By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – Donna Buckley will never forget her 300th win as a basketball coach.
Buckley reached that milestone Saturday when her Noblesville girls team won the Class 4A Sectional 8 championship at Westfield’s CSI Gymnasium. The No. 5-ranked Millers overcame No. 7 Fishers 54-48 in a roller coaster game.
That’s not a cliché. It was truly a game of ups and downs. Noblesville blasted through the majority of the first half, building a 17-point lead. The Tigers then came roaring back (okay, that’s a cliché, but there’s no other word to describe it) to get in front at the end of the third quarter. The Millers were able to get the lead back in the fourth, thanks to their star Ashlynn Shade, who poured in 16 points in the final quarter.
Noblesville thus defended its sectional title, making it the first time the Millers won back-to-back championships since their legendary run of seven straight titles from 1984 to 1990. It was also the first time Noblesville had beaten Fishers since December 2017.
“I’d say it’s definitely tougher to win the first time,” said Noblesville sophomore Reagan Wilson. “I think we went into this one with more confidence. It was just more of a pride game for us this time. We weren’t going to lose.”
The Millers came out firing in the first quarter, leading 18-5 once the period was done. Kaitlyn Shoemaker was a force during that quarter, scoring seven points. Noblesville finished on a 9-0 run, with Dani Mendez and Shade making layins, Wilson hitting a 3 and Shoemaker scoring on a floater.
The Millers continued to run up their lead in the second quarter, getting it up to 32-15. Mendez and Kaitlyn Shoemaker both scored four points in that period.
But the last minute of the half belonged to Fishers. Alycia Triplett made a layin, then Hailey Smith scored five points on a three-point play and two free throws, and suddenly the Tigers were within 32-22 at halftime.
Fishers then completely took over in the third quarter. That 7-0 run swelled into a 21-0 run, and the Tigers nearly shut out Noblesville in the period. Joirdyn Smith made four free throws, while Hailey Smith added another four points, including a pair of foul shots to get Fishers up 36-32.
“We talked about the fact that this is not the first time a Fishers team has been in this situation,” said Tigers coach Lauren Votaw. Two years ago, Fishers was way down in the sectional championship game before coming back to win.
“We talked about just doing what we do,” said Votaw.
Shade prevented the Millers from going zero for the third by making a jump shot at the quarter buzzer. Still, the Tigers were ahead 36-34, but Noblesville wasn’t panicked.
“You scored two points and you’re down two,” Buckley told her team during the break. “You’re fine. We just got to make a shot.”
Hailey Smith made a layin to open the fourth quarter, putting Fishers ahead 38-34. Then the Millers went on a 7-0 run, all from Shade. She hit 5 of 6 free throws during that run, and the other two points came from a floater that gave Noblesville the lead.
Free throws from Olivia Smith tied the game at 41-41, but Shade hit a layin to put the Millers up 43-41, and they never trailed again.
“I knew that my team needed me and I knew I needed to step up,” said Shade. “It’s just an instinct, I guess. I just refuse to lose.”
“She was just awesome,” said Buckley. “I didn’t tell her to take over, she just made plays on both ends. We get it. When somebody gets going, get them the ball. It was Shoemaker in the first half, feed her and she really got us going. And then Ash just took over and we know, get the ball to the hot hand.”
A floater by Shade put Noblesville up 47-41, but Joirdyn Smith quickly cut that to 47-44 with a triple. Seconds later, Shade threw in her only 3-pointer of the game, putting Noblesville back up by six with under a minute. Free throws by Talia Harris and Olivia Smith got Fishers within 50-48 with 20.5 seconds left, but the Millers also finished from the line, with Wilson and Shade each making two.
Shade scored 22 points, and also had seven rebounds and four assists. Shoemaker added 11 points while Meredith Tippner collected five rebounds. Mendez scored six points on 3-for-3 shooting and made several plays as well.
“I just felt better, just felt more confident today,” said Mendez.
Hailey Smith had 17 points for the Tigers and had another great defensive game with four steals and three blocked shots. Joirdyn Smith added 12 points. Triplett led the rebounds with eight, followed by Harris with seven.
“I was really proud of our fight in the second half,” said Votaw. “But you got to give credit to Noblesville. They came out ready to play and Ashlynn Shade did what Ashlynn Shade does down the stretch.”
Fishers finished its season 20-5, also winning an undefeated Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship.
The Millers, meanwhile, are 21-4 and travel to Marion next Saturday to play in the regional. Noblesville will take on Homestead in the first semi-final game.
NOBLESVILLE 54, FISHERS 48
Fishers FG FT TP PF
Joirdyn Smith 3-17 4-4 12 3
Talia Harris 1-5 2-2 4 2
Alycia Triplett 3-7 0-0 6 5
Hailey Smith 5-8 7-7 17 3
Olivia Smith 0-6 9-14 9 2
Ava Carter 0-1 0-0 0 0
Kate Thomas 0-0 0-2 0 1
Morgan Roberts 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 12-44 22-29 48 16
Fishers 3-point shooting (2-14) J. Smith 2-9, Harris 0-2, O. Smith 0-2, Carter 0-1.
Fishers rebounds (30) Triplett 8, Harris 7, H. Smith 4, O. Smith 4, J. Smith 1, Thomas 1, team 5.
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Kaitlyn Shoemaker 5-14 0-0 11 4
Ashlynn Shade 7-14 7-8 22 2
Reagan Wilson 2-4 2-2 7 4
Meredith Tippner 1-3 2-2 4 3
Brooklyn Smitherman 1-1 0-0 2 2
Ava Shoemaker 1-5 0-0 2 0
Dani Mendez 3-3 0-2 6 3
Brooklyn Ely 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 20-44 11-14 54 18
Noblesville 3-point shooting (3-11) K. Shoemaker 1-5, Wilson 1-2, Shade 1-1, A. Shoemaker 0-3.
Noblesville rebounds (21) Shade 7, Tippner 5, Wilson 3, Mendez 2, Smitherman 2, A. Shoemaker 1, team 1.
Score by Quarters
Fishers 5 17 14 12 – 48
Noblesville 18 14 2 20 – 54