Pendleton Heights wasn't going to go down easy to the fifth-ranked Millers, at least not at first. The visiting Arabians caught Noblesville a little bit off guard in the first quarter. But, it was the inevitable ending to this night for another victim at The Mill.
The Millers notched their 18th win of the season and extended their home court winning streak to 13 games, dating back to their last four home games of last season, with an 88-50 come from behind win over Pendleton Heights on Wednesday night.
It's never an easy thing for a team to just go out and win every game. In the world of sports, it just doesn't happen that way, no matter who the team is an how much they've accomplished in the days and months prior.
The Millers started out the season with 11 consecutive wins. With 13 days between their next game with Homestead, Noblesville got handed its first loss of the season. It probably came at the right time of the season, to be honest. No one wants to lose, but having it happen on January 2nd didn't end the world for Keck's squad.
They've persevered and gotten back their original identity and have since won seven in a row, including Wednesday night's victory over Pendleton Heights.
4A #5 Noblesville 88, Pendleton Heights 50 - (Wednesday at The Mill, Noblesville)
Arabians 21 13 8 8 - 50
Millers 18 26 24 20 - 88
The Arabians were on a mission to try and upset Noblesville on the road. That was a tall, tough task and it turned out that Pendleton Heights didn't have the depth or the weapons, on both ends of the floor, to keep up with the speedy Millers.
Pendleton Heights tried to do it from the outside in the early going of the first and were successful with Skyla Baird (2) and Adrienne Phillips combining for three from outside and Sam Hammel was a spark with six points in the quarter. But, putting Noblesville in a deficit early only made them mad.
Becca Bergman got open a couple different times on the wing, swishing a pair of 3-point attempts to keep the Arabians honest. Katelyn O'Reilly was able to maneuver around in the paint, unlike Monday's game vs. Kokomo when she fouled out. KO produced a couple layups, but was an even better presence on defense. Despite clutch plays and great D to finish the quarter, Pendleton Heights held on for a 21-18 lead after one.
The 2nd quarter became The KO Show. O'Reilly muscled her way to 14 of the Millers' 26 points and Noblesville quickly overcame the slight edge the Arabians once had and turned it into a 10-point halftime lead at 44-34.
The second half helped the Millers get and stay comfortable while building and extending their lead through three (68-42) and the final score (88-50), holding Pendleton Heights to just 16 points in the final two quarters.
Pendleton Heights (13-9) was able to get their leading scorers a little beyond what they normally produce. Adrienne Phillips (12.5 avg) 19 was a team-high and and was joined in double figures by Sam Hammel (10.6 avg) with 14 to make up for a majority of the Arabians' points. Skyla Baird pitched in with 7, all in the 1st, and Kelsey Burton had 6.
Noblesville (18-1, 5-0 HCC) was led by Katelyn O'Reilly's game-high 25, 14 in the 2nd. Junior classmate Alexis Shannon had her first double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 steals, getting her Player of the Game honors with Hamilton County TV.
Becca Bergman sank four 3-pointers for the second game in a row to wind up with 14 points. Erin Wood had her first game of the year scoring in double-figures with 11, also dished out 4 assists.
Emily Kiser had another solid outing with 8 points and 7 boards. Brooke Herron (5), Cori Cain (4), Audrey DeFoe (2) and Rachel Shipman (2) scored the remaining Miller points.
The Millers are back in action on Saturday night at The Mill. They'll host the Hamilton Southeastern Royals (14-5, 4-1 HCC), who are reeling a little bit, having lost 3 of the last 4 games to the likes of Westfield (38-37), Lawrence North (59-32) and at Pike (60-58).
With a win Saturday night, Noblesville can claim the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship outright, which the Millers haven't done since the 2001-02 season (18-3, 7-0) under former coach Leah Wooldridge.
GO MILLERS!
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Five Miller seniors honored in Senior Night win over Kokomo
Gotta love the reasoning behind their Senior Night being against Kokomo in this rescheduled game from its snow day on January 7. This group of five seniors in Cori Cain, Kayleigh Herron, Becca Bergman, Audrey DeFoe and Erin Wood were all on varsity their freshman seasons in 2011-12. The first road game they played and won that season was the second game of the season at Kokomo and they wound up with a 43-29 victory. It seems pretty fitting that they're Senior Night would pit themselves against their first road win.Prior to the 20 minute warm-up, the five seniors, along with their parents, were introduced to the crowd at The Mill. They were greeted at mid-court by teammates with flowers and gifts and hugs all down the line from the coaching staff.
This group of five seniors is going to be tough to beat, as far as in Donna Keck's tenure and it's just her 7th season.
4A #5 Noblesville 69, Kokomo 40 - (Monday, January 26 at The Mill, Noblesville)
Wildkats 7 11 15 7 - 40
Millers 18 14 24 13 - 69
It was an all-senior starting lineup and it was only fitting that all five of them start. Normally Cain and DeFoe come off of the bench, but Keck started the four guards (Cain, Herron, Bergman, DeFoe) and Erin Wood.
From the tip, it seemed like a somewhat sluggish start, but that was mainly because this lineup never starts the game together, so they had to figure themselves out on the fly.Fueled by seniors from outside the arc in the first, the Millers got a pair of treys from Bergman and another from Kayleigh Herron. Alexis Shannon came off of the bench and quickly scored six in the quarter. Put that with a solid jumper from Wood and a couple offensive boards for her and just like that, Noblesville was up 18-7 after the first.
Kokomo's offense was a little more awake in the second. The play of Q Merriweather and Olivia Wilson kept things slightly honest, but with the Millers taking the 2nd 14-11, they still had a 32-18 halftime lead.Noblesville jumped out to a speedy start in the second half, thanks to the trusty junior tandem of Alexis Shannon (9) and Katelyn O'Reilly (6). Emily Kiser pitched in four of her 10 and Bergman added another five for the makeup of the Millers' 24-point 3rd.
Scoring all of her points in the second half, Kiser put up another five in the 4th, including her second 3-pointer of the season.
The seniors were all on the floor to start the 4th and left the floor at the same time. Coach Keck subbed the five seniors, in a classy move during the same timeout, one-by-one, so that they each left the floor to an applause.The Miller bench spent the remainder of the game on the floor and Noblesville won their Senior Night game 69-40 over Kokomo.
Kokomo (11-8) wasn't able to get anyone into double-digits in scoring, but had a balanced attack. Q Merriweather led all Wildkats with 9 and Jayda Andrews had 8. Allie Lowe, Sieara Langley and Sarah Tickfer all had 5.
Noblesville (17-1) was led by Alexis Shannon's 19 off the bench on seven field goals and a 5-for-5 effort at the free throw line, as well as 4 assists and 2 steals. Becca Bergman had 17 on six field goals made (4-for-4 on 3's), 5 assists and six steals. Emily Kiser netted a career-high 10 points and five boards to go along with a pair of blocked shots.
Erin Wood had a solid Senior Night output with 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots.The seniors combined for 31 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists and 12 steals between the five of them. Don't worry fans, they're not even close to done. They have some unfinished business to attend to.
Tonight (Wednesday), the Millers host Pendleton Heights (13-8).
I will see you at The Mill!
GO MILLERS!
(*all photos courtesy of Kent Graham at kentgraham.photoshelter.com)
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
#5 Noblesville breaks own scoring record, eases by Western Boone
There a nights on the basketball court when everything just goes right. Tuesday, January 20 turned out to, in fact, be that kind of night for the fifth-ranked Noblesville Miller girls basketball team.
When your shots are hitting all night long, there's no stopping you as a team. That's what fueled Noblesville as they completely dominated Western Boone with a 68-point blowout, 106-38.
In a series that Noblesville came in with a 5-2 advantage, it was to be somewhat of a decent battle, despite Western Boone having just one senior to their roster.
This was where the experience and depth of head coach Donna Keck's Millers came into play throughout Tuesday night's tilt with the Stars.
