For the first time in 20 seasons, Noblesville boys basketball has a new head coach pacing the sidelines. A coaching change in the off-season has brought aboard the young talents of former Kokomo head coach Brian McCauley, replacing of future Indiana Basketball Hall of Famer Dave McCollough.
While the head man at Kokomo, McCauley led the storied Wildkats to a 130-58 overall record. He coached them to 5 sectional, 1 regional, 1 semi-state titles and then became the 2011 4A State Runners-Up.
McCauley brings a lot of newness to the Noblesville basketball program, including Varsity assistant coaches Tony Wilhelm, Austin Leisure and Freshman head coach Jesse McClung. Assistant coaches Kent Mills, BJ Kite, JV head coach Stephen Clark, as well as freshman assistant coach Matt Pogue has been promoted from coaching the 8th grade at Noblesville East.
A senior laden starting lineup for the 2014-15 season deals McCauley a good hand in his first season at the helm. The trio of Sean Wilson, David Cory and Jake Mills start at guard for a tremendous amount of varsity experience between the three. 6'5 John Kiser is the lone junior in the starting lineup and returns along with a fourth senior in 6'4 Joey Brewer.
Off the Millers bench, things get picky and choosey depending on the particular situation that Noblesville is faced with. Sophomore McGwire Plumer has quickly grown into the 6th man for McCauley and has earned his much-deserved minutes on the floor. Seniors Josh Gentry and Joey Herron have seen ample time on the court and provided great defensive efforts thus far in four games. Brady Resch and Brandon Barthel both have come off the bench minimally, but playing time could increase to give the Millers depth as the season wears on.
Noblesville 71, Indianapolis Northwest 36 - (Wed. Nov. 26 at The Mill, Noblesville)
Northwest 6 11 2 17 - 36
Noblesville 17 18 21 15 - 71
This one was over as soon as it started really. The visiting Northwest Space Pioneers were completely overmatched in the season opener on Thanksgiving Eve at The Mill in Noblesville.
The Millers were just that much quicker and better prepared to open the season than was Northwest.
Jake Mills and John Kiser each put up 6 in the first and led the Millers the rest of the way. Noblesville took a 17-6 lead into the second and doubled up the Space Pioneers 35-17 at the half to make their presence known right away.
Noblesville outscored Northwest 36-19 in the second half to run away with a 71-36 home victory to start the season off in the right direction.
Mills was unconscious from three-point range, nailing 6-of-8 attempts from outside the arc, along with a pair of two-point jumpers for a game-high 22 points. Kiser converted on six field goals, including a dunk for 13 points and 6 rebounds.
McGwire Plumer's 8 points and 7 assists off the bench were a great spark, along with Sean Wilson (7), Joey Brewer (7), David Cory (6), Brandon Barthel (6) and Christian Johnson (2) making up the rest of the Millers' points.
Noblesville 65, Indianapolis Howe 55 - (Sat. Nov. 29 at The Mill, Noblesville)
Hornets 13 16 14 12 - 55
Millers 19 14 18 14 - 65
Noblesville knew they would have much more of a test against the 2A then-ranked #4 Howe Hornets, than they did to open vs. Northwest. The Millers had their work cut out for them with highly-touted guards Harris Brown (39) and Brian Warren (38) combined for 77 of Howe's 93 points in a season-opening loss at Henry Ford HS in Detroit, Michigan on Thanksgiving Eve, 98-93.
Brown, a pre-season Indiana all-state candidate wouldn't have it easy to try and upset the Millers on their home court, as he was being hounded by the defensive prowess of senior guard David Cory.
Jake Mills picked up right from where he left off with his perimeter game. He managed to escape Howe's defensive pressure and find his way around screens to catch and knock down another five 3-pointers to lead all scorers with a game-high in points with 20 for the second game in a row.
It was a closer game than Noblesville would have liked, but they expected a much more competitive game from Howe with the style of play that they bring to the table.
Howe kept it tight throughout the first half, no matter what Noblesville put on the scoreboard, the Hornets had something to bring back to keep within reach of the Millers all night long.
Leading 19-13 after one and 33-29 at halftime, there were definitely questions from McCauley and his staff at the break to keep Howe from chipping away at any second half lead that the Millers would extend.
Noblesville doubled their halftime lead at the end of the 3rd to eight for a 51-43 advantage through three, but obviously Howe wasn't going to go away quietly.
It took steady play from the experienced lineup of the Millers to keep Howe from coming from behind to make the game closer than it wound up being.
With all eyes on Noblesville's shooters of Mills and Wilson in the second half, that left them with the options of Brewer and Kiser to make things happen offensively. Brewer was able to surprise Howe and drill a three-point basket in each of the four quarters.
The Millers got a scare late in the 4th with Howe making moves to get close when Brian Warren and Dreon Lewis got together for 10 of the Hornets' 12 in the final frame, but it wasn't enough as Noblesville moved to 2-0 with a 65-55 win.
Mills' 20 paced all, but he was complimented by a few of his teammates doing their part. John Kiser had another great outing with 17 on six field goals and 5-for-6 at the foul line. Joey Brewer drilled four treys and a pair of free throws for his 14 points and Sean Wilson swished a two 3's of his own and three from the foul stripe for 9.
Harris Brown led Howe with 17 and Brian Warren with 14, far below their output (77) in the opener at Henry Ford.
