#3 Lawrence North stymies #5 Millers in regular season finale

In the final home game for Becca Bergman, Erin Wood, Kayleigh Herron (left), Cori Cain and Audrey DeFoe, there were high hopes an upset of the highly-touted Wildcats and most importantly, to end the regular season on a high note heading into Tuesday's 1st round 4A Sectional 8 match-up at Hamilton Southeastern vs. the Carmel Greyhounds.

Lawrence North has set steady as the 2nd-ranked 4A team all season long until a few weeks ago when they swapped spots with Columbus North and are still at a comfortable #3 ranking and #4 overall in the IBCA poll.

This week's losses at 2A #1 Heritage Christian (66-52) and at home against 4A #3 Lawrence North (61-40) should logically only be looked at as two big learning tools and a measuring stick on how Noblesville compares against some of the state's best players. Mainly, it shows what needs to be focused on when the Millers take to the court again next Tuesday against a much improved Carmel.

Yes, as I posted on Twitter (@MillerVoiceNDCB) following Thursday night's game, this has been a "tough pill to swallow." This week's games aren't what we are used to seeing out of this outstanding group of Millers. I sincerely hope that over the next few days of practice prior to the Sectional opener vs. Carmel that we have a total transformation as a team and get back to playing the ways that we're capable of and bring home a Sectional Championship back to The Mill for the first time since 1996!

4A #3 Lawrence North 61, 4A #5 Noblesville 40 - (Thurs. at The Mill, Noblesville)
Wildcats     18     17     16     10     -     61
Millers         8      10     11     11     -     40

The Wildcats stormed out of the gate from the opening tip, just like the starting gun was fired in a sprint race during a track meet. Three quick baskets after a couple Noblesville turnovers and missed shots and before the Millers could blink, it was 6-0 LN. Coach Keck called a :30 timeout to cool down the LN tempo and regroup her troops.

Out of the timeout, Katelyn O'Reilly rattled off six points in a row to tie things at 6-6, thanks to the quick defensive hands of Kayleigh Herron, Becca Bergman and Brooke Herron, along with a solid blocked shot from Emily Kiser.

The Millers managed just one more score in the 1st by Erin Wood (left) off of a nice dish down low from Brooke Herron, because Lamina Cooper proved to the crowd at The Mill why she is a 2015 Indiana Miss Basketball candidate. The 5'8 senior Purdue commit found her way to 10 points in the first. She and fellow Purdue recruit in 6'1 junior Ae'Rianna Harris (6) combined for 16 of Lawrence North's points, along with Northwestern commit, 5'7 senior Jordan Hankins (2) and the Wildcats had a ten point lead through one at 18-8.

Noblesville still couldn't get themselves into a groove in the second. Erin Wood scored a couple more buckets and Becca Bergman, Alexis Shannon and Brooke Herron put together the other six for another low scoring quarter of ten points.

Lawrence North decided that they would test the waters outside the three-point arc...and it worked. Hankins, Amber Morgan and Lauren Dickerson knocked down a trey and the Wildcats had jumped out to a 35-18 halftime lead.

The Millers came out of the halftime locker room with a poised and determined look about them. The only problem was that the Wildcats kept firing on all cylinders at both ends of the court, disallowing Noblesville to get back into their normal style of play.

Constantly running, Jordan Hankins, Ae'Rianna Harris and Lauren Dickerson led the Lawrence North attack in the 3rd with four points apiece to score a majority of the Wildcats' 16 in t
he quarter. That helped keep the Millers at a distance, despite Bergman (5) and O'Reilly (4) accounting for most of Noblesville's output, but LN had lengthened their lead to 51-29.

Amani Ferguson and Hankins both swished a 3-pointer each in the 4th that seemed to be the daggers that head coach Chris Giffin was wanting, so his Wildcats could stave off any run that Noblesville might have in them. The Millers went 5-for-7 at the foul line in the 4th and were only able to convert three field goals.

Keck's squad went down fighting in the fourth until the scoreboard clock read 0:00, dropping their second game in a row for the first time this season, 61-40.

Lawrence North (22-1) was led by Lamina Cooper's game-high 18 points and was joined in double-digits by Ae'Rianna Harris with 12. The rest of LN's scoring was balanced with Hankins and Dickerson each scoring 9, while Morgan (8), Ferguson (3) and Autumn Jones (2) scored the remaining Wildcat points.

Noblesville (19-3) was led by Katelyn O'Reilly's 12 points and 5 rebound effort. She was the lone Miller to reach double-figure, as Becca Bergman wound up with 9 points and 6 assists and Erin Wood finished with 8 points and 8 rebounds, along with 3 steals.

Leading scorer Alexis Shannon was limited well-below her season average (19.9) for the 2nd straight game with 7 points. Brooke Herron and Emily Kiser each added 2 for the Millers.

They'll get back to work in preparation for Sectionals that are next week. Noblesville drew the first game on Tuesday night February 10 at 7 p.m. against Carmel (17-7). The 2015 4A Sectional 8 is being hosted this year by Hamilton Southeastern.

Keep your eyes peeled for a 2015 4A Sectional 8 preview and my predictions for the entire state of Indiana for the 40th Annual IHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournament.

Until then... GO MILLERS! WE ARE TOGETHER!

(*all photos courtesy of Kent Graham at kentgraham.photoshelter.com)