4A #5 Noblesville 106, Western Boone 38 - (Tuesday, Jan. 20 at The Mill, Noblesville)
Stars 12 4 13 9 - 38
Millers 35 17 29 25 - 106
From the tip-off, Katelyn O'Reilly had that presence about her that nothing would get in her way. Scoring half of her game-high 26 points in the first quarter, KO (13) and Kayleigh Herron (8) combined to push Western Boone away early and the Millers weren't messing around with a 35-12 lead after one.
Their defense tightened up even more in the second.
Western Boone was well-aware of the Millers' normal full court pressure, so they were prepared for it. Noblesville took their visitors by surprise, somewhat, picking the Stars up defensively in the half court. Regardless of how the Millers were set up defensively, Western Boone couldn't get anything done offensively, resulting in a 17-4 second and Noblesville went to the locker room at half with a very convincing 52-16 advantage.
There wasn't a whole lot that Western Boone head coach Rich Schelsky and his staff could conjure up. The Millers were, plain and simple, on a mission to continue making the statement they have been all season so far.
They have unfinished business and last February's first round sectional loss to Fishers still sticks in their minds very vividly.
Thanks in huge part to 10 assists across the board in the third, Noblesville piled on 29 more points to jump out to the most comfortable lead they've had all season at 81-29.
At this point in the game, Coach Keck and staff fully "called off the dogs" and played the 4th the same way they ended the third...with the bench on the floor.
With what has to be the best 2nd five in the state of Indiana, they were let loose to see exactly what they're capable of in a full quarter and it was nothing short of what their coaches expected.
Already with one trey in the second right before halftime, Rachel Shipman had no idea what she would be doing in the 4th. Shipman got in a zone late in the 4th quarter and they kept feeding her the basketball. The 5'5 junior guard just about went "around the world" with three-pointers. A sharp-shooting left, she found herself open on four different possessions, swishing all four attempts. While doing so, she tied a single-game record of five 3-pointers made. She now holds this record with four other individuals in Noblesville girls basketball history.
Another hot streak in the fourth was from freshman Emily Kiser. The 6'2 forward scored all 9 of her points in the 4th, including an over and under play, lifting the ball up and off of the glass while getting fouled.
Two free throws from junior Haley Conway got the Millers to points 100 and 101, igniting the home faithful. Shipman's fifth and final 3-pointer of the night made it 104 to break their own school record. The final Noblesville points were on a driving floater from Sam Salmon for the final score of 106-38, establishing a new Noblesville girls basketball record for most points in a single-game.
Western Boone (10-7) managed to get two into double-figures, with Callie Gubera (13) and Rachel Ramey (12) making up most of the Stars' 38 points.
Noblesville (16-1) was paced with a balanced scoring attack by the junior tandem of Katelyn O'Reilly (26) and Alexis Shannon (21), who by themselves were able to score seven more than Western Boone as a team. O'Reilly also wound up with 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks to fill out her stat line pretty nicely.
Rachel Shipman had a career-high 15 points on those school-record 5 three-pointers and Kayleigh Herron was the fourth Miller in double-digits with 12 points on 5 field goals. Kiser grabbed 8 boards to go with her 9 points, while also dishing out 3 assists and blocking 3 shots.
Bergman (3), Brooke Herron (5), Cori Cain (2), Erin Wood (4), Audrey DeFoe (3) and Sam Salmon (2) made up for the rest of Noblesville's 106-point output.
The Millers get back in action next Monday, January 26 as they'll host the Kokomo Wildkats (11-6), who play Muncie Central (11-5) on Saturday afternoon.
Don't forget to come out and see the Millers at home for three games next week. Along with hosting Kokomo on Monday, Pendleton Heights (12-6) comes to The Mill on Wednesday the 28th and on Saturday the 31st, Noblesville has a chance to win the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship outright when Hamilton Southeastern (13-4) visits.
GO MILLERS!
When your shots are hitting all night long, there's no stopping you as a team. That's what fueled Noblesville as they completely dominated Western Boone with a 68-point blowout, 106-38.
In a series that Noblesville came in with a 5-2 advantage, it was to be somewhat of a decent battle, despite Western Boone having just one senior to their roster.
This was where the experience and depth of head coach Donna Keck's Millers came into play throughout Tuesday night's tilt with the Stars.
4A #5 Noblesville 106, Western Boone 38 - (Tuesday, Jan. 20 at The Mill, Noblesville)
Stars 12 4 13 9 - 38
Millers 35 17 29 25 - 106
From the tip-off, Katelyn O'Reilly had that presence about her that nothing would get in her way. Scoring half of her game-high 26 points in the first quarter, KO (13) and Kayleigh Herron (8) combined to push Western Boone away early and the Millers weren't messing around with a 35-12 lead after one.
Their defense tightened up even more in the second.
Western Boone was well-aware of the Millers' normal full court pressure, so they were prepared for it. Noblesville took their visitors by surprise, somewhat, picking the Stars up defensively in the half court. Regardless of how the Millers were set up defensively, Western Boone couldn't get anything done offensively, resulting in a 17-4 second and Noblesville went to the locker room at half with a very convincing 52-16 advantage.
There wasn't a whole lot that Western Boone head coach Rich Schelsky and his staff could conjure up. The Millers were, plain and simple, on a mission to continue making the statement they have been all season so far.
They have unfinished business and last February's first round sectional loss to Fishers still sticks in their minds very vividly.
Thanks in huge part to 10 assists across the board in the third, Noblesville piled on 29 more points to jump out to the most comfortable lead they've had all season at 81-29.
At this point in the game, Coach Keck and staff fully "called off the dogs" and played the 4th the same way they ended the third...with the bench on the floor.
With what has to be the best 2nd five in the state of Indiana, they were let loose to see exactly what they're capable of in a full quarter and it was nothing short of what their coaches expected.
Already with one trey in the second right before halftime, Rachel Shipman had no idea what she would be doing in the 4th. Shipman got in a zone late in the 4th quarter and they kept feeding her the basketball. The 5'5 junior guard just about went "around the world" with three-pointers. A sharp-shooting left, she found herself open on four different possessions, swishing all four attempts. While doing so, she tied a single-game record of five 3-pointers made. She now holds this record with four other individuals in Noblesville girls basketball history.
Another hot streak in the fourth was from freshman Emily Kiser. The 6'2 forward scored all 9 of her points in the 4th, including an over and under play, lifting the ball up and off of the glass while getting fouled.
Two free throws from junior Haley Conway got the Millers to points 100 and 101, igniting the home faithful. Shipman's fifth and final 3-pointer of the night made it 104 to break their own school record. The final Noblesville points were on a driving floater from Sam Salmon for the final score of 106-38, establishing a new Noblesville girls basketball record for most points in a single-game.
Western Boone (10-7) managed to get two into double-figures, with Callie Gubera (13) and Rachel Ramey (12) making up most of the Stars' 38 points.
Noblesville (16-1) was paced with a balanced scoring attack by the junior tandem of Katelyn O'Reilly (26) and Alexis Shannon (21), who by themselves were able to score seven more than Western Boone as a team. O'Reilly also wound up with 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks to fill out her stat line pretty nicely.
Rachel Shipman had a career-high 15 points on those school-record 5 three-pointers and Kayleigh Herron was the fourth Miller in double-digits with 12 points on 5 field goals. Kiser grabbed 8 boards to go with her 9 points, while also dishing out 3 assists and blocking 3 shots.
Bergman (3), Brooke Herron (5), Cori Cain (2), Erin Wood (4), Audrey DeFoe (3) and Sam Salmon (2) made up for the rest of Noblesville's 106-point output.
The Millers get back in action next Monday, January 26 as they'll host the Kokomo Wildkats (11-6), who play Muncie Central (11-5) on Saturday afternoon.
Don't forget to come out and see the Millers at home for three games next week. Along with hosting Kokomo on Monday, Pendleton Heights (12-6) comes to The Mill on Wednesday the 28th and on Saturday the 31st, Noblesville has a chance to win the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship outright when Hamilton Southeastern (13-4) visits.
GO MILLERS!
