By CRAIG ADKINS
The Brownsburg Bulldogs were on a mission in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference opener and it didn’t seem like there was anything that Noblesville could do to change that.
The Bulldogs gave the Millers a full court press from the opening tip that was more than they could handle in a 60-39 road win at The Mill on Friday night.
Noblesville head coach Donna Buckley was forced to burn her first timeout not even three minutes into the first quarter when her squad found itself down 10-4 and looking for answers.
The Millers had that deer in the headlights look on their faces when the turnovers kept piling up and the Brownsburg lead continued to grow.
“We were just bad, in every aspect,” said Donna Buckley on her team’s overall play in Friday’s HCC opening home loss to Brownsburg.
“I mean, there’s not much else to say, we were bad. There’s not anything that I could try and pretend like was good about this game,” Buckley continued at the disappointment in her team’s play.
“Our toughness was not there. We didn’t play offense and we turned the ball over 34 times. At one point we had 28 points and 29 turnovers. I mean, you aren’t going to beat anybody playing that way,” said Buckley on her team’s lackluster performance to open HCC play against Brownsburg.
Brownsburg led 17-11 after one quarter, keeping the Millers within striking distance, but only for a short time.
Early in the second, Brownsburg managed to get their lead to double-digits at 21-11 and would never look back, keeping their foot on the gas and completely throwing the Millers for a loop.
With an ice-cold offensive output, the Millers were searching for answers all night long on both ends of the floor. Junior guard Mallory Johnson came off the bench and sank a pair of treys in the second to try to help keep it somewhat close, but the Bulldogs had other ideas.
Bulldogs’ head coach Debbie Guckenberger couldn’t have been more pleased with her team’s overall team effort. Staving off any sort of comeback by the Millers, Brownsburg took a 33-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half, things really started to unravel for Noblesville and the visiting Bulldogs would continue what they excelled at in the first half.
Brownsburg kept their full court press to serve as the focal point in taking Noblesville completely out of their game plan.
The third was a 15-6 Brownsburg advantage to give them a 48-28 lead, all but putting the game out of the reach of the Millers with still a quarter to play.
They had a couple answers to help defend 6’3 senior forward Emily Kiser, which only frustrated the Millers as a whole. Junior Veronika Roberts pitched in 11 points and fellow front court mate Mackenzie Stien added nine to help also limit Kiser in her normal offensive domination.
“We just played terribly. They outplayed us. I mean, out everything. Out-coached, outplayed, I mean we were just bad, absolutely bad,” said Buckley, expressing her displeasure in her team’s play.
“Some of it’s just a gut check. You gotta figure out when you get punched, you bounce back and we didn’t do that tonight. They kept coming at us and we folded,” said Buckley on Brownsburg’s relentless attack on both ends of the floor.
Kiser scored six points from the foul line in the fourth, but Brownsburg didn’t let up, no matter who was on the floor en route to their eye-opening 60-39 win at Noblesville.
Bulldog sophomore Allison Bosse tied for game-high honors in points with 15 and Veronika Roberts joined her in double-figures with 11 before fouling out.
Kiser finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots, while Johnson added 12 points.
Brownsburg continues its HCC schedule on Nov. 21 when they host fourth-ranked Hamilton Southeastern (5-0).
The Millers (4-2) will face their toughest opponent of the young season on Nov. 21 when they hit the road at top-ranked Carmel (4-0).
Noblesville’s Emily Kiser scored 14 points for the Millers in their Friday game with Brownsburg.
(Kent Graham)
Mallory Johnson scored 12 points for Noblesville Friday night. (Kent Graham)