By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
ARCADIA – It was a patriotically festive atmosphere prior to the start of Friday night’s all-county girls basketball game between Noblesville and Hamilton Heights at the Husky Dome in Arcadia. It was Veterans Day and members of the Cicero V.F.W. presented the colors for the Star-Spangled Banner and all veterans in attendance were honored before tipoff.
On the court, the Millers and Huskies met for the 35th time in girls basketball. Noblesville would make the short trip back south with a victory over Hamilton Heights, 49-38.
The Millers got off to an early 4-0 lead with quick baskets from Meredith Tippner and Ava Shoemaker.
Heights quickly cut it to one with a foul on Kaitlyn Shoemaker. Kaylee Rhoton was fouled in the left corner on a three-point attempt and sank all three to make it 4-3.
“Noblesville is obviously really good and in our prep up to tonight, we had prepared for their 1-3-1 and we started to have some success. We had some great looks early that didn’t go down. Who knows, if those drop, they switch defenses earlier,” said Hamilton Heights head coach Keegan Cherry on his team’s good start against Noblesville.
Kaitlyn Shoemaker and Dani Mendez helped jump the lead to 8-5. The Huskies tied the game 8-8 with 1:18 left in the first on a Katie Brown three.
“This time of the year, most games are pretty close early on. Most teams are trying to feel each other out and adjust and get going. Our kids did a good job. We went into our 3-2 (defense) and that really bothered them,” said Noblesville head coach Donna Buckley on her team responding to the Huskies’ early pressure.
The Millers sped up the tempo early in the second. Freshman C.C. Quigley opened the quarter with a 14-foot jumper. Ava Shoemaker followed with a three from the right corner for 13-8.
After that, the Millers went on a 14-5 run to end the first half with a 27-13 score after two quarters.
“We have a lot of kids that can score. Heights is going to take as much time as they can off the clock. They are going to be methodical and try to control the tempo. It was a slower-paced game and we have a lot of kids who can score and contribute offensively. We’re a really balanced team,” stated Buckley on her team’s selfless offensive approach and how they reacted to the Huskies’ attempt at controlling the tempo.
Noblesville kept pushing it in the third on both ends of the floor Early on Ava Shoemaker knocked down a pair of threes, both in the left corner. Ultimately, it was the Millers’ speed on defense that created offensive opportunities and they would find themselves up 43-21 through three.
“Ava gave us some great offense. Tipp got going and Reagan hit a big three. There’s just a lot of different kids that can score for us,” Buckley continued on how it doesn’t matter who scores for the Millers.
The fourth quarter belonged to the Huskies. Camryn Runner showed just why she is a player that will catch the eye of many this season. The junior guard made her presence known, scoring 10 of the Heights 17 in the quarter, but more importantly showed the home crowd what they have to look forward to this season.
“I felt like we were starting to get it figured out. We went to some rover action and overloaded the baseline. Our girls were starting to figure it out, but we just ran out of time,” stated Cherry on his team’s push in the fourth that was too late.
The Huskies were able to outscore the Millers 17-6 in the final quarter, but that still would not be enough as Noblesville grabbed their second win of the season, 49-38.
“I couldn’t be more proud of every one of them. They represented our school and program in fine fashion tonight. Unfortunately, we got beat tonight and we learned from this game tonight,” stated Cherry on how proud he was of his team’s effort in the loss.
Hamilton Heights was led by junior guard Camryn Runner with her game-high 18 points that led all scorers. Kaylee Rhoton also chipped in with nine.
The 3A No. 6 Huskies (3-1) hit the road on Saturday night at Jay County (1-0), who were winners in their opener on November 10, 74-20 over Fort Wayne South.
The Millers were led again by Meredith Tippner, who finished with 16 points and another great night on the boards with 16 rebounds. Ava Shoemaker joined her in double figures with 11.
Class 4A second-ranked Noblesville (2-0) finishes its weekend with a home game on Saturday with the Lawrence North Wildcats (2-1).