By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – It has to be an Indiana thing: Whenever the weather gets really cold, basketball teams get really hot.
There was plenty of hot shooting at The Mill in Noblesville on Tuesday, as the Millers hosted Westfield in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference and all-county game. Both teams were shooting the ball well from outside, with each side making 10 3-pointers in total.
But the Shamrocks, ranked No. 7 in the IBCA one-class poll and No. 10 in the Associated Press Class 4A poll, made several other baskets, and finished with a convincing 69-52 victory over Noblesville. It was a significant win for two reasons.
First, Westfield is having to adjust to playing without Braden Smith, who is sidelined for the next few weeks with a foot injury. Smith was there to cheer on his team from the bench during the game.
And the second reason?
“A lot of people probably don’t realize this: This is our first conference win this year,” said Shamrocks coach Shane Sumpter. Westfield was 0-3 in HCC play before finally breaking through on Tuesday.
The ‘Rocks never trailed during the contest. Cam Haffner scored the game’s first baskets, both on floaters, to give Westfield a 4-0 lead. Aaron Fine got the Millers on the board with a three-point play.
The Shamrocks slowly built their lead throughout the game, outscoring Noblesville in each quarter. Westfield never went on any long runs during the game; in fact, a 7-0 run at the start of the second quarter was their longest spurt of the game. But the Shamrocks did have several instances of consecutive scores, while allowing the Millers to do that only three times in the game.
“We’re having to adjust here on the fly with really one practice since we haven’t had Braden,” said Sumpter. “We’ve played two really good basketball games where we’ve moved the basketball, we’ve shared the ball. We’ve done a lot of good things, and that’s all we can do. We played really well tonight. We made a lot of shots.”
A Haffner 3 put Westfield up 11-5 late in the first quarter before Fine’s layin and a Luke Almodovar steal and dunk cut the lead to 11-9. That would be the score at the end of the first period, and that’s when the ‘Rocks went on their 7-0 run. Sam Bishop drained a 3, then Alex Romack hit two free throws and Haffner scored on a jumper.
Everyone was getting into the act. Reiner Obray came off the bench in the second quarter and made a 3-pointer to push Westfield’s lead into double digits (23-12) for the first time. Almodovar began heating up for the Millers in the second period as well, pouring in 14 points (including four triples). His fourth 3 got Noblesville within 30-25, but Haffner’s jumper and Bishop’s and-1 with 0.6 seconds left in the half gave Westfield a 35-25 advantage at the break.
The pattern continued in the second half. Westfield threw in four more 3s in the latter half of the third quarter, with Haffner making two and Bishop and Trey Buchanan each making one. Almodovar hit two 3s for Noblesville, and Fine had a triple as well. But Haffner had the last word, and his second 3 of the quarter gave Westfield a 53-37 lead heading into the fourth.
Haffner threw in three more 3s in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with six triples and lead all scorers with 32 points. Romack had 16 points and Bishop scored 10.
“Just a total team effort,” said Sumpter.
Almodovar made seven 3-pointers for the game and finished with 25 points. Fine scored 12.
“They deserved to win,” said Noblesville coach Scott McClelland. “The tougher team won tonight by far. They just kicked us all night. They just out-toughed us. They wanted it more. Credit to their kids and their coaching staff. They just kicked us.”
Westfield is now 12-4 overall. The Shamrocks return home on Friday for another HCC game against Avon, then host a good Liberty Christian team on Saturday. Sumpter said his team will have to “grind away and figure out how to get better. Hopefully at the end of the year, it’s going to make our basketball team better.”
The Shamrocks will also be waiting to see if Smith will be ready to go as well.
“It’s all about playing the waiting game and seeing how he heals right now, so he’ll go back in a few weeks and see if he’s healed up,” said Sumpter.
The coach knows that it’s difficult for Smith not to be playing.
“He’s the one who’s hurting the most out of all this, because he’s not being able to play the game that he loves with the guys that he loves,” said Sumpter. “We’re going to play hard. We’re going to play hard for him and play hard for each other and show up, and that’s all we can do and that’s what we did tonight from start to finish.”
Noblesville is 2-2 in conference play and 7-7 overall. The Millers also have a busy week with two more home games. First, Noblesville hosts Hamilton Southeastern Friday in another HCC contest. On Saturday, the Millers welcome Guerin Catholic to The Mill. That game will have a 2:30 p.m. varsity tipoff.
WESTFIELD 69, NOBLESVILLE 52
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
Cam Haffner 12 2-3 32 2
Trey Buchanan 3 0-0 7 3
Trey Dorton 0 0-2 0 2
Nic Depasquale 0 1-2 1 0
Alex Romack 6 4-4 16 1
Sam Bishop 3 2-3 10 0
Reiner Obray 1 0-0 3 0
Kai Butterworth 0 0-0 0 2
Alex Wolf 0 0-0 0 0
Jonah Spinner 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 25 9-14 69 10
Westfield 3-pointers (10) Haffner 6, Bishop 2, Buchanan 1, Obray 1.
Noblesville FG FT TP PF
E.J. Smith 1 1-2 4 1
Aaron Fine 5 1-1 12 3
Cooper Bean 2 4-4 8 2
Preston Roberts 0 0-0 0 2
Cameron Karns 0 0-0 0 3
Luke Almodovar 9 0-0 25 3
Hunter Walston 1 0-0 3 2
Luke Wilson 0 0-0 0 0
Evan Wright 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 18 6-7 52 16
Noblesville 3-pointers (10) Almodovar 7, Fine 1, Smith 1, Walston 1.
Score by Quarters
Westfield 11 24 18 16 – 69
Noblesville 9 16 12 15 – 52