Monday, January 19, 2015
#5 Millers roll past Zionsville, takeover sole lead in HCC
The Millers were once again pretty anxious to get back on the court and had a six say wait. It's a good thing the span of days between games isn't affecting Noblesville as of late.After starting the season win 11 consecutive wins, the Millers dropped their first game of the year against a highly-touted Homestead squad (58-44), but then rattled off a pair of wins against East Central (55-44) and Floyd Central (80-38) to finish the Greenfield-Central Tournament.
Last Saturday at Mt. Vernon (Fortville), Noblesville really found themselves again and it came at the right time of the season.
Friday night at The Mill, one goal of their mission got one step closer to completion. Keck's squad made quick, easy work of Zionsville with a 77-26 drubbing in front of a great crowd in the first game of a girls-boys doubleheader.
In the 4th quarter, coach Keck leaned over to me at the scorer's table and let me know that Westfield had just beaten Hamilton Southeastern (38-37), putting Noblesville in sole possession of 1st place in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference with one game to go on January 31 vs. the Royals.
4A #5 Noblesville 77, Zionsville 26 - (Friday, Jan. 16 at The Mill, Noblesville)
Eagles 5 7 8 6 - 26
Millers 27 15 16 19 - 77
It didn't take long at all for Noblesville to jump way out in front of Zionsville. The Millers seemed to be off to the races and leave the Eagles beside themselves, up 27-5 after the first quarter.
From the opening tip, the mindset of the Millers was to pour in on early and be able to just relax the rest of the game. That's exactly what happened with a 42-12 lead at halftime.Katelyn O'Reilly (at right) became that unstoppable force and immovable object throughout the game that Zionsville literally had no answer for. The speed of Noblesville's backcourt completely stymied the Eagles.
Keck and her staff were at liberty to sub in five off of the bench to replace starters at certain points during the game, creating more match-up problems for Andy Maguire's team.
Zionsville had its best quarter of the game in the third with eight points, but the Millers still almost tripled them up and led 58-20 after three.
A majority of the 4th quarter was a great time for the Noblesville bench to get some extra minutes. Even with reserves in, the Millers still outscored the Eagles 19-6 to win with ease 77-26.Zionsville (2-12, 0-4 HCC) was led in scoring by freshman Erin Patterson with 10, while Sydney Blake added 7.
This was a game that the Millers knew they would be able to accomplish the little things in big ways. They were led by the junior scoring duo of Katelyn O'Reilly (17) and Alexis Shannon (16), as per usual.
O'Reilly finished with a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with her game-high 17 points, 3 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocked shots.
Cori Cain (right) garnered Hamilton County TV's Player of the Game honors with her 9 points (7 in the 1st), 3 rebounds and 3 steals.Freshman Emily Kiser had a nice solid game with 9 points, 6 boards and 2 steals. Kayleigh Herron, Becca Bergman and Brooke Herron might have only combined for 12 points, but they dished out 11 of Noblesville's 20 assists as a team.
The Millers forced 28 turnovers by Zionsville and only committed 7 themselves. Fifteen of the Eagles' 28 miscues were steals. Cain, Kayleigh, Bergman and O'Reilly were responsible for 12 of those 15 steals.
Noblesville (15-1, 5-0 HCC) is fortunate to have four straight and five of their last six in the regular season on their home floor at The Mill.
Western Boone (10-6) comes to Noblesville on Tuesday, January 20. The Millers are busy the following week, as Kokomo (11-4) on Monday, January 26, Pendleton Heights (12-6) on Wednesday, January 28 and Hamilton Southeastern (13-3, 3-1 HCC) on Saturday, January 31, pay Noblesville a visit.
When Hamilton Southeastern comes to Noblesville, the Millers have the chance to claim the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship outright with a win over the Royals.
Until Tuesday vs. Western Boone...
GO MILLERS!
(*all photos courtesy of Kent Graham at kentgraham.photoshelter.com)
Sunday, January 11, 2015
#5 Noblesville back to old self, routs Mt. Vernon
After getting postponed on Wednesday at home vs. Kokomo, the Millers were more than anxious to get back on the floor. Who can blame them with this recent weather we've had in central Indiana? Donna Keck and staff gave the team a day off Thursday to get their heads clear for Saturday's tilt at Mt. Vernon in Fortville.
It seems that giving the girls a day off with no practice was one of the keys to getting them back to their old selves and the way they started out this season.
As the season has progressed, we keep seeing more and more of the bench depth that the Millers have and how those role players are making impacts in their own way.
4A #5 Noblesville 78, Mt. Vernon (Fortville) 49 - (Saturday in Fortville)
Millers 31 15 20 12 - 78
Marauders 15 6 16 12 - 49
Guard play was extremely pivotal for Noblesville as they knew they would face a challenge with the Marauders having an identical overall record of 13-1 coming into the Saturday afternoon's contest.
The Millers were fueled by from the opening tip by senior guard Becca Bergman and this particular road game revolved around her play, being the heart and soul of this Noblesville team. Yes, there are many key contributors, but Bergman simply facilitates and makes this team go. Bottom line.
This game, which is usually a heated battle, wasn't much of a game at all. The Millers made strides in getting back to what they do best to win games. Suffocating full-court defense and quick, tenacious defense helped them steal the ball 6 times in the first quarter alone and 10 overall for the game.
Bergman was in a zone to start with 8 of her 11 in the first, swishing a pair of treys and a layup. Brooke Herron provided a lot off the bench in the first by nailing a couple of threes of her own and just like that, Noblesville was making a statement on the road. leading 31-15.
Averaging around 24 per game, Mt. Vernon's offense runs through, around and is about Sydney Shelton. With an obvious look of frustration on her face, Shelton just couldn't dominate at all like was used to. Coming in, we could probably assume that she knew it would be tough to get and keep herself in a groove against the many defensive stalwarts from Noblesville.
Noblesville was off and running again in the second with a 15-6 quarter to lead 46-21 at half, led by nine from Alexis Shannon to head up the charge for a 25-point margin through two.
Mt. Vernon woke itself up somewhat in the second half, but it was obviously too late and were still outscored by the Millers 32-28 as Noblesville won going away with a 78-49 rout of the Marauders.
It was the little things that happened across the board for Noblesville. Five different Millers dished out three or more assists and also five had four-plus rebounds. Sticking with the numbers, seven had two or more assists, as well as 26 assists on 30 field goals made. Just all of that right there proves that yes, it really is the little things that help turn out victories.
Mt. Vernon (13-2) was led by junior leading scorer Sydney Shelton with 19 points/6 rebounds and was joined in double-digits by Shaely Duff with 14. They Marauders also got 6 each from Sadie Baugh and Olivia Coleman, who also had a game-high 10 rebounds, along with 4 steals.
The Marauders get back to action on Wednesday, January 14 at home when they welcome in the Warren Central Warriors (2-11).
Noblesville (14-1) got a somewhat quiet game-high 21 from Alexis Shannon. Katelyn O'Reilly did her part with 15 points, a team-high 9 rebounds and two blocked shots. Bergman had 11 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals, while Brooke Herron earned Hamilton County TV's Player of the Game honors with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Erin Wood grabbed 7 rebounds to go with her four points. Cori Cain had a solid game with 4 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. Emily Kiser pitched in nicely with 7 points and four boards. The Millers had their best performance of the season from outside the three-point arc, making 9-for-16 (56%) from downtown and shooting 43% overall.
The Millers get a little break in the schedule and will get back to Hoosier Crossroads Conference play on Friday night at The Mill at 6 p.m. in the first game of an HCC girls/boys varsity doubleheader vs. Zionsville (2-10). Keck's squad will look to extend their home court winning streak to 10 games when the Eagles come to town on Friday.
It seems that giving the girls a day off with no practice was one of the keys to getting them back to their old selves and the way they started out this season.
As the season has progressed, we keep seeing more and more of the bench depth that the Millers have and how those role players are making impacts in their own way.
