By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – The Noblesville girls basketball team has had a challenging slate of early-season games, and the Millers wouldn’t want it any other way.
Noblesville played its second ranked team in three games on Tuesday, taking on Northwestern at The Mill. The Tigers won back-to-back Class 3A state championships in 2018 and 2019, thus moving them up to 4A due to the IHSAA’s success factor.
Northwestern hasn’t skipped a beat in 4A, as it was 2-0 coming into The Mill and co-ranked No. 1 with Homestead in the ICGSA 4A poll. The Tigers left 3-0, as they beat Noblesville 70-51.
“I thought we definitely had moments where we played pretty well,” said Millers coach Donna Buckley. “Obviously, they’re extremely talented. The first 10 points were their two studs and they were layups, and we have to be better than that and not let them get in a rhythm like that. We have to get off to a better start.”
Buckley was referring to Northwestern’s Kendall Bostic and Madison Layden, who quickly got their team ahead 8-2, and rode that to a 16-9 advantage by the end of the first quarter. Noblesville freshman Ashlynn Shade scored seven of the Millers’ points. The Tigers led 37-19 at halftime, with Brooklyn Ely and Abby Haley both hitting 3-pointers for Noblesville.
While Northwestern’s lead hovered around 20 points for the entire third quarter, the Millers had some bright spots. Mallory Miller nailed three 3-pointers, and Shade hit a couple 3s as well. That kept Noblesville within 54-38 after three periods.
But the Tigers ran away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Millers 16-1 to take a 70-39 lead with three minutes left. Noblesville fought to the end, scoring the game’s last 12 points.
“We just ran into a really good basketball team and we’re not quite there yet, but our schedule’s tough for a reason and we just got to keep getting better and these are the games that are going to make us better,” said Buckley.
Shade led Noblesville with 15 points, while Miller added 11; both totaled three 3-pointers. Haley and Dani Mendez both scored eight points. Shade and Mendez both had five rebounds, with Shade also making five steals.
“We fought,” said Buckley. “We had a lot of grit. I thought Dani Mendez, freshman, came off the bench and just played her butt off and did a lot of really good things.” The coach also noted that Shade and Haley “had to play 32 minutes and play hard and handle their pressure and defensively create a lot of pressure for us. I thought they did a nice job.”
Layden led the Tigers with 26 points, while Bostic scored 19.
Noblesville is 1-2 and will play at Hamilton Heights on Friday.
NORTHWESTERN 70, NOBLESVILLE 51
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Ashlynn Shade 6-11 0-0 15 3
Abby Haley 3-7 0-0 8 3
Mallory Miller 4-5 0-0 11 5
Anna Kiser 1-4 0-0 2 2
Emily Wood 1-4 0-0 2 3
Brooklyn Ely 1-4 0-0 3 2
Dani Mendez 2-4 4-6 8 4
Makenna Mundy 1-3 0-0 2 0
Kailyn Ely 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 19-42 4-6 51 23
Score by Quarters
Northwestern 16 21 17 16 – 70
Noblesville 9 10 19 13 – 51
Noblesville 3-point shooting (9-16) Shade 3-6, Miller 3-3, Haley 2-3, B. Ely 1-4.
Team rebounds (20) Shade 5, Mendez 5, Haley 3, B. Ely 1, Miller 1, Kiser 1, Wood 1, team 3.
Reporter photo by Richie Hall
Noblesville’s Ashlynn Shade scored 15 points for the Millers in their game with Northwestern Tuesday. (Richie Hall)