By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – Another successful Noblesville Holiday Tournament is in the books, and who provided the event with the most excitement?
The Millers themselves.
Noblesville started Friday’s semi-final action in a memorable way, as Jordan Schmidt’s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Millers a 48-45 victory over Columbus North. That sent Noblesville into the evening championship game, where the Millers gave a very good Lawrence Central team all it could handle before the Bears won 60-51.
BALANCE AND EFFICIENCY
Noblesville’s morning victory over the Bull Dogs sounded like a college physics class: “The Model of Balance and Efficiency.” All six players that took to the floor scored, and the Millers made 20 of 34 baskets.
Xavier Hines started the game with a 3-pointer, and that got Noblesville going, to the tune of a 15-8 first-quarter lead. Hines would nail another 3 late in the quarter, while Alex Hunt added four points. Schmidt knocked in a triple to end the period, and that began an 8-0 run that stretched into the second quarter.
Hines scored on a 3-point play, then Hunt made a layin to put Noblesville up 20-8. Hines later scored back-to-back baskets, and that gave the Millers their biggest lead of the game at 24-10.
“I thought we played a tremendous first quarter and second quarter,” said Noblesville coach Brian McCauley. “Our execution was tremendous, it was phenomenal. Our passing, our formation, our intelligence was very good.”
Noblesville led 28-18 at halftime, and continued to hold the lead through the third quarter. The Bull Dogs did cut the Millers’ advantage to 37-32 after back-to-back 3s, but a pair of Zack Johnson layins kept Noblesville ahead 41-34 at the end of three.
Columbus North used a 10-0 run that ate up a majority of the fourth quarter to take a 44-41 lead. This included a sequence where the Bull Dogs held the ball for about a minute and a half.
“We didn’t panic, we didn’t fold,” said McCauley. “We kept our composure, kept our poise.”
“They are a team that drives hard and 72 percent of their offense is in the paint and free throws,” said McCauley. “So if we’re down one and there’s four and a half minutes to go, we come out and attack them, then they maybe go by us and they can expand the lead. So we decided to be a little bit patient. We went to our trap.”
Hines ended the run with a jumper, then tied the game at 45-45 with another basket. The Bull Dogs had the ball with time running out, but Eagan Keever-Hill made a steal, and the Millers called a timeout with 4.1 seconds left to set up a play.
Columbus North had a foul to give, so it did to stop the clock momentarily. But on the last play of the game, Schmidt got the ball, and his 3-pointer gave Noblesville the win.
Hines led the Millers with 22 points, including three 3-pointers, while Hunt scored 12. Keever-Hill collected seven rebounds.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
The first quarter of the Noblesville-Lawrence Central championship game ended with the Bears up 10-7. Dre Davis had all 10 of LC’s points, while Johnson scored all seven of the Millers’ points. Johnson then opened the second quarter with a basket to get Noblesville within 10-9.
The Bears’ Nigel Pack began to heat up in the second period, as he scored eight points, including a pair of 3s. But the Millers closed the quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 20-18. Keever-Hill made a free throw, Alex Hancock scored off a Schmidt steal, then Schmidt gave Noblesville the lead with – guess what? – a 3-pointer.
“Once again, we played a tremendous first half,” said McCauley.
Lawrence Central took the lead back to open the third when Pack drained another 3. He would throw in four triples during the period, finishing with six for the game. The Bears never trailed in the second half, but the Millers kept things close. Three-pointers by Schmidt and Johnson got Noblesville to within one point each time.
The third quarter ended with Lawrence Central ahead 37-34. Johnson and then Keever-Hill both made two free throws to again keep the Millers within one point, at 39-38 with 7:10 left. But the Bears made a 7-0 run to go ahead 46-38; Pack made a floater, then Davis scored on a putback and a 3-pointer.
Noblesville kept fighting, but Lawrence Central finished solidly from the free throw line, making 14 of 16 attempts. The Millers’ free throw shooting helped keep them in the game, as they went 8-of-8 in the fourth quarter.
“All in all, really solid effort, but the execution wasn’t quite sharp enough offensively,” said McCauley. “Defensively, we made a few mistakes, particularly with rebounding. We gave them a couple of good looks where we weren’t up enough.”
Johnson scored 20 points, he was named to the All Tournament Team at the end of the game. Keever-Hill added 11 points and Hines scored 10. Hancock pulled four rebounds.
The Millers are 6-5 and will host Muncie Central next Saturday, Jan. 5.
SEMI-FINAL GAME
Noblesville 48, Columbus North 45
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Jordan Schmidt 2-2 0-0 6 4
Eagan Keever-Hill 1-2 0-0 2 0
Zack Johnson 2-3 0-0 4 5
Xavier Hines 9-16 1-1 22 0
Alex Hunt 5-10 2-2 12 1
Brendon Fisher 1-1 0-0 2 0
Totals 20-34 3-3 48 10
Score by Quarters
Columbus North 8 10 16 11 – 45
Noblesville 15 13 13 7 – 48
Noblesville 3-point shooting (5-10) Hines 3-7, Schmidt 2-2, Johnson 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (18) Keever-Hill 7, Johnson 4, Hunt 4, Hines 3.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Lawrence Central 60, Noblesville 51
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Jordan Schmidt 2-4 0-0 6 1
Eagan Keever-Hill 2-5 7-8 11 5
Zack Johnson 5-13 8-9 20 4
Xavier Hines 3-10 2-2 10 2
Alex Hunt 1-2 0-1 2 2
Alex Hancock 1-1 0-0 2 3
Brendon Fisher 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 14-35 17-20 51 17
Score by Quarters
Noblesville 7 13 14 17 – 51
Lawrence Central 10 8 19 23 – 60
Noblesville 3-point shooting (6-18) Hines 2-7, Johnson 2-6, Schmidt 2-4, Hunt 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (16) Hancock 4, Keever-Hill 3, Schmidt 2, Johnson 2, Fisher 1, Hines 1, Hunt 1, team 2.
Jordan Schmidt takes the game-winning 3-point shot in the Millers’ semi-final game with Columbus North Friday morning. (Kent Graham)
Noblesville’s Alex Hancock gave the Millers a spark in the first half against Lawrence Central in Friday’s championship game of the Noblesville Holiday Tournament. Hancock had four rebounds for the Millers. (Kent Graham)
Noblesville’s Zack Johnson was named to the All Tournament Team. (Kent Graham)