4A #5 Noblesville 78, Mt. Vernon (Fortville) 49 - (Saturday in Fortville)
Millers 31 15 20 12 - 78
Marauders 15 6 16 12 - 49
Guard play was extremely pivotal for Noblesville as they knew they would face a challenge with the Marauders having an identical overall record of 13-1 coming into the Saturday afternoon's contest.
The Millers were fueled by from the opening tip by senior guard Becca Bergman and this particular road game revolved around her play, being the heart and soul of this Noblesville team. Yes, there are many key contributors, but Bergman simply facilitates and makes this team go. Bottom line.
This game, which is usually a heated battle, wasn't much of a game at all. The Millers made strides in getting back to what they do best to win games. Suffocating full-court defense and quick, tenacious defense helped them steal the ball 6 times in the first quarter alone and 10 overall for the game.
Bergman was in a zone to start with 8 of her 11 in the first, swishing a pair of treys and a layup. Brooke Herron provided a lot off the bench in the first by nailing a couple of threes of her own and just like that, Noblesville was making a statement on the road. leading 31-15.
Averaging around 24 per game, Mt. Vernon's offense runs through, around and is about Sydney Shelton. With an obvious look of frustration on her face, Shelton just couldn't dominate at all like was used to. Coming in, we could probably assume that she knew it would be tough to get and keep herself in a groove against the many defensive stalwarts from Noblesville.
Noblesville was off and running again in the second with a 15-6 quarter to lead 46-21 at half, led by nine from Alexis Shannon to head up the charge for a 25-point margin through two.
Mt. Vernon woke itself up somewhat in the second half, but it was obviously too late and were still outscored by the Millers 32-28 as Noblesville won going away with a 78-49 rout of the Marauders.
It was the little things that happened across the board for Noblesville. Five different Millers dished out three or more assists and also five had four-plus rebounds. Sticking with the numbers, seven had two or more assists, as well as 26 assists on 30 field goals made. Just all of that right there proves that yes, it really is the little things that help turn out victories.
Mt. Vernon (13-2) was led by junior leading scorer Sydney Shelton with 19 points/6 rebounds and was joined in double-digits by Shaely Duff with 14. They Marauders also got 6 each from Sadie Baugh and Olivia Coleman, who also had a game-high 10 rebounds, along with 4 steals.
The Marauders get back to action on Wednesday, January 14 at home when they welcome in the Warren Central Warriors (2-11).
Noblesville (14-1) got a somewhat quiet game-high 21 from Alexis Shannon. Katelyn O'Reilly did her part with 15 points, a team-high 9 rebounds and two blocked shots. Bergman had 11 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals, while Brooke Herron earned Hamilton County TV's Player of the Game honors with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Erin Wood grabbed 7 rebounds to go with her four points. Cori Cain had a solid game with 4 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. Emily Kiser pitched in nicely with 7 points and four boards. The Millers had their best performance of the season from outside the three-point arc, making 9-for-16 (56%) from downtown and shooting 43% overall.
The Millers get a little break in the schedule and will get back to Hoosier Crossroads Conference play on Friday night at The Mill at 6 p.m. in the first game of an HCC girls/boys varsity doubleheader vs. Zionsville (2-10). Keck's squad will look to extend their home court winning streak to 10 games when the Eagles come to town on Friday.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
#4 Noblesville grabs two wins to finish Greenfield-Central Tourney
As much as #3 Homestead took the wind out of the sails of the #4 Millers in their first game of the day at the Greenfield-Central Tournament, head coach Donna Keck and her great staff of assistants knew they had to figure out the best way to get the girls out of the loss mindset. The only thing that could do that was winning and that's exactly what happened...twice.
One of the toughest feats to accomplish on a team level, in any sport, is to go undefeated during a particular season. In the last 15 seasons, just 7 teams have finished off their seasons unblemished with the state championship trophy in their possession. The longer you go in a season without a loss, the more the pressure mounts up each and every game. That proverbial target on your back keeps getting bigger.
It's not that anyone wanted the Millers to have a loss, especially in a tournament where they would be exposed, but it's a good thing to get a loss at right about the midway point of the regular season.
Their next opponent wouldn't make it easy to get back to winning basketball. East Central came into the Greenfield-Central Tournament with 13 wins under their belt, so they're obviously no slouch.
#4 Noblesville 55, #13 East Central 44 - (Friday at Greenfield-Central Tournament)
Millers 22 8 9 16 - 55
Trojans 14 13 10 7 - 44
With the loss from just a few hours prior still on their mind, the Noblesville Millers felt there was only one thing to do...get back on the winning track.
The determination and poise that the Millers displayed in the first quarter against East Central had the Trojans fully aware that it would be an extremely tough task to hand Noblesville its second loss of the day.
Sparked from the opening tip by Becca Bergman's three treys, along with Brooke Herron (5) and Alexis Shannon (4), Noblesville sprung out to a 22-14 lead by the end of the first.
Allie McCool scored 6 of East Central's 14 in the first, but it was a 13-8 second that helped the Trojans trail the Millers by just three at halftime.
The Trojans also had a slight edge in the third (10-9), led by another 6 from McCool, but that would set off the Millers for the final quarter.
East Central meet 5'11 1/2" junior forward Katelyn O'Reilly. She was a scoring machine in Noblesville putting away the Trojans. O'Reilly outmuscled East Central to 11 of her game-high 19 points in the 4th and helped pave the way to a 55-44 victory for the Millers.
The Trojans were led by McCool's 17 and she was joined in double-figures by Kelsey Tippitt with 11.
Katelyn O'Reilly led all with a game-high 19 on nine field goals. Bergman drilled four 3-pointers en route to her 14 points and also dished out six assists.
#4 Noblesville 80, Floyd Central 38 - (Sat, Jan. 3 at Greenfield-Central Tournament)
Millers 21 23 17 19 - 80
Highlanders 9 12 7 10 - 38
Nothing against Floyd Central's team as a whole, but during pregame warm-ups, it just had a feel that Noblesville was on a mission to get back to winning in the manner they're used to.
Shannon (8), O'Reilly (6), Bergman (5) put the clamps down early on Floyd Central in the first as the Millers made a statement with a 21-9 quarter.
It felt weird to say during the Hamilton County TV broadcast that this was the "5th place game," so after only referring to it one time during the pregame show, I didn't use that term the remainder of the game.
In the 2nd, the only thing that didn't go Noblesville's way was the fact that they struggled from the charity stripe, making just 4-of-12. Rachel Shipman came off the bench and knocked down a pair of 3's in the quarter and had four assists for the game. Other than that, outscoring the Highlanders 23-12 to close out the first half, the Millers carried a lot of momentum into the locker room with a 44-21 lead.
The second half was where reserves got some key minutes on the floor mixed in with starters. Kiser, Brooke Herron, along with Cain, Shipman and Audrey DeFoe, the Millers showed Floyd Central what kind of depth and how dangerous Noblesville can be.
The Millers cruised in the second half to the tune of doubling up the Highlanders 36-17, on their way to a convincing 80-38 whipping of Floyd Central in their third game of the Greenfield-Central Tournament.
Floyd Central (6-8) was led by Brianna Roth with 11 and leading scorer Madison Kaiser was held well below her season average of 20.4 with just 10. The Highlanders get back to action on Thursday, January 8 at Meade County (KY) and on Saturday at New Albany in Hoosier Hills Conference play.
Alexis Shannon led the Millers with a game-high 17 and Katelyn O'Reilly 15, while Becca Bergman joined them in double-digits with 13. Balanced scoring the rest of the way down the box score with Audrey DeFoe and Emily Kiser each scored 7 and all of those coming in the second half. With Shipman's 6 in the 2nd, Brooke Herron had 5, elder sister Kayleigh with 4 and Cori Cain, Haley Conway and Sam Salmon each with 2. Erin Wood grabbed 7 rebounds to lead the Millers.
O'Reilly was Noblesville's leading scorer for the three games with 46, Alexis Shannon had 37 and Becca Bergman 30.
