By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – “We’re three for four. That’s pretty good.”
Noblesville senior Ava Shoemaker was talking about how many sectional championships the Millers have won over the course of her high school career. That fact was so wild, she repeated herself.
“Man, we just got our third one in four years,” she said. “That’s crazy.”
Crazy is way of life in Sectional 8, especially in the girls basketball tournament. Noblesville beat host Hamilton Southeastern 49-45 last Saturday in the championship, and it was a typical crazy game, with both teams functioning at a white-hot intensity level and making big plays.
“When you play teams like this, there’s going to be big plays from all these big-time players in this area,” said Millers junior Meredith Tippner. “But at the end of the day, it’s ‘Can you keep your composure when they go on their runs,’ and ‘Can you capitalize when it’s your turn?’”
The Royals were making the big plays at first, with junior Maya Makalusky leading the way. The Indiana University commit was red hot in the first quarter, making three 3-pointers. With her team up 11-10, Makalusky added a layin, then junior Kennedy Holman hit two free throws to put Southeastern up 15-10.
Sophomore C.C. Quigley scored for Noblesville to close the quarter and cut the HSE lead to 15-12. Kenley Johnson made a free throw to put the Royals up 16-12, the first point of the second quarter.
Noblesville took off after that, making a 15-0 run to lead 27-16. Five different players contributed to that run. A 3-pointer by Ally Hutchinson proved to be the go-ahead basket, putting the Millers up 17-16. They would not trail again.
“Talk about growth,” said Noblesville coach Donna Buckley. The coach said there were situations in earlier games where unguarded players wouldn’t be shooting the ball.
“And we talked to them,” said Buckley. “If you’re out there, you’re out there for a reason. Ally, no hesitation, let it fly. That was a huge play.”
Reagan Wilson also hit a 3 in the late stages of the run, and Shoemaker drained a pair of free throws to get the Millers up 11 with under a minute to go in the half. The Royals scored five quick points to end the half, with Kayla Stidham hitting a 3 and Holman making a layin.
Noblesville led 27-21 at halftime and kept a lead of at least five points during the third quarter. Wilson was a force during that period, scoring nine of the Millers’ 10 points in the third.
The fourth quarter began with Noblesville up 37-28. The Royals whittled that down to 37-36, as Holman made two layins and Stidham scored on a second-rebound putback, then made two free throws.
Shoemaker answered all that with a 3-pointer to get the Millers back up by four. Holman responded with a traditional three-point play, but Shoemaker made a floater and Noblesville was up 42-39.
“She wasn’t shooting well tonight, but that didn’t stop her,” said Wilson. “And that’s what we’ve been preaching at practice: confidence, confidence, confidence. When you shoot the ball, you know it’s going in.”
Tippner increased the lead to five with a basket off a steal, and a Wilson free throw gave Noblesville a 45-39 lead with 1:47 to go. The Royals never quit, with Stidham and Holman making 3s in the game’s final 90 seconds, but the Millers got the free throws they needed to stay in front.
Wilson led Noblesville with 18 points, while Shoemaker scored 13 and reached double-double status with 10 rebounds. Tippner had nine rebounds and six points.
Holman had an outstanding game with 20 points and four assists. Makalusky finished with 14 points, including four 3s. Both Makalusky and Stidham had four rebounds. Southeastern finished its season 21-4, including an undefeated Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship.
“Where it got away from us a little bit was the second quarter,” said HSE coach Brian Satterfield. “But that’s where you got to give our girls a lot of credit. We got down, we fought back. We had opportunities and had a few possessions, missed a couple shots, had a few turnovers and didn’t take advantage of some of those opportunities and then they were able to close it out.”
Noblesville is 16-8 and plays Fort Wayne Snider for the Regional 4 championship on Saturday. The time and place for the game was announced last Sunday, after the Reporter’s press time. See our website, readthereporter.com, for updates.