By the way the Noblesville Millers played on Saturday against the Fort Wayne Snider Panthers, unless you really knew what happened Thursday night at LN, you would think they had completely forgotten about how that opener at LN turned out.
Talking to Coach Buckley before the game, it was obvious that her team had made a complete turn around in a very short amount of time.
This group had either completely put two nights ago in the past or they've learned from it and figured out exactly how to capitalize on the opportunity to turn back into the team they know they're capable of being.
4A #4 Noblesville 91, Fort Wayne Snider 50 - (Saturday, 11/7 at The Mill)
Panthers 9 10 13 18 - 50
Millers 24 30 22 15 - 91
The Millers came out scoring with a flurry from the opening tip. It started with K.O. and Alexis taking the reigns, scoring early and often, especially Alexis Shannon, pouring in eight in the first. Playing so quick and with such purpose, Noblesville started out on an 11-0 run that was capped by a Rachel Shipman three before Snider head coach Kelley Meiklejohn was forced to burn the Panthers' first timeout.
Following the timeout, the Millers kept rolling with another couple swishes from downtown from Shipman again and Brooke Herron joined the party to make it 19-0 Noblesville before Snider could barely blink.
It wasn't until the 3:21 mark of the 1st quarter that, off the bench, Kyla Covington scored the Panthers' first points, but Buckley's Millers made it clear they weren't happy with Thursday's performance and led 24-9 after one.
There couldn't have been a more balanced scoring effort in the second quarter by the home standing Millers. Highlighted by another pair of Shipman 3-pointers and another 9 points out of Alexis Shannon, Noblesville's offense scored 30 more in the second to extend their already big lead to 54-19 as the teams headed to the locker room at halftime.
Buckley's squad cruised throughout the second half on their way to a blowout with 91-50 win for their first of the year.
A game that was wide open was one that Noblesville was able to see what their bench is capable of, to say the least.
The different mixes of lineups that were on the floor throughout the night make it possible for Noblesville to play different scenarios against different teams all season long.
This seems like the team that we all thought would take the floor this season. With the senior leadership of O'Reilly, Shannon, Shipman and Haley Conway, they turned around what they did on Thursday and spun it into something special that got The Mill to its feet numerous times on Saturday night.
Fort Wayne Snider (0-1) was led in scoring by junior center Kyla Covington's 13 off the bench. Allana Hurst had 8, while Daysianae Hinton added 7 and Peytin Chamble with 6. The Panthers shot a mere 21 of 36 (58%) at the free throw line, which also didn't help their cause. Snider stays home for their next game, hosting Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger (0-1) on Saturday, November 14.
Noblesville (1-1) had a pretty balanced scoring attack that wouldn't stop all night long. Katelyn O'Reilly led the Millers for the second game in a row with a game-high 19 points (including 7-for-7 free throws), 8 rebounds and a pair of steals. Alexis Shannon knocked down 18 points on six field goals and 6-for-7 at the charity stripe.
Rachel Shipman was another story. The senior southpaw was well on her way to breaking her own single-game record for 3-pointers made, a feat that she accomplished last season at home against Western Boone. Shipman finished with five treys made on the night against Snider, along with two free throws for her 17 points and also dished out 6 assists.
Brooke Herron turned in a solid night with 8 points and 7 assists. Sam Salmon netted six points of her own, all in the third quarter, before fouling out in the middle of the 4th. Freshman Mallory Johnson had a coming out party in her varsity debut, scoring 6 points, grabbing 6 boards and adding three assists to her stat line. Maddie Knight's second varsity game was a break out game with 5 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists. Emily Kiser hit the boards with 8 to go along with her 4 points, 2 assists and 2 steals before hitting the deck with what we hope wasn't an injury.
Haley Conway pitched in 4, while Olivia Morales and Kaylin Mertens both added 2.
The Millers get to stay home and host Indianapolis Arsenal Tech (0-0) on Tuesday, November 10 at The Mill.
Monday, November 9, 2015
4A #3 LN drops 4A #4 Millers in season opener
For an early November season opener, it still felt like football season, because it is. But, with both Noblesville and Lawrence North's football seasons finished, all heads are turned to winter sports at each school. The weather is still pretty mild, but that doesn't mean that high school basketball season can't get started.
There's no better way to start the season off than to have two preseason ranked top-5 teams take to the hardwood.
Noblesville, coming off of an Elite 8 appearance after bowing out in the 4A Kokomo Regional to Homestead 83-66, is a hungry group that is out to prove something this season. Losing their five graduates
Lawrence North, lost a 69-60 battle with eventual state champion Columbus North and Miss Basketball Ali Patberg in the 4A south Semi-State and are also out to let people know that they still have a lot of talent despite the graduation departures of Amani Ferguson, Jordan Hankins (Northwestern) and Lamina Cooper (Purdue).
4A #3 Lawrence North 72, 4A #4 Noblesville 58 - (Thurs. 11/5 at Lawrence North)
Millers 16 8 9 25 - 58
Wildcats 21 17 16 18 - 72
From the opening tip, both teams seemed like they would be battling for a solid 32 minutes and we would all think that it was a great matchup to start the girls basketball regular season in central Indiana.