Fishers 55, Noblesville 42 - (Fri. Dec. 5 at The Mill, Noblesville)
Tigers 14 7 9 25 - 55
Millers 4 12 12 14 - 42
It's never too early to see what a team is made of in conference play. Not saying that the conference opener is simply a measuring stick for how the rest of the HCC slate will go, but it either gets you off on the right foot or it puts you in a slight hole, especially with 3 less conference opponents to play. That equals that much less room for errors in conference games and virtually no room for losses if you consider yourself as vying for a conference championship.
Out of the gates last Friday, December 5, Fishers was more than ready to start HCC play, after getting battered by Pike on the road a few nights prior by a 108-74 score.
The Tigers jumped out early and often in the first for a 14-4 first quarter lead to stun Noblesville. But, something must have been hammered down in the huddle between quarters, because it worked to cut into the Fishers lead and trail just 21-16 at half, taking the 2nd 12-7.
Fishers accomplished one big thing for 32 minutes and that was to completely shut down the scoring of Jake Mills, who put up a total of 42 points in the Millers' first two games. Guarded by Zach Eaton, Mills was held to just two fourth quarter free throws for 2 points.
That forced others to step up and score in his place, like fellow guard David Cory and the usual scorer in John Kiser.
Noblesville cut even further into the Fishers lead through three, as they outmuscled the Tigers 12-9, but were still down 30-28.
Nothing like that being the fuel to the fire for Keegan Kollmeyer. The 6'2 senior guard poured in 14 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth. His scoring wasn't really Kollmeyer's biggest plus for Joe Leonard's squad. He had his hands in on many defensive stops of the Millers down the stretch, resulting in Keegan sinking 8-of-9 free throws to help put away Noblesville in the final minutes, 55-42.
Lance Dollison and Cameron Wolter each netted 11 to join Kollmeyer (26) in double-figures for 48 of the Tigers' 55.
Noblesville was led by John Kiser's 16 points and David Cory also hit double-digits with 10 on four field goals. Sean Wilson added 5, while Plumer, Brewer and Herron each made a three to chip in.
The Millers will get an opportunity to even their HCC mark on Friday, December 19 at Westfield.
Noblesville 40, Peru 29 - (Sat. Dec. 13 at The Mill, Noblesville)
Tigers 0 14 8 7 - 29
Millers 8 3 17 12 - 40
The Millers had an 8 day off stretch before Saturday night's home game vs. the Peru Tigers. As a player and/or coach, that's definitely not something you really want after a tough 13-point loss at home in conference play to Fishers. But, that's when you get back to the drawing board and figure out what you do best and find a way to excel at it.
Peru is a pretty feisty 3A team that will look to make some noise in the Mid-Indiana Conference this season, as well as in the 3A state tournament when March rolls around.
On Saturday night, they had the tough task heading south on US 31 about 90 minutes and matching up with Noblesville.
Noblesville was looking to bounce back from their loss to Fishers and hoped to take it out on Peru. They got their point across right away, taking an 8-0 lead thru one quarter, completely throwing the Tigers off their game plan.
Coach Metcalfe's Tigers didn't get on the board until 5:57 left in the first half when Logan Primerano made two of three free throws. Down 8-2, Peru went on a run to close the gap at 10-9 to force Noblesville to burn a timeout. A free throw by 7'0 center and Belmont recruit Seth Adelsperger tied the game at 10-10. Adelsperger gave the Tigers their first lead at 12-10.
The Millers got a free throw from Kiser to trail 12-11. Primerano got a steal on Noblesville's next possession down and dunked for his lone field goal and the Peru Tigers were up three at half 14-11.
The third was a back and forth style. Noblesville regained the edge at 18-16 when Kiser found Sean Wilson for a three.
Peru tied it again at 20 and 22. Jake Mills made 1-of-2 at the free throw line for a 23-22 lead that the Millers wouldn't let Peru take back. Wilson swished another three from the right wing for six straight points and a 26-22 lead.
Noblesville stretched things out the rest of the way, outscoring Peru 14-7 from the middle of the third until the final horn sounded for a 40-29 Miller win.
Adelsperger led the Tigers with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, while Michael Richardson (6), Tyler Murphy (6) and Logan Primerano (5) helped produce the remainder as Peru fell to 1-3 on the young season. They dropped both games on the weekend, losing a tough battle to Plymouth on Friday night, 51-43.
Noblesville (3-1) righted the ship for their third win in four tries under 1st year head coach Brian McCauley.
The Millers were led by a pair of 14-point scorers in Jake Mills and John Kiser, who also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and dished out 4 assists.
Noblesville (3-1, 0-1 HCC) gets back to Hoosier Crossroads play when they hit the road at a struggling Westfield (1-4, 0-1 HCC). The Shamrocks dropped a tough one in overtime on Saturday vs. New Palestine, 92-87, for their fourth consecutive loss after opening the season with an overtime win at Plainfield, 72-68.
Friday night's game at Westfield will be live on the NHS Sports Channel on HamiltonCountyTV.com. Craig Adkins (myself ) will have the play-by-play and Perry Williams will have the color commentary. We'll also be live on the NHS Sports Channel on HamiltonCountyTV.com on Saturday night, Dec. 20 when the boys host Hamilton Heights.
Currently, all four Noblesville games can be seen at nhsmillers.com On Demand!
GO MILLERS!
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