BY RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – Noblesville gave Pike a strong battle Saturday night at The Mill before the Red Devils took over in the final minutes of the fourth to beat the Millers 62-48.
The game was much closer than the final score, however. It had been tight for the first three quarters, which featured efficient shooting and contributions from everyone on the Noblesville team.
“We did a lot of great things,” said Millers coach Brian McCauley. “We battled a team that I think is a very good team. We had great balanced scoring.”
It seemed as if both teams had an answer for everything the other team did. Alex Hunt and Johnson scored early baskets, then Pike went on a 6-0 run to lead 8-4. Johnson ended that by hitting a 3-pointer. Eagan Keever-Hill’s two foul shots and a layin from Jordan Schmidt put Noblesville up 11-10, then Xavier Hines made a 3 – that’s all five starters scoring by the final minute of the quarter.
A breakaway basket by LaJuan Whintey gave the Red Devils a 17-14 lead at the end of the first, but Hines promptly tied the game at the beginning of the second by nailing another 3. Both teams continued to trade baskets for most of the quarter, with Noblesville getting the period’s only back-to-back score: Schmidt’s jumper and Hunt’s layin put the Millers on top 25-23 midway through.
The basket-trading began again, with five straight lead changes in the game’s final 2:51. Brendon Fisher’s 3 gave Noblesville a 30-28 lead, with Jasen Graves answering with a 3 to put the Red Devils ahead 31-30. But the Millers had the last word of the half, as Schmidt’s steal and subsequent basket and-1 gave Noblesville a 33-31 halftime lead.
Pike’s Ahmoni Jones started the second half with a basket, a sign of things to come in the half. Hines answered that with his third 3-pointer of the game, giving the Millers a 36-33 lead.
But the Red Devils made a quick 6-0 run, going ahead 39-36; Graves hit his own 3 to tie the game and start the run. Pike got up by as much as 45-38 late in the third, but Johnson scored consecutive baskets to end the quarter, the second of a key rebound by Keever-Hill.
With that, the Millers trailed by only 45-42, then 45-44 after Hines scored to start the fourth. But Jones began to heat up, hitting a 3-pointer, then later making a three-point play to put Pike up 51-46. Hunt scored a layin to keep Noblesville within 53-48, but the Red Devils ended the game with a 9-0 run that took up the last 2:45.
“We gave ourselves chances,” said McCauley. “We were down one point early in the fourth.” But Jones took over after that, scoring 14 of his game-high 29 points in the quarter.
Johnson finished the game with 13 points, while Hines scored 11 and Hunt had 10. Keever-Hill handed out eight assists. Both teams shot the ball very well, so there weren’t many rebounds. Keever-Hill led that statistic with three.
“Give them credit and I give our guys credit, but unfortunately, they were a little bit better in the second half than we were,” said McCauley. “So we got to go back to work.”
The Millers will host their own holiday tournament next week. Noblesville plays Northridge in its first game, which is set for noon on Thursday.
Pike 62, Noblesville 48
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Xavier Hines 4-9 0-0 11 1
Alex Hunt 5-6 0-1 10 2
Zack Johnson 6-10 0-3 13 3
Eagan Keever-Hill 1-2 2-2 4 5
Jordan Schmidt 3-5 1-1 7 4
Brendon Fisher 1-2 0-0 3 0
Jordan Gadis 0-0 0-0 0 0
Evan Wilson 0-0 0-0 0 0
Jared Crandall 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 19-34 3-7 48 15
Score by Quarters
Pike 17 14 14 17 – 62
Noblesville 14 19 9 6 – 48
Noblesville 3-point shooting (5-12) Hines 3-7, Johnson 1-2, Fisher 1-1, Hunt 0-1, Schmidt 0-1.
Noblesville rebounds (9) Keever-Hill 3, Johnson 2, Schmidt 2, Hines 1, Hunt 1.
Noblesville’s Xavier Hines scored 11 points for the Millers during their game with Pike Saturday night at The Mill. (Kent Graham)
Noblesville’s Jordan Schmidt scored seven first-half points for the Millers in their game with Pike on Saturday. (Kent Graham)