By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
NOBLESVILLE – High school athletes are never fully prepared for their Senior Day and the final times playing on their home court come to a close. One good thing for Noblesville is that the Millers chose their second to last home game last Saturday for this particular occasion to honor their seniors.
It would, however, be the final Hoosier Crossroads Conference game of the season for Noblesville. The Millers would need very little time to take control and solidify the league win over the Flashes, 66-40.
Noblesville celebrated its six senior players and one athletic trainer in a pre-game ceremony.
The Millers started five seniors (Kaitlyn Shoemaker, Brooklyn Ely, Carly Motz, Dani Mendez and Brooklyn Smitherman) and the sixth senior, Aubrey Novinger, would be deemed an honorary starter.
A returning starter from last year’s state championship, Brooklyn Smitherman had a unique experience at tipoff. Following a tear of her ACL before the season started, which had sidelined her, Smitherman took a pass under the basket from fellow senior Brooklyn Ely to score the game’s first two points on a layup.
“There’s obviously a lot of emotions. I love this group so much, they’re family,” Noblesville head coach Donna Buckley said of this year’s senior class of players.
“They just have meant so much to our program. Obviously, they’ve been incredibly successful, but beyond the success, they’re just the best kids in the entire world,” Buckley continued to praise this group of seniors.
After Smitherman’s opening basket, Noblesville took to the outside. Ely knocked down a three from the right corner and then senior Carly Motz swished a wide-open triple from the left wing. Following that pair of threes, senior Dani Mendez took an Ely pass for a 10-2 lead, forcing Franklin Central to burn a timeout.
The cards were dealt just how the Millers hoped for on a day like this.
“It looked scripted. If we would have scripted it, we sure as heck couldn’t have done that. It’s the beauty of this group. They’re just special and no moment is too big for them.” Buckley said on her team’s storybook start.
Meredith Tippner would score the final seven points for a 19-12 lead on the Flashes through one quarter.
The lead would grow even more in the second as Tippner scored four more and Reagan Wilson added five more to push the advantage at halftime to 36-18.
The Millers came out of the locker room at halftime and flipped their mode back into high gear.
Noblesville’s high-powered offense was on a mission to put this game out of reach in a hurry, putting together a barrage of threes during a 23-10 third period that took Franklin Central completely out of the game.
During the majority of the fourth period, Buckley was able to empty her bench to give her seniors their proper curtain calls, all at different stoppages in play on their way to a 66-40 win.
“We’ve got a lot of kids that can score and a lot willing to do whatever. They’re willing to rebound and defend and do the things that help us win. That’s just who they are at their core, because they’re winners,” stated Buckley on her players’ overall selfless mentality.
The Flashes were led by a pair in double-figures. Lily Graves led with a game-high 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Abby Steinhofer also had 14 points and five boards.
Franklin Central (5-15, 0-6 HCC) snaps its two-game win streak with the loss. The Flashes finish up the regular season at home against Southport on Tuesday and at Fishers on Friday.
The Millers were led by both Reagan Wilson and Meredith Tippner tying for team-high honors with 16 points apiece. Ely, Motz and Mendez each added six points. Wilson (also five steals) and Ely both dished out a half dozen assists.
Noblesville (20-3, 5-2 HCC) closes out the regular season on Wednesday when it hosts Pendleton Heights (13-8) before hosting 4A Sectional 8 starting on Tuesday, Jan. 31.