By RICHIE HALL
ARCADIA – A fast start and hot third quarter led Noblesville to a win at Hamilton Heights on Friday.
The Millers beat the Huskies 51-37 at the Heights gymnasium. Noblesville never trailed in the game, scoring the first eight points, then broke things open even more in the second half.
Abby Haley set the tone, as she scored the first basket of the game, a 3-pointer. Emily Wood hit a jumper and Ashlynn Shade nailed a 3 to get the Millers up to the early advantage.
MyKayla Moran got the Huskies on the board with a jumper, the first of her five points in the first quarter. Noblesville led 13-7 at the end of that period, and held a lead of around that margin for the entire second quarter.
But there was a sign of things to come in that period, as Brooklyn Ely hit a pair of 3s. Anna Kiser’s jump shot was the final basket of the half, which ended with the Millers ahead 27-18.
Bayleigh Runner quickly took that lead down to 27-23 at the beginning of the third quarter, starting with a three-point play, then hitting a jumper. But after that, it was all Noblesville, as the Millers scored the next 14 points and didn’t allow Heights another score in the third quarter.
Mallory Miller started things off by making three consecutive 3-pointers. All of a sudden, a tight four-point game became a comfortable 13-point lead.
“Mallory had a big third quarter the other night, too,” said Noblesville coach Donna Buckley. “We really challenged her. Sometimes she turns down shots, and so we’ve really been on her about looking to knock down opportunities when she gets it. She’s done that. She’s played really well, especially in the third quarter the last two games. Brooklyn Ely hit some big 3s. It really definitely opened things up for us.”
Ely hit a 3 to finish the quarter, putting Noblesville on top 44-23. Heights opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from Kaylee Rhoton, but the Millers remained in control. Kiser helped out by making 5 of 6 free throws in the first two minutes of the period.
“We really challenged her to get after it in the post and play big,” said Buckley. “She did a lot of really good things for us tonight.”
The Huskies fought to the end, finishing the game on an 11-2 run. Rhoton drained another couple of 3-pointers during that run. Heights had to deal with adversity when starter Jillian Osswald was injured in the second quarter and had to leave the game.
“Our game plan that was put in certainly didn’t call for Jillian Osswald to go out and not be able to play again at all in the second half, so that was a tremendous blow for us,” said Huskies coach Keegan Cherry.
“Her and Bailey up top against that 1-3-1, they were having some success once they finally got settled in. But at the end of the day, credit Noblesville.”
Balance was the order of the day for both teams. Shade and Kiser both had 10 points for the Millers, while Miller and Ely each hit three 3-pointers for nine points. Shade collected eight rebounds and handed out five assists, while Kiser pulled six rebounds. Haley dished out four assists.
Runner scored 13 points for Heights, with Rhoton adding nine points with her three 3s. Moran led the rebounding with seven, followed by Runner with six.
Noblesville is 2-2 and is back at The Mill tonight to host Greenfield-Central. The Huskies are 0-3 and play another all-county game Tuesday at Guerin Catholic.
NOBLESVILLE 51, HAMILTON HEIGHTS 37
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Ashlynn Shade 4-15 1-2 10 1
Abby Haley 2-7 0-0 5 3
Mallory Miller 3-13 0-0 9 3
Anna Kiser 1-2 8-14 10 1
Emily Wood 2-3 0-0 4 5
Brooklyn Ely 3-6 0-0 9 0
Dani Mendez 0-1 0-0 0 2
Kailyn Ely 1-2 0-0 2 0
Makenna Mundy 0-0 0-0 0 2
Kaitlyn Shoemaker 1-1 0-0 2 0
Totals 17-50 9-16 51 17
Noblesville 3-point shooting (8-26) Miller 3-8, B. Ely 3-6, Shade 1-8, Haley 1-4.
Noblesville rebounds (30) Shade 8, Kiser 6, Miller 3, K. Ely 3, Wood 3, Haley 2, Shoemaker 1, B. Ely 1, team 3.Heights FG FT TP PF
Jillian Osswald 1-2 0-0 2 0
Bayleigh Runner 5-14 3-4 13 0
Payton Dissett 1-3 2-2 4 4
Sydney Runyan 0-2 0-0 0 1
MyKayla Moran 3-6 1-5 7 2
Chloe Henderson 0-2 0-0 0 0
Hailey Champion 1-3 0-0 2 2
Shanna Moffatt 0-1 0-0 0 1
Kaylee Rhoton 3-4 0-0 9 1
Lexi Hayden 0-0 0-0 0 0
Alayna Baber 0-1 0-0 0 1
Totals 14-38 6-11 37 12
Heights 3-point shooting (3-15) Rhoton 3-4, Runner 0-5, Henderson 0-2, Moffatt 0-1, Osswald 0-1, Dissett 0-1, Runayn 0-1.
Heights rebounds (33) Moran 7, Runyan 6, Runner 4, Henderson 4, Champion 3, Baber 2, Dissett 2, Moffatt 1, team 4.
Score by Quarters
Noblesville 13 14 17 7 – 51
Heights 7 11 5 14 – 37
Noblesville’s Mallory Miller goes up to the basket while Hamilton Heights’ Shanna Moffatt (3), Sydney Runyan (30) and MyKayla Moran defend. (Kent Graham)