Noblesville (13-1) continues its regular season at home on Wednesday, January 7 as Kokomo (9-4) comes to The Mill. JV starts at 6pm with the varsity to follow.
On Saturday afternoon, they'll hit the road to one of the toughest gym to play in at Mt. Vernon (Fortville) (12-1). JV will start at Noon, with the varsity to follow.
Both games this week vs. Kokomo and at Mt. Vernon (Fortville) will be broadcast live on HamiltonCountyTV.com! Perry Williams will have the call on Wednesday night and he'll join me (Craig Adkins) on Saturday at Mt. Vernon (Fortville).
GO MILLERS!
One of the toughest feats to accomplish on a team level, in any sport, is to go undefeated during a particular season. In the last 15 seasons, just 7 teams have finished off their seasons unblemished with the state championship trophy in their possession. The longer you go in a season without a loss, the more the pressure mounts up each and every game. That proverbial target on your back keeps getting bigger.
It's not that anyone wanted the Millers to have a loss, especially in a tournament where they would be exposed, but it's a good thing to get a loss at right about the midway point of the regular season.
Their next opponent wouldn't make it easy to get back to winning basketball. East Central came into the Greenfield-Central Tournament with 13 wins under their belt, so they're obviously no slouch.
#4 Noblesville 55, #13 East Central 44 - (Friday at Greenfield-Central Tournament)
Millers 22 8 9 16 - 55
Trojans 14 13 10 7 - 44
With the loss from just a few hours prior still on their mind, the Noblesville Millers felt there was only one thing to do...get back on the winning track.
The determination and poise that the Millers displayed in the first quarter against East Central had the Trojans fully aware that it would be an extremely tough task to hand Noblesville its second loss of the day.
Sparked from the opening tip by Becca Bergman's three treys, along with Brooke Herron (5) and Alexis Shannon (4), Noblesville sprung out to a 22-14 lead by the end of the first.
Allie McCool scored 6 of East Central's 14 in the first, but it was a 13-8 second that helped the Trojans trail the Millers by just three at halftime.
The Trojans also had a slight edge in the third (10-9), led by another 6 from McCool, but that would set off the Millers for the final quarter.
East Central meet 5'11 1/2" junior forward Katelyn O'Reilly. She was a scoring machine in Noblesville putting away the Trojans. O'Reilly outmuscled East Central to 11 of her game-high 19 points in the 4th and helped pave the way to a 55-44 victory for the Millers.
The Trojans were led by McCool's 17 and she was joined in double-figures by Kelsey Tippitt with 11.
Katelyn O'Reilly led all with a game-high 19 on nine field goals. Bergman drilled four 3-pointers en route to her 14 points and also dished out six assists.
#4 Noblesville 80, Floyd Central 38 - (Sat, Jan. 3 at Greenfield-Central Tournament)
Millers 21 23 17 19 - 80
Highlanders 9 12 7 10 - 38
Nothing against Floyd Central's team as a whole, but during pregame warm-ups, it just had a feel that Noblesville was on a mission to get back to winning in the manner they're used to.
Shannon (8), O'Reilly (6), Bergman (5) put the clamps down early on Floyd Central in the first as the Millers made a statement with a 21-9 quarter.
It felt weird to say during the Hamilton County TV broadcast that this was the "5th place game," so after only referring to it one time during the pregame show, I didn't use that term the remainder of the game.
In the 2nd, the only thing that didn't go Noblesville's way was the fact that they struggled from the charity stripe, making just 4-of-12. Rachel Shipman came off the bench and knocked down a pair of 3's in the quarter and had four assists for the game. Other than that, outscoring the Highlanders 23-12 to close out the first half, the Millers carried a lot of momentum into the locker room with a 44-21 lead.
The second half was where reserves got some key minutes on the floor mixed in with starters. Kiser, Brooke Herron, along with Cain, Shipman and Audrey DeFoe, the Millers showed Floyd Central what kind of depth and how dangerous Noblesville can be.
The Millers cruised in the second half to the tune of doubling up the Highlanders 36-17, on their way to a convincing 80-38 whipping of Floyd Central in their third game of the Greenfield-Central Tournament.
Floyd Central (6-8) was led by Brianna Roth with 11 and leading scorer Madison Kaiser was held well below her season average of 20.4 with just 10. The Highlanders get back to action on Thursday, January 8 at Meade County (KY) and on Saturday at New Albany in Hoosier Hills Conference play.
Alexis Shannon led the Millers with a game-high 17 and Katelyn O'Reilly 15, while Becca Bergman joined them in double-digits with 13. Balanced scoring the rest of the way down the box score with Audrey DeFoe and Emily Kiser each scored 7 and all of those coming in the second half. With Shipman's 6 in the 2nd, Brooke Herron had 5, elder sister Kayleigh with 4 and Cori Cain, Haley Conway and Sam Salmon each with 2. Erin Wood grabbed 7 rebounds to lead the Millers.
O'Reilly was Noblesville's leading scorer for the three games with 46, Alexis Shannon had 37 and Becca Bergman 30.
Noblesville (13-1) continues its regular season at home on Wednesday, January 7 as Kokomo (9-4) comes to The Mill. JV starts at 6pm with the varsity to follow.
On Saturday afternoon, they'll hit the road to one of the toughest gym to play in at Mt. Vernon (Fortville) (12-1). JV will start at Noon, with the varsity to follow.
Both games this week vs. Kokomo and at Mt. Vernon (Fortville) will be broadcast live on HamiltonCountyTV.com! Perry Williams will have the call on Wednesday night and he'll join me (Craig Adkins) on Saturday at Mt. Vernon (Fortville).
GO MILLERS!
Saturday, January 3, 2015
#3 Homestead sends #4 Millers to 1st loss of season
One of the toughest things to do in the world of sports is to go undefeated throughout a season. As the wins keep piling up, the target on your back keeps getting more visible as you're getting more attention from all around you.
Another extremely difficult thing to do is to win exactly like you did for the previous 11 games after you've had 13 days of a gap since you last played. That was what the Noblesville Millers faced on Friday afternoon against a highly-touted Homestead team that had been dealt their first loss of the season on Tuesday vs. Columbus North in the Columbus North Tournament championship.
The Spartans were hungry to get back to winning and the Millers were more than ready to get back on the court playing in game fashion, instead of practicing against themselves.
4A #3 Homestead 58, 4A #4 Noblesville 44 - (Cougar Fieldhouse, at Greenfield-Central)
Spartans 6 29 15 8 - 58
Millers 6 13 12 13 - 44
The first quarter started off as a speedy version of chess. Noblesville and Homestead both trying to figure each other out as quickly as possible.
Baskets by Wood, O'Reilly and Shannon for the Millers helped them keep up with the Spartans, but six fouls in the first helped Homestead knock down four free throws for most of their points to tie it 6-6 after one.
Homestead stormed out in the 2nd to open up the game and get themselves a cushioned lead by taking the quarter with command, 29-13, for a halftime score of 35-19.
Noblesville managed to outscore Homestead in the second half overall 25-23, but that still left the Millers on the short end of a 58-44 decision, giving them their first loss of the season and dropping them to 11-1 overall.
There are some factors as to why this first loss came when it did. It's not that Noblesville wasn't ready to play Homestead. Those really cannot be put into words. The Millers were taken out of their game more than they have been at any point this season thus far.
The Spartans had Noblesville down 54-34 midway through the 4th before Noblesville ended the game on a 10-4 run.
Sophomore Karissa McLaughlin led all scorers with a game-high 25 points and was joined in double-digits by Lindley Kistler with 12. Madisen Parker (8), Grace German (7) and Josie Fisher (6) produced the remainder of Homestead's offensive output.
Katelyn O'Reilly and Alexis Shannon each netted 12 points in the loss for the Millers. Cori Cain (6) and Emily Kiser (5) were key contributors off of the Noblesville bench.
Homestead (13-1) simply found ways to take Noblesville (11-1) completely out of what they normally succeed at and it worked exactly like head coach Rod Parker envisioned.
