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!
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