By RICHIE HALL
It had been 13 years since the Noblesville boys basketball team had gotten to enjoy the feeling of winning a sectional championship.
After beating Zionsville to win the trophy last Saturday, the Millers were focused on celebrating.
“Anytime you’re able to win a sectional, it’s very gratifying and rewarding for the kids and the coaches, but ultimately it’s about building your program,” said Noblesville coach Scott McClelland. “I hope all these kids get a chance sometime throughout this week to enjoy this.”
This week, of course, has been all about preparing for the regional. The Millers take on Fort Wayne Wayne Saturday for the Class 4A Regional 3 championship at Logansport, with tip off at 4 p.m. McClelland talked to the Reporter on Wednesday, just after his team had finished up its practice session at the Berry Bowl.
“I think our practice session was solid,” said McClelland. “We were able to get up and down the floor. We were able to get a lot of shots in.”
The coach pointed out something about regional week: “There’s a fine line of enjoying that moment, but also recognizing, ‘Hey we still have work to do,’” he said. The Millers will be trying for their first regional title since 1997.
“I think our guys have done a really good job of that,” said McClelland.
Noblesville will be playing a Wayne squad that had an even longer sectional drought than the Millers did. The Generals had not won a title since 1994, but ended that with a last-second victory over Homestead, 55-53. Wayne is on a 12-game win streak; McClelland said the Generals are a very good team, and are playing “with a ton of confidence.”
Overall, Wayne is 20-4 for the year. The Generals won the Summit Conference championship with an 8-1 mark; their only conference loss was to Fort Wayne North Side 81-73. McClelland pointed out that Wayne was 4-18 during the previous season, a big improvement that he said says something about the coaches and character of the team.
“We’re going to have our hands full,” said McClelland.
Wayne played in the Columbia City sectional, where it blitzed New Haven 84-58 in the first round before edging out South Side 57-56 in the semi-finals, then squeezed past the Spartans in the final.
The Generals are a relatively young team. Their leading scorer is junior Jevon Lewis, who averages 16.9 points and 6.3 assists per game. Next in line is sophomore Chase Barnes, with 14.1 points per game. McClelland said that Lewis is “a very good player” and Barnes “has played some really good basketball for them as well.”
Senior Monte Smith Jr. adds 11.0 points per game. Wayne also has two dominant young rebounders: HJ Dillard collects 9.4 per game, and Preston Comer pulls 8.1 per contest. Both are sophomores. Junior Zaire Sullivan averages 5.3 rebounds.
“Defensively, it comes down to three things,” said McClelland. “One, we’ve got to rebound. One shot and out. We cannot give them second and third chances. The second thing is, we’ve got to get back in transition. Third thing, we’ve got to keep the ball out of the paint.”
Meanwhile, McClelland said that on offense, the 19-6 Millers have to be the team to get the ball in the paint. The coach also said his team needs to keep sharing the ball “like we’ve been doing the last few weeks.”
Noblesville’s top scorer is senior Luke Almodovar, who is committed to the University of Saint Francis. He averages 17.4 points per game. Next up is junior Aaron Fine. He contributes 13.8 points and also leads the assists with 3.5 per contest. Junior Hunter Walston is the top rebounder with 4.9 per game; he also averages 8.1 points and 2.8 assists.
The doors open for spectators at the Berry Bowl at 3 p.m., and expect to see quite a few Miller fans there early.
“I think our crowds this year, especially our student section at home games, has been very, very good all year long,” said McClelland. The coach noted that as the season has progressed and Noblesville has made its tournament run, “the Noblesville faithful has come out. It’s really been neat to see some of the older guard come out and support the kids.”
Guerin Catholic-Danville
Guerin Catholic got revenge on two Circle City Conference rivals to win the Shortridge sectional this past weekend, beating Brebeuf Jesuit and Bishop Chatard.
On Saturday, the Golden Eagles will get a taste of Sagamore Conference action. Guerin Catholic plays Danville at the Class 3A Lebanon regional, with a tip time of 1 p.m. at Rosenstihl Gymnasium.
The Warriors are 18-7 for the season, placing second in the Sagamore with a 6-1 record. Danville’s only conference loss was to Lebanon, 63-46.
The Warriors won three games, all against Sagamore teams, on their home floor to claim Sectional 25. Danville beat Western Boone 68-61 in the first round before avenging a regular-season loss to the Tigers 60-49 in the semis. The Warriors then defeated Tri-West 56-44 in the championship game to defend their sectional crown.
“They’re a very aggressive team that can score quickly in bunches,” said GC coach Bobby Allen. “The games I’ve seen, it seems like the games the get down early, they always find a way to get back in the lead and take the lead when you least expect it. They want to play different defenses and they want to put pressure on you.”
Guerin Catholic coach Bobby Allen talks with his team during the Golden Eagles’ sectional final game with Bishop Chatard on Monday. (Kirk Green)
Danville is led in scoring and rebounding by two juniors. Evan Lawrence averages 13.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, followed by Caden Collins with 12.2 points and 5.5 rebounds. Sophomore Jace Crafton is not far behind at 9.7 points and 5.4 rebounds. Collins also hands out 4.3 assists per contest. Junior Owen Collier has 9.3 points per game.
“They have seven fully capable scorers that can hurt you,” said Allen.
Guerin Catholic is 17-8 for the season. Junior Robert Sorensen averages 14.2 points per game and also leads in rebounds with 4.5 per contest. Senior Kamea Chandler adds 11.0 points per game and hands out 3.4 assists. Junior Jack Cherry leads the assists category with 3.8 per game.
“It’s nice to have different options right now,” said Allen. “Lucas Parker, he’s been averaging two or three 3-point makes a game right now. It takes pressure off of Robert.”
Allen also pointed out that the Golden Eagles are giving up only 47 points per game, which is the best defensive average that Guerin Catholic’s ever had.
“We have some fighters,” said Allen. “We have some guys that really finally understand the importance of letting our defense create our offense.”
Allen said his team is “having a blast,” and is ready to keep its good season going.
“It’s nice for them to finally see and understand why the coaches want this so bad,” said Allen. “Of course we want to win, but we want to see these young men grow. They’re developing memories right now that they will cherish for the rest of their life.”