Noblesville outlasts New Palestine, four Millers reach double-figures
By CRAIG ADKINS
Noblesville knew it would have its hands full in their first game with a very talented New Palestine in the 2017 Noblesville Holiday Tournament on Friday at The Mill.
The Millers were able to pull away late from the Dragons with a 69-60 home court win to reach the championship game.
It was a back-and-forth affair throughout, which was expected with the two evenly matched teams, so it wasn’t clear who would come out on top and advance.
Emma Grable started off with 13 first quarter points to get New Pal off on the right foot. But after the score was tied 7-7, sophomore reserve Sarah Etchison came off the bench to drain three 3-pointers that helped get the Millers a 20-19 lead at the end of one.
Noblesville got started right away in the second with an Emily Kiser pair of free throws, two driving layups by junior Mallory Johnson and trey number four from Etchison that would put the host Millers up 32-29 at half.
“I do think that foul trouble did contribute, but I also think that we do have a relatively deep team and that’s what I said to the girls. Whoever’s in the game, there’s a level of expectation and that is to perform at the level that we practice and these are the things we do and don’t do. And I think we made two or three mental mistakes and it just spiraled and have have to clean that up,” said New Palestine head coach Sarah Gizzi on her team’s overall play against Noblesville.
The Millers pushed their lead to ten points with the trio of Kiser, Johnson and Maddie Knight in the third combining for all 17 points for a 49-39 advantage.
“We had a nice third quarter lead, stretched it out to 10. I thought they played physical and our kids responded,” said Noblesville head coach Donna Buckley on her team’s continuous aggressive play that help the Millers eventually pull out the victory.
The fourth quarter had three more lead changes, but the Millers would take the lead for good on an Emily Kiser layup with 3:27 left. They would extend the lead again to ten on a pair of Kailyn Ely free throws, but Kiser sank a pair from the charity stripe that would be the final score of 69-60.
“I think we had four straight possessions with turnovers, just silly turnovers,” said Buckley on the Millers early fourth quarter miscues.
“We cleaned it up on both ends of the floor and were able to take control of the game again and it’s a ton of credit to our kids,” said Buckley on her team responding at the right times to win.
New Palestine (10-3) was led in scoring by Emma Grable’s team-high 16, followed by Emily Newcomb’s 14 off the bench, including nine in the fourth. Tatum Biddle added 10, with Leah Seib’s eight and Haley Harrison eight.
Noblesville was led by Mallory Johnson’s career-high 20 points. Emily Kiser notched a triple-double with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, while Sarah Etchison netted a career-high 12 points on four 3’s and Maddie Knight pitched in with 12.
3A No. 2 Greensburg edges by Southport in OT
In tournaments like this, records go out the window and you take a look at the players on the floor and the strength of schedule. That’s exactly how to describe the effort of the Southport Cardinals.
They gave the best effort that was asked of them by head coach Adam Morelock, but wound up on the short end of a 58-56 overtime loss to one of the top teams in the state.
Greensburg had a 15-9 lead through one quarter, but it wasn’t easy, as Southport cut their deficit from 15-5 midway through down to six, thanks to Tiana Wright and Savannah Edington scoring the final two baskets of the period.
“We played about as hard as we can. Effort is not really an option, but I think we did the things we needed to do to have an opportunity to beat a top-ranked team in the state of Indiana,” said Southport head coach Adam Morelock on his team’s overall effort that came up short in overtime.
Greensburg still couldn’t get any distance in the second, pushing the lead to eight on two different occasions, but the feisty Cardinals fought back and trailed at halftime just 27-23.
The Pirates extended their lead to 10 at 37-27 on a jumper from Aliyah Evans, but that only made Southport fight back harder. Greensburg hung onto a slim 38-33 lead after three and it would only get tighter from that point on.
Edington converted two straight buckets and Wright nailed two free throws and with 5:54 left in the fourth, Southport took their first lead. There would be two more ties and three additional lead changes in the final six minutes of regulation before the extra frame.
Southport had one chance to send it to OT and they couldn’t have set it up any better.
Lexis Green received the inbound from the opposite end, drove across half court and found guard Andrea Vidaurre deep on the left wing. Vidaurre launched a long three and sank the trey from 25-feet, sending Game 2 to overtime.
Three more ties would knot the game down to the final possession where Greensburg would win it. Kyla Whitaker received the inbound from half court and drove the lane, scooping up a shot that would go in at the buzzer, giving the Pirates a 58-56 overtime win, sending them to the championship against Noblesville.
“The reason that we come up to things like this, is because you don’t see overall speed of the game, that doesn’t mean athleticism or anything, but the speed of the game up here around Indianapolis, compared to our little pocket of the state, is different,” said Greensburg head coach Jason Simpson on the Southport and the overall level of competition in Central Indiana.
“Having watched them on film and seeing them live, their record isn’t indicative of the type of team they are,” said Simpson, crediting the effort of the Cardinals against his Pirates.
Southport (3-11) was led in scoring by Tiana Wright’s team-high 18 and was joined in double-figures by Savannah Edington (14) and Lexis Green (11).
Greensburg (13-2) also got three in double-digit scoring with Kyra Whitaker’s game-high 21 points, along with Bailey Meyer (15) and Aliyah Evans (13).
