Welcome to the 3rd Annual Noblesville Holiday Tournament! Noblesville AD Michael Hasch and Assistant AD Tony Oilar and their support staff have put together quite a field of eight teams that will play a total of 12 games over a two day span and a lot of exciting basketball!
On Monday and Tuesday, December 29th and 30th, The Mill in Noblesville will see 12 games of high school varsity boys basketball and there will be a plethora or talented teams and individuals. Half of the teams are newcomers to this 3rd version of the Noblesville Holiday Tournament, while three (Noblesville, New Haven and Guerin Catholic) are in their third year and Lawrence North makes their second appearance.
This year, it features 8 teams from 5 different conferences and one independent. Those eight combine for a total record of 34-14, four of those having one loss and Lawrence North is the only undefeated squad at 5-0.
Here is a look at what the tournament format looks like for each day:
Dec. 29 Game 1: Guerin Catholic (7-1) vs. New Haven (3-3), 10 am
Dec. 29 Game 2: Crown Point (4-1) vs. Avon (2-4), Noon
Dec. 29 Game 3: Chesterton (6-1) vs. Noblesville (5-1), 2 pm
Dec. 29 Game 4: Lawrence North (5-0) vs. Columbus East (2-3), 4 pm
Dec. 29 Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 pm (semifinal)
Dec. 29 Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 8 pm (semifinal)
Dec. 30 Game 7: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 9 am (consolation)
Dec. 30 Game 8: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 11 am (consolation)
Dec. 30 Game 9: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 1 pm (3rd place game)
Dec. 30 Game 10: Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 3 pm (5th place game)
Dec. 30 Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 5 pm (7th place game)
Dec. 30 Game 12: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 7 pm (Championship)
Game 1 preview - Guerin Catholic (7-1) vs. New Haven (3-3):
Guerin Catholic came into the season ranked #1 in Class 3A and was hoping to be flying high without a blemish to their young season, but that came to a screeching halt on Friday, December 29th.
Lawrence North's Jack Keefer was coaching in his 1,000th career game that night when they played at Guerin Catholic. LN took the host Golden Eagles to overtime and took Guerin out of the ranks of the unbeaten, 62-55.
The Golden Eagles got back on the winning track the next night with a big road win at The Marion Crawley Center at Lafayette Jeff, 53-50.
New Haven has had their ups and downs already this season and they've only played 6 games. First-year head coach Bruce Stephens takes over the sidelines from Al Gooden after Golden took over at Lawrence Central.
After a season-opening 71-49 win at Woodlan, the Bulldogs dropped two in a row to Fort Wayne Northrop (73-42) and Fort Wayne Blackhawk (71-70).
Things have turned around of late for New Haven. Stephens' squad has won two of their last three and have begun scoring more points as the season progresses. Victories at Huntington North (85-77) and Bellmont (76-48) surround a home loss to Leo, 74-62.
Game 2 preview - Crown Point (4-1) vs. Avon (2-4):
Crown Point seems to be one of the hotter teams in the tournament field this year. Losing a blowout at The Penn Palace in Osceola to the Penn Kingsmen 65-40, 9th year head coach Clint Swan has found a way to rally the troops for four straight victories.
Swan started this 4-game streak with a huge road win at Andrean (74-69), where he coached from 1997-2001 and was 83-16 with a 3A State Runner-up finish in 2000.
The Bulldogs continued the winning ways winning at home against Lafayette Jeff (76-52) and wins at Munster (65-57) and South Central (Union Mills) (65-47).
The Avon Orioles have played a tough slate to start their season. A 2-0 start got things off on the right foot, playing in a neutral site game against Plainfield (71-59) and at Hamilton Southeastern (64-60).
Four consecutive losses heading in to the Noblesville Holiday Tournament have the Orioles reeling at the wrong time. Tough games at home versus Carmel (57-34), Terre Haute South (76-59) and Brownsburg (74-51) turned things sour and got worse on the road December 20 at Bloomington South, 71-56.
Following their appearance at Noblesville, Avon competes in the Hendricks County Tournament starting on January 7.
Game 3 preview - Chesterton (6-1) vs. Noblesville (5-1):
Chesterton is another team that's started off really well. The Trojans jumped their season out to a 5-0 start to open up some eyes in northwest Indiana.
Thanksgiving weekend, they won big at The Cave in Mishawaka (70-55) and have played great basketball for head coach Tom Peller.
Hammond Morton (70-59), Lowell (66-51), at Bowman Academy (90-86, 2 OT), Gary Roosevelt (60-44) were the next four victims.
A Tuesday, Dec. 16 loss at East Chicago Central (68-64) put a stop to the Trojans' 5-game streak, but a win vs. Hammond Bishop Noll (62-57) to boost their confidence back up as they'll look to make some noise in the Noblesville Holiday Tournament.
Noblesville has just one loss in the first six games for 1st year head coach Brian McCauley. They started Thanksgiving week of with a pair of wins over Indianapolis Northwest (71-36) and Indianapolis Howe (65-55).
They got a quick reality check in an early season Hoosier Crossroads Conference loss at home to Fishers, 55-42.
The Millers have gotten back to winning lately. Peru (40-29), at Westfield (60-46) and Hamilton Heights (35-31) got Noblesville on a three-game streak heading into their own tournament.
Game 4 preview - Lawrence North (5-0) vs. Columbus East (2-3):
Lawrence North is the lone undefeated team in this year's tournament. As per usual, head coach Jack Keefer's Wildcats play on one of the toughest schedules in the state of Indiana.
On Thanksgiving Eve, LN routed Detroit Cornerstone (MI) 91-66 to help springboard their season. Wins at home against Marion (76-65) and Lawrence Central (66-48), along with road victories at Brebeuf Jesuit (59-51) and Guerin Catholic (62-55, OT) have helped jump Keefer's team out to a 5-0 record heading into Monday and Tuesday's festivities at Noblesville.
The Wildcats' win at Guerin Catholic was Jack Keefer's 1,000th game over his 43-year coaching career.
Columbus East comes into the Noblesville Holiday Tournament having played the least amount of games. That isn't a bad thing that, because it's the result of the Olympians' football team advancing the Class 4A Semi-State the week before Thanksgiving.
Starting their season a little later on Dec. 6 at home vs. New Albany, the Columbus East lost the season-opener 59-49.
They then got the taste of winning by winning at Heritage Christian (46-40) and at home against Bedford North Lawrence (64-45).
The Olympians come into holiday tournament play on a two-game losing streak with a couple of double-digit losses on the road at Silver Creek (56-27) and Columbus North (65-51).
All 12 games of the 2014 Noblesville Holiday Tournament can be streamed LIVE on Hamilton County TV at HCTV.com!
Myself (Craig Adkins), along with Perry Williams and Mitch Robinson, will have the play-by-play for all 12 games!
Whether you're able to be there live or not, we're just a click away at HCTV.com!
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