The game was just about delayed because of Noblesville almost having to delay their departure. Just after 10 a.m. on Saturday, a small fire started in the boiler room, which is just south of The Mill. It isn't yet determined if there was any damage other than the boiler room, but the school was evacuated. That sent the Miller girls on their way to North Central once they got the go-ahead and the canceling of high school boys basketball practice.
It was anticipated to be a survival of the fittest battle from the get-go and it lived up to that and maybe a little bit more on Saturday afternoon. Noblesville faced a tough, speedy Carmel team two days before Thanksgiving and wound up with a 17-point road victory that night.
Oddly enough in Saturday's early afternoon tilt at North Central, it ended with the same result. The Millers got quite the scare from the host Panthers, but figured out ways to get to their quickness and pulled away in the 4th with a 17-point, 72-55 road win.
4A #5 Noblesville 72, North Central 55 - (Saturday, Dec. 6 at North Central)
Millers 12 14 21 25 - 72
Panthers 12 16 18 9 - 55
Anytime a team is undefeated, there is an obvious big target on their backs every time that they take to the court. It was pretty clear from North Central's standpoint that their sole intent was to knock Noblesville from the ranks of the unbeaten. After getting pummeled on the road at Pike 63-40 less than 24 hours prior, head coach DeeAnn Ramey's team was bound and determined to turn their weekend around.
Aside from Carmel, the Millers hadn't yet seen a team with a backcourt quite as speedy and crafty as North Central has. Just like Noblesville, the Panthers start three guards. The uncanny thing about it is that two of them are freshman and they definitely don't play like they're eight games into their high school basketball careers.
Adversity struck early, just as it did at Carmel. Usually, the Millers strike early and often in the first minute to ninety seconds, forcing the opponent to burn their first timeout. North Central didn't seem phased by what Noblesville brought.
Back and forth for the first few minutes, Noblesville tied it at 6 and regained the lead at 7-6 with Katelyn O'Reilly getting fouled, making the layup and free throw for the old-fashioned three-point play.
In a game that totaled 10 ties and 8 lead changes, it wasn't surprising at all how the first three quarters of this game panned out.
O'Reilly got the Millers back in front 12-10 momentarily, taking a pass from Becca Bergman and laying it in.
North Central scored just before the first quarter ended to tie the game at 12-12.
Both teams fought hard in the 2nd and the Panthers saw their biggest lead of 21-16 get narrowed down to leading the fifth-ranked Millers 28-26 at the half, something Noblesville hadn't faced this season.
Ajanae` Thomas came alive for North Central on the offensive end, scoring 6 of her 8 in the third by driving the baseline and fighting her way to the hoop for layups. It took Thomas taking that initiative to score, with junior center Symone Cathey on the bench for half of the game. Cathey got in foul trouble at Pike on Friday night and it was obvious that Ramey thought the same might happen against Noblesville.
Noblesville grabbed control of the game again to outscore the hosts 21-18 in the quarter, but also figured out the best way to spread the wealth to throw off North Central's defense.
Becca Bergman nailed a pair of open treys from the wing, Alexis Shannon added six, O'Reilly 5 and Emily Kiser 4 to combine for the Millers' 21 and get the Panthers to the point where it was evident that they were worn out from playing a back-to-back in less than 24 hours.
As exhausted as they were, North Central stuck right with Keck's crew through three, but Noblesville had now regained the lead 47-46 heading to the 4th.
Thomas wasn't done with her part of keeping the Millers honest. To start the fourth, the sophomore Thomas drove the lane once again and went up and over O'Reilly to shift the lead back to North Central 48-47. They had the lead after that at 51-49, but that was the turning point for Noblesville.
Kayleigh Herron found Bergman for a basket to cut NC's lead to that 51-49 score. After a defensive stop, Erin Wood was fouled on the other end, where she sank two from the charity stripe to tie it up for the 10th and final time at 51-51.
Early in the 4th, Herron let fly a three and swished it to put the Millers up 57-52. A few minutes later, she did it again, giving the Miller faithful something more to cheer about. Bergman also had 6 in the 4th, including 4-for-4 at the foul line. O'Reilly poured in 7 of her 25 in the fourth.
Noblesville did what they do best from that point on. It seemed like they flipped a switch on internally and outscored North Central 21-4 to end the game and pull away from the Panthers, 72-55.
Being down at points during a game just ignites this group and makes them play that much harder. A game like this will definitely get them prepared to face the Fishers Tigers (7-1, 2-0 HCC) this Friday night at Fishers.
North Central (4-4) dropped their second game in as many days in the loss to Noblesville. No Panther reached double-figures in scoring. They were led by freshman guard Ajah Stallings with 9. Kyra Taylor, Karen Shabazz, Ajanae` Thomas and Symone Cathey each pitched in with 8, while De`Shawna Harper added 7 and Taylor Ramey 5.
The Millers had three in double-digits, including Katelyn O'Reilly's 4th double-double in a row and 5th on the season with a game-high 25 points and 11 rebounds and not to mention 4 assists. Alexis Shannon (16) and Becca Bergman (12) did their part to help pace the Noblesville offensive attack.
Erin Wood had 6 points, 7 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals, despite being whistled for four personal fouls. Kayleigh Herron added 6 points on two 3's, along with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Emily Kiser (4) and Brooke Herron (3) made up the rest of the Millers scoring.
Noblesville (8-0) hits the road this Friday and gets back into Hoosier Crossroads Conference play, visiting the Fishers Tigers.
A game like Saturday's was a great test to see what happens when this group gets rattled. Faced with adversity, they found ways to climb their way back into the lead and pull away throughout the fourth quarter.
On Friday night, be sure to join myself and Perry Williams for the call of Keck's Millers on the road at Fishers live on HamiltonCountyTV.com! We'll have the audio for you with the pre-game starting around 7:30.
GO MILLERS!
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