By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – The Noblesville girls basketball team hosted its inaugural holiday tournament on Thursday, and the Millers wanted to be the first-ever winners.
Noblesville did just that, beating two good teams to claim the championship. The Millers beat Valparaiso 65-56 in their first game, then held off a tough, persistent effort from Class 4A No. 4 Fort Wayne Snider 57-51 in the championship contest.
“We were excited,” said senior Reagan Wilson. “First time ever hosting the tournament and we knew we couldn’t host the first one and not win it.”
Noblesville only trailed for a few seconds of the championship. The Panthers scored the first basket of the game before C.C. Quigley and Wilson made jump shots to lead 4-2. A putback from Snider’s Jordyn Poole tied the game, but Wilson nailed back-to-back 3-pointers and the Millers never trailed again.
Wilson scored 12 points in the first quarter, a big part of Noblesville leading 18-9 at the end of the period. She then hit another 3 to open the second quarter, giving the Millers their largest lead of the game at 21-9.
“Recently in practice we’ve just been harping on playing with confidence,” said Wilson. The Iowa State commit also said that the Noblesville teammates trusting each other was also important.
That trust came into play as Snider ramped up its pressure during the second half. The Millers led 30-23 at halftime, then both teams scored 12 points in the third quarter. Meredith Tippner scored eight points in that quarter. The Panthers went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 34-31 at one point, but sophomore Ally Hutchinson stopped it with two free throws.
“I thought Ally Hutchinson made some huge plays for us,” said Millers coach Donna Buckley. “Obviously, Reagan and Tipp did their thing and were awesome.”
Buckley was happy to see the younger players step up, noting that some of them were inexperienced coming into the season. But now it seems they are finding their way, and getting increased responsibility, especially since the team’s third-leading scorer, Ava Shoemaker, is currently out with an injury.
“It’s fun to see all of it come together,” said Buckley. “Even without Ava, not having her for four games has been a challenge, but to go out and do the things we did without her has been good. I’m looking forward to getting her back.”
Snider continued to press in the fourth period, but Noblesville used bold and precise passing in that quarter to run down the clock and stay ahead. A layin by Tia Phenizy got the Panthers within 50-46, but Tippner answered that with a jumper. Wilson stepped up from the free-throw line during the game’s final minute, making all four attempts, and helped out on defense with a steal.
Wilson finished the game with 30 points, while Tippner scored 18 points. Quigley collected 10 rebounds and Tippner pulled nine. Tippner also dished out five assists and Quigley blocked two shots.
In the morning game, Noblesville led Valparaiso 15-6 after one quarter, and kept its lead around that margin for the remaining three quarters. Wilson totaled 29 points, with Tippner getting a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds, in addition to six assists and five steals. Quigley blocked two shots.
The Millers are 9-7 and play Saturday, Jan. 6 at Cathedral.
NOBLESVILLE 65, VALPARAISO 56
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Brookelyn Grayson 1-3 0-0 2 0
Reagan Wilson 10-21 5-5 29 2
Meredith Tippner 7-13 6-12 20 3
Kate Rollins 2-5 3-3 7 1
C.C. Quigley 2-5 0-0 4 1
Ally Hutchinson 1-4 0-0 3 1
Bri Gray 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 23-51 14-20 65 9
Score by Quarters
Valparaiso 6 19 17 14 – 56
Noblesville 15 18 18 14 – 65
Noblesville 3-point shooting (5-14) Wilson 4-9, Hutchinson 1-2, Rollins 0-2, Tippner 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (28) Tippner 12, Hutchinson 4, Wilson 4, Quigley 4, Rollins 2, Grayson 1, team 1.
NOBLESVILLE 57, FORT WAYNE SNIDER 51
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Brookelyn Grayson 0-1 0-0 0 2
Reagan Wilson 10-19 6-6 30 1
Meredith Tippner 9-18 0-2 18 4
Kate Rollins 0-3 0-0 0 1
C.C. Quigley 2-6 1-2 5 2
Ally Hutchinson 1-3 2-2 4 1
Bri Gray 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 22-50 9-12 57 11
Score by Quarters
Snider 9 14 12 16 – 51
Noblesville 18 12 12 15 – 57
Noblesville 3-point shooting (4-9) Wilson 4-7, Grayson 0-1, Rollins 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (28) Quigley 10, Tippner 9, Wilson 3, Hutchinson 2, Grayson 2, Rollins 1, team 1.