By CRAIG ADKINS
The Noblesville boys basketball team was glad to be back on its home floor at The Mill on Friday night, especially after what happened in last Friday’s 47-point drubbing at Carmel. The Millers were able to find their way in every opportunity in their 48-27 convincing Hoosier Crossroads Conference win on Friday night over rival Westfield.
Consecutive baskets from juniors Zack Johnson and Eagan Keever-Hill, along with senior Ryan Barnes that jumped Noblesville out to a 6-0 with 5:15 left in the first, forced third-year Westfield head coach Shane Sumpter to call his first timeout to settle down his Shamrocks.
“I think our first four possessions tonight were turnovers before we even got a shot off. You’re not gonna win many games with 17 turnovers and 27 points. Give them credit, their zone was really good tonight and we just didn’t execute very well against it,” said Sumpter on what his team’s loss boiled down to tonight.
Following the timeout, Westfield managed to put some points on the board and trail 13-6 through one quarter.
The Shamrocks made a slight push, but the Millers were able to keep their distance. Ryan Barnes again was able to add four more points to his total with two straight layups. Westfield got a pair of three’s from Zach Banks and Camden Simons that helped keep them within striking distance at halftime with Noblesville up 20-14.
“Yeah, it certainly caused a lot of problems with their length,” said Westfield head coach Shane Sumpter on the length of Noblesville’s defense that gave them problems inside and out all night long.
“I don’t think watching them on film or even watching them in person is the same as. They’ve got a lot of length that cause you the problems, but we just had way too many turnovers,” Sumpter continued on the Miller 2-3 zone giving his team fits.
Something sparked the Millers in the locker room at halftime and they brought that sense of urgency onto the floor in the third quarter.
Right away, Zack Johnson drained a three from the left corner and Ryan Barnes scored his fifth basket of the night, giving the Millers their first double-digit lead of the night that they would only build on.
Camden Simons put Westfield’s first two of the third on the board, but that just ignited a 5-0 run by Barnes and before the Shamrocks knew it, Keever-Hill joined the fast-paced quarter with six straight points of his own, including a couple jumpers that made it a 36-20 game at the end of the third.
“We came out and did a really good job of attacking in the third and opened it up,” said Noblesville head coach Brian McCauley on his team’s ability to springboard their lead from a six-point lead at halftime to 16 through three quarters.
Feeding the hot hand is what is was about during the Millers’ big run that widened the gap, pushing Noblesville to the huge home victory.
Junior guard Xavier Hines knocked down a pair of three-point bombs from the top of the key to start the fourth and Johnson drove to the bucket for another two and just like that, Noblesville found itself up 46-20, taking Westfield completely out of the game.
“Xavier then hit two back-to-back three’s that really opened it up,” said McCauley on his junior guard comfortably nailing two three’s that put the game out of reach for the Shamrocks.
On a night when they were able to spread out their scoring, it really was their defense that propelled them to the HCC victory.
The Miller defense was able to force 18 Westfield turnovers, 12 of which were steals and held the visitors to single-digits in each quarter in running away with a 48-27 Hoosier Crossroads Conference win.
“Our defense tonight was really solid. We were active in our defense. I think they had 18 turnovers and we had 12 steals on the night and we had seven deflections,” McCauley on the Miller defense dominating Westfield on Friday night.
Westfield (4-3, 0-2 HCC) snaps its three-game winning streak and will look to split their weekend when they host Tipton (6-1) on Saturday night. The Blue Devils edged Lewis Cass 58-56 on Friday.
Junior Zach Banks led Westfield with a team-high 14 points.
Noblesville (4-2, 2-0 HCC) will look to continue their stingy defensive play when they head north to face another Hamilton County rival on Saturday night at Hamilton Heights (3-4), who won at Western 61-36 on Friday.
Ryan Barnes led all scorers with a game-high 15 points on seven field goals. Xavier Hines and Zack Johnson both added 11 points, while Eagan Keever-Hill chipped in with eight.
ABOVE: Noblesville’s Ryan Barnes puts up a shot while being guarded by Westfield’s Michael Koza during the Millers-Shamrocks’ game at The Mill on Friday. Noblesville won 48-27; Barnes led all scorers with 15 points.
BELOW: Noblesville’s Zack Johnson controls the ball while being guarded by Westfield’s Josh Van Dyke during the Millers-Shamrocks game at The Mill.
