Noblesville finished the regular season with a victory on Wednesday, sailing past Pendleton Heights 73-56 at the Arabians’ gym.
The Millers, ranked No. 5 in the ICGSA Class 4A poll and No. 6 in the IBCA one-class ratings, slowly built a lead in the first half, going up 16-13 in the first quarter, then holding a 36-29 advantage at halftime, with Reagan Wilson stepping up at the end of the second quarter. Noblesville then pulled away in the third period, outscoring Pendleton 26-13.
“Reagan made a big play right before the half to put us up seven and gave us momentum going into the half,” said Millers coach Donna Buckley. The coach said her team was “pretty awesome in that third quarter” and “just dominated” on both ends of the floor.
Freshman Meredith Tippner led Noblesville with 24 points, six steals and five rebounds.
“She was pretty awesome,” said Buckley. “She had four and-ones. She went hard to the basket, finished pretty well. She was big time tonight.”
Ashlynn Shade added 21 points, led the rebounds with seven and dished out four assists. Wilson totaled 14 points, including three 3-pointers, and had six steals. As a team, the Millers made 22 steals.
“That’s a lot of steals,” said Buckley. “Our kids were just flying around and doing a great job on defense, just very active.”
Dani Mendez collected five rebounds and Brooklyn Smitherman had two blocked shots.
Noblesville is 18-4 and plays Zionsville Tuesday in the first round of the Westfield sectional.
NOBLESVILLE 73, PENDLETON HEIGHTS 56
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Kaitlyn Shoemaker 2-7 0-0 5 2
Ashlynn Shade 9-17 2-2 21 3
Reagan Wilson 5-14 1-2 14 3
Meredith Tippner 9-15 6-7 24 1
Brooklyn Smitherman 2-2 0-0 4 4
Brooklyn Ely 0-2 2-2 2 0
Ava Shoemaker 0-2 0-0 0 4
Dani Mendez 1-3 1-3 3 3
Aubrey Novinger 0-1 0-0 0 1
Kate Rollins 0-0 0-0 0 1
Carly Motz 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 28-63 12-16 73 22
Score by Quarters
Noblesville 16 20 26 11 – 73
Pendleton Heights 13 16 13 14 – 56
Noblesville 3-point shooting (5-27) Wilson 3-9, Shade 1-7, K. Shoemaker 1-3, Tippner 0-3, Ely 0-2, A. Shoemaker 0-2, Novinger 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (30) Shade 7, Tippner 5, Mendez 5, K. Shoemaker 3, Smitherman 3, Wilson 1, team 4.