As Perry Williams and I talked about in the postgame show of our broadcast on Hamilton County TV, one of the most difficult things to do in the world of sports is to go completely undefeated. The tension of being perfect and doing everything possible to keep yourselves from being defeated can take a lot out of a team, as well as an individual.
Noblesville will get past this and they did with an evening victory over East Central. It's now time to start another winning streak. This team has a lot of experience and that alone will be a huge factor in how far this team decides it wants to go.
GO MILLERS!
Another extremely difficult thing to do is to win exactly like you did for the previous 11 games after you've had 13 days of a gap since you last played. That was what the Noblesville Millers faced on Friday afternoon against a highly-touted Homestead team that had been dealt their first loss of the season on Tuesday vs. Columbus North in the Columbus North Tournament championship.
The Spartans were hungry to get back to winning and the Millers were more than ready to get back on the court playing in game fashion, instead of practicing against themselves.
4A #3 Homestead 58, 4A #4 Noblesville 44 - (Cougar Fieldhouse, at Greenfield-Central)
Spartans 6 29 15 8 - 58
Millers 6 13 12 13 - 44
The first quarter started off as a speedy version of chess. Noblesville and Homestead both trying to figure each other out as quickly as possible.
Baskets by Wood, O'Reilly and Shannon for the Millers helped them keep up with the Spartans, but six fouls in the first helped Homestead knock down four free throws for most of their points to tie it 6-6 after one.
Homestead stormed out in the 2nd to open up the game and get themselves a cushioned lead by taking the quarter with command, 29-13, for a halftime score of 35-19.
Noblesville managed to outscore Homestead in the second half overall 25-23, but that still left the Millers on the short end of a 58-44 decision, giving them their first loss of the season and dropping them to 11-1 overall.
There are some factors as to why this first loss came when it did. It's not that Noblesville wasn't ready to play Homestead. Those really cannot be put into words. The Millers were taken out of their game more than they have been at any point this season thus far.
The Spartans had Noblesville down 54-34 midway through the 4th before Noblesville ended the game on a 10-4 run.
Sophomore Karissa McLaughlin led all scorers with a game-high 25 points and was joined in double-digits by Lindley Kistler with 12. Madisen Parker (8), Grace German (7) and Josie Fisher (6) produced the remainder of Homestead's offensive output.
Katelyn O'Reilly and Alexis Shannon each netted 12 points in the loss for the Millers. Cori Cain (6) and Emily Kiser (5) were key contributors off of the Noblesville bench.
Homestead (13-1) simply found ways to take Noblesville (11-1) completely out of what they normally succeed at and it worked exactly like head coach Rod Parker envisioned.
As Perry Williams and I talked about in the postgame show of our broadcast on Hamilton County TV, one of the most difficult things to do in the world of sports is to go completely undefeated. The tension of being perfect and doing everything possible to keep yourselves from being defeated can take a lot out of a team, as well as an individual.
Noblesville will get past this and they did with an evening victory over East Central. It's now time to start another winning streak. This team has a lot of experience and that alone will be a huge factor in how far this team decides it wants to go.
GO MILLERS!
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Greenfield-Central girls Tournament preview
It's suiting up to be the best 2014 holiday tournament on the slate and it will certainly be full of sectional-type atmosphere and matchups. All eight of these teams have been anticipating this two-day tournament since their last games, just days before Christmas Day.
The 2014 Greenfield-Central Tournament will attract a lot of attention throughout the state of Indiana with the extremely talented teams that have joined this year's field.
The teams in the tournament combine for a 70-21 record, which means we're set to see some tremendous basketball for all 12 games of this girls holiday tournament.
The matchups look pretty favorable, to an extent, for the teams that are expected to advance, but we all know that the games aren't played on paper. As it looks from a first glance, the host Greenfield-Central Cougars are an early favorite in the top half of the bracket to advance and play Richmond.
In the bottom half of the bracket is where it gets a little bit dicey. The matchups of East Central vs. Lebanon and Noblesville vs. Homestead, in my opinion, are coin-flip games. By that, I mean they will honestly come down to the wire and be decided in the final minutes.
Game 1 - Floyd Central (5-6) vs. Greenfield-Central (9-2) - 10 a.m. :
The Highlanders of Floyd Central come into the opening game of the Greenfield-Central Tournament having won two games in a row over Charlestown (58-53, OT) and at Salem (71-51).
With winning three of their first five over Evansville Harrison (43-29), Scottsburg (60-42) and Bloomington North (47-32), they may be flying under the radar and are hoping to knock off the host Cougars in the opener.
Floyd Central previously lost four in a row and five out of six before getting back on the winning track the week before Christmas.
Fourth-year head coach Kirk Hamsley has kept the Highlanders right around the .500 mark, coming into 2014-15 at 33-33. Hamsley's Highlanders are led by Madison Kaiser at 20.4 ppg and 10.3 rpg.
Hosting your own holiday tournament is great in the fact that you get to play on your home floor and being able to stay in your normal game routines is also a huge plus. What's that toughest thing about hosting a tournament? Yes, you guessed it, winning your own holiday tournament.
Greenfield-Central controls their own destiny in their own tournament with the more favorable draw in the top half of the bracket. A win over Floyd Central and they'll play the winner of the Hamilton Heights-Richmond Game 2 pairing.
In his 7th season at GC, Laker has an 81-56 record. Those include starting this season off winning five of six against Lafayette Jeff (79-21), Pendleton Heights (46-41), at Avon (67-30), Corydon Central (68-25) and Merrillville (49-44). Their first loss of the season was at North Central 58-49.
The Cougars have strung together four straight wins since their last loss to Hamilton SE (55-48). New Palestine (43-27), at Shelbyville (66-33), Delta (75-35) and Connersville (69-61) have been the latest to fall to head coach Doug Laker's squad.
The hosts are led by sophomores Madison Wise (19.3 ppg, 11.8 rpg) and Katie Helgason (12.2 ppg), along with senior Regan Lewis with 10.7 points and 5.9 rebounds.
Game 2 - Hamilton Heights (3-8) vs. Richmond (7-2) - 11:45 a.m. :
The second game features what looks to be in the favor of the Richmond Red Devils, but you never know what Hamilton Heights might have up its sleeve. It's been quite a struggle for Scott Fernung in his 2nd season at the helm of the Huskies, as he's 12-20 thru the midway point of season number two and searching for the identity of his ball club.
Things started out okay with a 65-47 win to open the season at home against Tri-Central. Quickly it shifted downhill with five losses in a row at Noblesville (103-48), Carmel (91-30), at Mount Vernon (Fortville) (76-39), Lebanon (71-54) and at Pendleton Heights (77-54).
Production has been better lately, but still the Huskies have dropped three of five coming into this tournament. Wins over Northwestern (55-53) and at Western Boone (46-37) have given Hamilton Heights a little more confidence as of late.
The Huskies are led by a pair in double-figures with freshman Kayla Kirtley's 13.3 points and 5.2 rebounds, along with senior Caitlyn Hays and her 11.5 points.
Richmond comes on riding a 6-game winning streak that has them standing atop the North Central Conference tied with McCutcheon with a 4-0 league mark.
The Red Devils started the season off 1-2 and not worried in the least bit. Winning their season-opener over Centerville (73-28), Richmond lost two in a row at Heritage Christian (81-55) and fellow tourney competitor East Central (61-56).
Just after Thanksgiving, wins over Muncie Central (51-50), Kokomo (64-35), at Danville (50-44), at Franklin County (77-34), at Anderson (66-59) and at Huntington North (72-61) have the Red Devils hoping to play the spoiler role.
Head Coach Casey Pohlenz has a couple of offensive leaders that include Destiny Perkins at 25 points and Mackenzie Taylor at 18.7.
Game 3 - 4A #13 East Central (13-1) vs. 3A #7 Lebanon (10-1) - 1:30 p.m. :
East Central is one of the hotter teams in the Greenfield-Central Tournament field and to be honest, they probably aren't getting a whole lot of recognition with 13 teams still left undefeated in the state of Indiana. The Trojans have 13 wins, but one glaring loss at Columbus North (65-52) in the second week of December has them sitting at 4A #13 in the latest poll.
