#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)