns 1, team 1.
Score by Quarters
Guerin Catholic 16 11 13 17 – 57
Noblesville 18 17 12 20 – 67