Kevin Moore is in his 6th year as head coach and has compiled an 80-38 record. His teams started this season out with 9 wins at Madison (57-45), Shelbyville (77-24), Jac-Cen-Del (72-42), at Columbus East (48-40), at Richmond (61-56), Greensburg (64-35), Franklin County (68-37), Harrison (OH) (60-30) and Jennings County (54-42).
Following that loss at Columbus North, it didn't take long for East Central to get back on track and start winning again. A pair of wins against South Dearborn (64-14) and at Batesville (47-41) helped them as they played in a tournament at Harrison, Ohio, getting victories over Hamilton (OH) (52-45) and Harrison (OH) again (60-19).
The Trojans count on a trio to keep them in control. Allie McCool averages 13.8 points and 9 boards a game, while Claire Volpenhein (12.3) and Kelsey Tippitt (10.2) do their part to keep East Central going.
The Lebanon Tigers are one team that the other seven should be a little weary of. Head Coach Beth DeVinney is 47-11 in her 3rd year at Lebanon and has an overall record of 259-120 in 19 seasons.
DeVinney's offense revolves around 5'11 junior guard/forward Kristen Spolyar (32.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 4.1 apg, 5.1 spg) and a pair of guards named Brooke Montgomery (12.1 ppg, 2.4 apg, 2.6 spg) and Mallory Cast (10 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.7 spg).
Starting the year out with two wins over Indianapolis Ritter (67-42) and at Zionsville (78-35), things got real when they visited Noblesville and left with a 77-60 loss to the Millers.
Now, the Tigers have strung together a streak of eight wins heading into this Greenfield-Central Tournament. Those wins were over West Lafayette (69-50), at Hamilton Heights (71-54), at Crawfordsville (85-62), Plainfield (75-67), Western Boone (86-15), Western (82-31), Danville (73-65) and Avon (73-40).
Lebanon is looking to knock East Central into the loser's bracket and hopes that Noblesville can take Homestead out to set up a rematch of their game back on November 18.
Game 4 - 4A #4 Noblesville (11-0) vs. 4A #3 Homestead (12-1) - 3:15 p.m. :
Homestead is the only team in the field that has kept playing over Christmas break. They only had a week between winning at Carmel (71-38) and playing in a two-day Columbus North Tournament, in which they went 2-1 and lost in the championship game to the host Columbus North Bulldogs, 86-75 to drop the Spartans to 12-1.
Prior to play at Columbus North, Homestead was cruising right along at 10-0 and they weren't sure what would stop them. Taking a look at the Spartans' 12-game streak to start the season, they took Fort Wayne Northrop (82-22), at Fort Wayne Dwenger (85-43), at Marion (84-49), Huntington North (87-29), Norwell (85-45), at Bedford, MI (81-42), New Haven (84-26), Fort Wayne South (80-47), at Carroll (Allen) (86-54), at Carmel (71-38) as victims.
Starting out 10-0, Homestead was winning by an average of 53 points per game and averaged right around 84 per game offensively. Until they visited Carmel, the Spartans didn't know what it was like to score under 80 points, but with a close 3 quarters, the Greyhounds kept Homestead well below their plus-80 a game average for only 71 points.
The Columbus North Tournament was a potently talented field of teams that usually tend to make runs in the state tournament. Columbus North, Merrillville, Penn, Jeffersonville, Homestead, Mooresville, Pike and Crown Point all combine for a collective record of 79-32.
Noblesville is the lone undefeated team in the Greenfield-Central Tournament and they're obviously going to have a target on their backs in each of the 3 games they'll play.
The Millers have put together quite a season to date and look to keep it rolling and get three wins in this tournament, but it won't be easy by any means. Playing previously unbeaten, now one-loss Homestead will be the toughest 1st round game to start.
Their 11 straight wins were at Indianapolis Arsenal Tech (65-48), Hamilton Heights (103-48), Lebanon (77-60), at Brownsburg (78-51), Warsaw (64-39), at Carmel (102-85), Avon (90-27), at North Central (72-55), at Fishers (45-33), at Anderson (92-50) and Westfield (68-55).
Head Coach Donna Keck counts on experience and the togetherness of Alexis Shannon (23.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg), Katelyn O'Reilly (15.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg), Becca Bergman (9.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 5.6 apg, 4 spg), along with Kayleigh Herron (4.5 ppg, 2.3 apg), Brooke Herron (4.8 ppg, 2.7 apg), Erin Wood (4.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.7 spg), Cori Cain (2.7 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1 spg) and Emily Kiser (4.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.1 bpg).
It should be a tremendous two days of high school girls basketball at Greenfield-Central.
All 3 Noblesville Miller games will be broadcast LIVE on hamiltoncountytv.com! If you can't be there, don't hesitate to join myself (Craig Adkins) for the play-by-play and Perry Williams with the color commentary. Coverage for Noblesville's 3:15 game on Friday, January 2nd will start at 3:05.
Here is how the full slate of games looks:
The 2014 Greenfield-Central Tournament will attract a lot of attention throughout the state of Indiana with the extremely talented teams that have joined this year's field.
The teams in the tournament combine for a 70-21 record, which means we're set to see some tremendous basketball for all 12 games of this girls holiday tournament.
The matchups look pretty favorable, to an extent, for the teams that are expected to advance, but we all know that the games aren't played on paper. As it looks from a first glance, the host Greenfield-Central Cougars are an early favorite in the top half of the bracket to advance and play Richmond.
In the bottom half of the bracket is where it gets a little bit dicey. The matchups of East Central vs. Lebanon and Noblesville vs. Homestead, in my opinion, are coin-flip games. By that, I mean they will honestly come down to the wire and be decided in the final minutes.
Game 1 - Floyd Central (5-6) vs. Greenfield-Central (9-2) - 10 a.m. :
The Highlanders of Floyd Central come into the opening game of the Greenfield-Central Tournament having won two games in a row over Charlestown (58-53, OT) and at Salem (71-51).
With winning three of their first five over Evansville Harrison (43-29), Scottsburg (60-42) and Bloomington North (47-32), they may be flying under the radar and are hoping to knock off the host Cougars in the opener.
Floyd Central previously lost four in a row and five out of six before getting back on the winning track the week before Christmas.
Fourth-year head coach Kirk Hamsley has kept the Highlanders right around the .500 mark, coming into 2014-15 at 33-33. Hamsley's Highlanders are led by Madison Kaiser at 20.4 ppg and 10.3 rpg.
Hosting your own holiday tournament is great in the fact that you get to play on your home floor and being able to stay in your normal game routines is also a huge plus. What's that toughest thing about hosting a tournament? Yes, you guessed it, winning your own holiday tournament.
Greenfield-Central controls their own destiny in their own tournament with the more favorable draw in the top half of the bracket. A win over Floyd Central and they'll play the winner of the Hamilton Heights-Richmond Game 2 pairing.
In his 7th season at GC, Laker has an 81-56 record. Those include starting this season off winning five of six against Lafayette Jeff (79-21), Pendleton Heights (46-41), at Avon (67-30), Corydon Central (68-25) and Merrillville (49-44). Their first loss of the season was at North Central 58-49.
The Cougars have strung together four straight wins since their last loss to Hamilton SE (55-48). New Palestine (43-27), at Shelbyville (66-33), Delta (75-35) and Connersville (69-61) have been the latest to fall to head coach Doug Laker's squad.
The hosts are led by sophomores Madison Wise (19.3 ppg, 11.8 rpg) and Katie Helgason (12.2 ppg), along with senior Regan Lewis with 10.7 points and 5.9 rebounds.
Game 2 - Hamilton Heights (3-8) vs. Richmond (7-2) - 11:45 a.m. :
The second game features what looks to be in the favor of the Richmond Red Devils, but you never know what Hamilton Heights might have up its sleeve. It's been quite a struggle for Scott Fernung in his 2nd season at the helm of the Huskies, as he's 12-20 thru the midway point of season number two and searching for the identity of his ball club.
