BY RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – While the Noblesville boys basketball team fell short in its regular-season and Hoosier Crossroads Conference finale with Avon Friday, it was still a game to remember at The Mill.
The Millers were down 11 points with two and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter before making a huge comeback in front of a loud crowd. Noblesville cut the Orioles’ lead to one with a little over a minute to go before Avon escaped with a 60-54 victory.
“I like the way our guys didn’t give up,” said Millers coach John Peckinpaugh. He said it could’ve easily wound up being a 20 or 30-point game.
“But we just kept fighting, fighting,” said Peckinpaugh. “Found a way to make it a game.”
The game was close during the first part of the first quarter, which opened with both teams exchanging 3-pointers. Alex Hunt’s triple tied the game at 3-3.
But Avon took over after that, eating up most of the first period and the beginning of the second with a 17-4 run. That put the Orioles up 20-7 early in the second period.
“We came out sluggish there out of the gate,” said Peckinpaugh. “Dug ourselves in a hole. They’re as talented as anybody in our conference. If you give them some confidence and get them going, then they can play. And they made us play tonight.”
The Millers began to find themselves after that. David Lloyd came off the bench and helped out big in the second quarter, scoring seven points, including a 3-pointer that got Noblesville within 22-14. The Millers were able to stay at that margin going into halftime, trailing 26-18.
Noblesville was still within 34-24 with 6:08 left in the third quarter, this after two free throws from Hunt and a basket by Brendon Fisher. The Orioles went on an 8-2 run at that point to lead 42-26.
Jordan Gadis helped out with four points late in the third quarter, but Avon kept the Millers at arm’s length for much of the second half, still leading 52-41 with 2:36 remaining in the fourth. But that’s when a sudden outburst got Noblesville back in it.
Fisher drained a 3-pointer to start the run. Seconds later, Wilson made a free throw. The Millers got the ball back and Wilson scored while being fouled. Avon got called for a technical foul, and after making the and-1, Wilson hit both free throws.
“Evan did a lot of good things for us,” said Peckinpaugh.
Just like that, Noblesville was only down 52-50. Wilson then scored after the Orioles made a free throw, and the Millers were within 53-52. But Avon would hold them off, finishing the game with a 5-of-6 effort from the line.
Peckinpaugh called the Millers student section “amazing.”
“It was awesome,” said Peckinpaugh. “If we get crowds like that every night, it’d be pretty cool. And they helped us get back in the game. Our student section was off the charts, and it’s kind of like old-school Noblesville basketball.”
Hunt finished the game with 13 points, with Wilson scoring 10. Lloyd scored nine points.
The Millers finished conference play 1-6 and the regular season 11-12. Noblesville will be off until the week of March 2 when it hosts Class 4A Sectional 8. The IHSAA will announce the sectional draws at 3 p.m. Sunday on ihsaatv.org.
AVON 60, NOBLESVILLE 54
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Jordan Gadis 2 2-4 6 3
Brendon Fisher 2 0-0 5 1
E.J. Smith 2 2-2 6 1
Noah Harris 2 1-2 5 3
Alex Hunt 3 6-7 13 3
Evan Wilson 2 6-7 10 2
Trenton Reed 0 0-0 0 3
David Lloyd 4 0-0 9 1
Preston Roberts 0 0-0 0 0
Levi Calvert 0 0-0 0 0
Keagan Smith 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 17 17-22 54 17
Score by Quarters
Avon 18 8 18 16 – 60
Noblesville 7 7 18 22 – 54
Noblesville 3-pointers (3) Fisher 1, Lloyd 1, Hunt 1.
Noblesville’s David Lloyd scored nine points for the Millers during their Friday game with Avon at The Mill. (Kent Graham)