By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – There were three ingredients to Noblesville’s 48-38 victory over Mount Vernon on Saturday afternoon.
First, take one solid first half of play that saw the Millers make effective scoring runs to get some separation over the Marauders. Then add a third quarter of Noblesville keeping its composure when Mount Vernon made its run, and top it off with a fourth quarter of solid free-throw shooting.
Mix together in The Mill for 32 minutes, and you come out with a win.
“That’s the game in a nutshell,” said Millers coach Brian McCauley. “We got off to a tremendous start.”
After some initial back and forth that saw Noblesville trail 7-6 midway through the first quarter, the Millers made a quick 6-0 run to take the lead and hold it for the duration of the game. Xavier Hines scored the first four points in that run, then Alex Hancock’s layin made it 12-7.
The Marauders’ Jacob Frank interrupted the run with a 3-pointer, but Hancock scored again at the end of the quarter to give Noblesville a 14-10 lead. That basket also started a 7-0 run; Zack Johnson scored three points, with Eagan Keever-Hill making a putback in between.
Jordan Schmidt later hit a 3-pointer, and Hancock continued his strong first-half play with another basket. That gave Noblesville a 24-12 lead. The first half ended with the Millers up 26-17; Hines added a rebound basket.
“Xavier Hines was really good today defensively,” said McCauley. “He rebounded well. He had some big rebounds for us.” Hines totaled six rebounds for the Millers.
The Marauders went on their own 7-0 run that began at the end of the first half and continued into the third quarter. Peyton Meadors made back-to-back layins at the start of the period to get MV within 26-21. Meadors then made a three-point play to get his team within 30-27 with 2:04 left in the third.
But that would be as close as Mount Vernon would get. Neither team scored for the remainder of the quarter, and the Millers set the tone for the fourth period early when Johnson made two free throws just nine seconds into the quarter.
Noblesville made 14 of 15 foul shots in the fourth period: Johnson, Schmidt and Keever-Hill all went 4-for-4, while Alex Hunt was 2-for-3. Hunt also had an important basket with around two minutes left in the game to put Noblesville up 38-29, effectively sealing the win.
“Our entire team played well,” said McCauley. “We took care of the ball extremely well. We had five turnovers. We really knocked down our free throws.”
Johnson led Noblesville’s scoring with 15 points. Keever-Hill and Schmidt both added eight points.
“Zack was consistent throughout the game,” said McCauley. “Eagan made his free throws. Jordan Schmidt made his free throws late and handled the ball well.”
Noblesville is 9-8 and continues its homestand on Friday with a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game against Brownsburg.
Noblesville 48, Mount Vernon 38
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Eagan Keever-Hill 2-4 4-4 8 3
Xavier Hines 2-4 2-2 6 1
Jordan Schmidt 1-3 4-4 7 2
Zack Johnson 5-9 5-6 15 2
Alex Hancock 4-4 0-0 8 0
Alex Hunt 1-2 2-3 4 3
Brendon Fisher 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 15-26 17-19 48 12
Score by Quarters
Mount Vernon 10 7 10 11 – 38
Noblesville 14 12 4 18 – 48
Noblesville 3-point shooting (1-7) Schmidt 1-3, Johnson 0-3, Hines 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (14) Hines 6, Schmidt 2, Keever-Hill 2, Fisher 1, Johnson 1, Hunt 1, Hancock 1.
Noblesville’s Jordan Schmidt scored eight points and made key free throws in the fourth quarter during the Millers’ Saturday afternoon win over Mount Vernon. (Kent Graham)