Things started out okay with a 65-47 win to open the season at home against Tri-Central. Quickly it shifted downhill with five losses in a row at Noblesville (103-48), Carmel (91-30), at Mount Vernon (Fortville) (76-39), Lebanon (71-54) and at Pendleton Heights (77-54).
Production has been better lately, but still the Huskies have dropped three of five coming into this tournament. Wins over Northwestern (55-53) and at Western Boone (46-37) have given Hamilton Heights a little more confidence as of late.
The Huskies are led by a pair in double-figures with freshman Kayla Kirtley's 13.3 points and 5.2 rebounds, along with senior Caitlyn Hays and her 11.5 points.
Richmond comes on riding a 6-game winning streak that has them standing atop the North Central Conference tied with McCutcheon with a 4-0 league mark.
The Red Devils started the season off 1-2 and not worried in the least bit. Winning their season-opener over Centerville (73-28), Richmond lost two in a row at Heritage Christian (81-55) and fellow tourney competitor East Central (61-56).
Just after Thanksgiving, wins over Muncie Central (51-50), Kokomo (64-35), at Danville (50-44), at Franklin County (77-34), at Anderson (66-59) and at Huntington North (72-61) have the Red Devils hoping to play the spoiler role.
Head Coach Casey Pohlenz has a couple of offensive leaders that include Destiny Perkins at 25 points and Mackenzie Taylor at 18.7.
Game 3 - 4A #13 East Central (13-1) vs. 3A #7 Lebanon (10-1) - 1:30 p.m. :
East Central is one of the hotter teams in the Greenfield-Central Tournament field and to be honest, they probably aren't getting a whole lot of recognition with 13 teams still left undefeated in the state of Indiana. The Trojans have 13 wins, but one glaring loss at Columbus North (65-52) in the second week of December has them sitting at 4A #13 in the latest poll.
Kevin Moore is in his 6th year as head coach and has compiled an 80-38 record. His teams started this season out with 9 wins at Madison (57-45), Shelbyville (77-24), Jac-Cen-Del (72-42), at Columbus East (48-40), at Richmond (61-56), Greensburg (64-35), Franklin County (68-37), Harrison (OH) (60-30) and Jennings County (54-42).
Following that loss at Columbus North, it didn't take long for East Central to get back on track and start winning again. A pair of wins against South Dearborn (64-14) and at Batesville (47-41) helped them as they played in a tournament at Harrison, Ohio, getting victories over Hamilton (OH) (52-45) and Harrison (OH) again (60-19).
The Trojans count on a trio to keep them in control. Allie McCool averages 13.8 points and 9 boards a game, while Claire Volpenhein (12.3) and Kelsey Tippitt (10.2) do their part to keep East Central going.
The Lebanon Tigers are one team that the other seven should be a little weary of. Head Coach Beth DeVinney is 47-11 in her 3rd year at Lebanon and has an overall record of 259-120 in 19 seasons.
DeVinney's offense revolves around 5'11 junior guard/forward Kristen Spolyar (32.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 4.1 apg, 5.1 spg) and a pair of guards named Brooke Montgomery (12.1 ppg, 2.4 apg, 2.6 spg) and Mallory Cast (10 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.7 spg).
Starting the year out with two wins over Indianapolis Ritter (67-42) and at Zionsville (78-35), things got real when they visited Noblesville and left with a 77-60 loss to the Millers.
Now, the Tigers have strung together a streak of eight wins heading into this Greenfield-Central Tournament. Those wins were over West Lafayette (69-50), at Hamilton Heights (71-54), at Crawfordsville (85-62), Plainfield (75-67), Western Boone (86-15), Western (82-31), Danville (73-65) and Avon (73-40).
Lebanon is looking to knock East Central into the loser's bracket and hopes that Noblesville can take Homestead out to set up a rematch of their game back on November 18.
Game 4 - 4A #4 Noblesville (11-0) vs. 4A #3 Homestead (12-1) - 3:15 p.m. :
Homestead is the only team in the field that has kept playing over Christmas break. They only had a week between winning at Carmel (71-38) and playing in a two-day Columbus North Tournament, in which they went 2-1 and lost in the championship game to the host Columbus North Bulldogs, 86-75 to drop the Spartans to 12-1.
Prior to play at Columbus North, Homestead was cruising right along at 10-0 and they weren't sure what would stop them. Taking a look at the Spartans' 12-game streak to start the season, they took Fort Wayne Northrop (82-22), at Fort Wayne Dwenger (85-43), at Marion (84-49), Huntington North (87-29), Norwell (85-45), at Bedford, MI (81-42), New Haven (84-26), Fort Wayne South (80-47), at Carroll (Allen) (86-54), at Carmel (71-38) as victims.
Starting out 10-0, Homestead was winning by an average of 53 points per game and averaged right around 84 per game offensively. Until they visited Carmel, the Spartans didn't know what it was like to score under 80 points, but with a close 3 quarters, the Greyhounds kept Homestead well below their plus-80 a game average for only 71 points.
The Columbus North Tournament was a potently talented field of teams that usually tend to make runs in the state tournament. Columbus North, Merrillville, Penn, Jeffersonville, Homestead, Mooresville, Pike and Crown Point all combine for a collective record of 79-32.
Noblesville is the lone undefeated team in the Greenfield-Central Tournament and they're obviously going to have a target on their backs in each of the 3 games they'll play.
The Millers have put together quite a season to date and look to keep it rolling and get three wins in this tournament, but it won't be easy by any means. Playing previously unbeaten, now one-loss Homestead will be the toughest 1st round game to start.
Their 11 straight wins were at Indianapolis Arsenal Tech (65-48), Hamilton Heights (103-48), Lebanon (77-60), at Brownsburg (78-51), Warsaw (64-39), at Carmel (102-85), Avon (90-27), at North Central (72-55), at Fishers (45-33), at Anderson (92-50) and Westfield (68-55).
Head Coach Donna Keck counts on experience and the togetherness of Alexis Shannon (23.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg), Katelyn O'Reilly (15.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg), Becca Bergman (9.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 5.6 apg, 4 spg), along with Kayleigh Herron (4.5 ppg, 2.3 apg), Brooke Herron (4.8 ppg, 2.7 apg), Erin Wood (4.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.7 spg), Cori Cain (2.7 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1 spg) and Emily Kiser (4.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.1 bpg).
It should be a tremendous two days of high school girls basketball at Greenfield-Central.
All 3 Noblesville Miller games will be broadcast LIVE on hamiltoncountytv.com! If you can't be there, don't hesitate to join myself (Craig Adkins) for the play-by-play and Perry Williams with the color commentary. Coverage for Noblesville's 3:15 game on Friday, January 2nd will start at 3:05.
Here is how the full slate of games looks:
| Jan. 2 | 1 | Floyd Central (5-6) at Greenfield-Central (9-2), 10:00 am | Greenfield | First round |
| Jan. 2 | 2 | Hamilton Heights (3-8) vs. Richmond (7-2), 11:45 am | Greenfield | First round |
| Jan. 2 | 3 | East Central (13-1) vs. Lebanon (10-1), 1:30 pm | Greenfield | First round |
| Jan. 2 | 4 | Noblesville (11-0) vs. Homestead (12-1), 3:15 pm | Greenfield | First round |
| Jan. 2 | 5 | Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 6 pm | Greenfield | Consolation |
| Jan. 2 | 6 | Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 7:45 pm | Greenfield | Consolation |
| Jan. 3 | 7 | Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 10:00 am | Greenfield | Semifinal |
| Jan. 3 | 8 | Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 11:45 am | Greenfield | Semifinal |
| Jan. 3 | 9 | Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 1:30 pm | Greenfield | 7th place |
| Jan. 3 | 10 | Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 3:15 pm | Greenfield | 5th place |
| Jan. 3 | 11 | Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 6 pm | Greenfield | 3rd place |
| Jan. 3 | 12 | Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 7:45 pm | Greenfield | championship |
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