Lawrence North senior guard Lauren Dickerson started the game off with a 3-pointer and an early 3-0 lead. Katelyn O'Reilly and Alexis Shannon put Noblesville's first two field goals on the board and the Millers had their only lead of the game at 4-3. Freshman guard Trinity Brady knocked down a three to put the host Wildcats back on top 6-4, but O'Reilly would draw a foul and sink a pair of free throws to tie it up 6-6.
LN would regain the edge on the following possession and never look back for the remainder of the game.
The host Wildcats seemed like they didn't have an ounce of quit or even slow down in them during this season-opener. It wasn't just Lauren Dickerson and her 16 first half points, but freshman Trinity Brady wasn't timid in the least bit in her debut, knocking down eight of her 13 points in the first quarter. Junior move-in/transfer from Richmond, Destiny Perkins, was all over the court with her lightning fast feet, scoring seven while starting her first game in a new uniform.
Ae'Rianna Harris played like she didn't have to do a major amount of scoring, but she took on more of a defensive/rebounding role to help Lawrence North to victory. Harris and Dickerson are both all-state candidates.
Noblesville found itself trailing 21-16 after one and the Wildcats extended it to double-digits at 38-24. The Millers unfortunately weren't able to put the defensive clamps on in the third. The speed of Lawrence North's offense appeared to be too much for the Millers.
With the LN offense clicking on all cylinders, they held Noblesville's offense to a total of 17 points in the middle two quarters, both single-digit outputs. That helped the Wildcats extend their lead to 54-33 through three, making it that much tougher for a Miller comeback.
The fourth quarter became more of a shootout and a learning experience for Noblesville. Coach Buckley would leave it to no one other than the combination of seniors Katelyn O'Reilly and Alexis Shannon to wake up the Millers' offense.
It didn't go unnoticed that O'Reilly scored 15 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth and Shannon netted 7 of her 15 in the final frame.
The Millers made a great effort, but it wasn't enough as Lawrence North held on for a season-opening 72-58 win.
Lauren Dickerson led the Wildcats with a team-high 22, including four 3-pointers. Trinity Brady was the 2nd leading scorer for LN with 13, while Mya Parker added 11 off the bench on five field goals. Ae'Rianna Harris (9) and Destiny Perkins (7) also did their share for the hosts.
Noblesville (0-1) dropped their first season-opener in the Donna Keck era (now Buckley) since her first year on the Millers' bench when they opened the 2008-09 season with a 62-59 home loss to Kokomo.
The Millers were led by O'Reilly's game-high 24 points, 7 rebounds, along with 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocked shots. Alexis Shannon had 15 points and 3 rebounds. Emily Kiser (5), Brooke Herron (4), Haley Conway (4), Rachel Shipman (3) and Sam Salmon made up the remainder of the scoring.
There's no better way to start the season off than to have two preseason ranked top-5 teams take to the hardwood.
Noblesville, coming off of an Elite 8 appearance after bowing out in the 4A Kokomo Regional to Homestead 83-66, is a hungry group that is out to prove something this season. Losing their five graduates
Lawrence North, lost a 69-60 battle with eventual state champion Columbus North and Miss Basketball Ali Patberg in the 4A south Semi-State and are also out to let people know that they still have a lot of talent despite the graduation departures of Amani Ferguson, Jordan Hankins (Northwestern) and Lamina Cooper (Purdue).
4A #3 Lawrence North 72, 4A #4 Noblesville 58 - (Thurs. 11/5 at Lawrence North)
Millers 16 8 9 25 - 58
Wildcats 21 17 16 18 - 72
From the opening tip, both teams seemed like they would be battling for a solid 32 minutes and we would all think that it was a great matchup to start the girls basketball regular season in central Indiana.
Lawrence North senior guard Lauren Dickerson started the game off with a 3-pointer and an early 3-0 lead. Katelyn O'Reilly and Alexis Shannon put Noblesville's first two field goals on the board and the Millers had their only lead of the game at 4-3. Freshman guard Trinity Brady knocked down a three to put the host Wildcats back on top 6-4, but O'Reilly would draw a foul and sink a pair of free throws to tie it up 6-6.
LN would regain the edge on the following possession and never look back for the remainder of the game.
The host Wildcats seemed like they didn't have an ounce of quit or even slow down in them during this season-opener. It wasn't just Lauren Dickerson and her 16 first half points, but freshman Trinity Brady wasn't timid in the least bit in her debut, knocking down eight of her 13 points in the first quarter. Junior move-in/transfer from Richmond, Destiny Perkins, was all over the court with her lightning fast feet, scoring seven while starting her first game in a new uniform.
Ae'Rianna Harris played like she didn't have to do a major amount of scoring, but she took on more of a defensive/rebounding role to help Lawrence North to victory. Harris and Dickerson are both all-state candidates.
Noblesville found itself trailing 21-16 after one and the Wildcats extended it to double-digits at 38-24. The Millers unfortunately weren't able to put the defensive clamps on in the third. The speed of Lawrence North's offense appeared to be too much for the Millers.
With the LN offense clicking on all cylinders, they held Noblesville's offense to a total of 17 points in the middle two quarters, both single-digit outputs. That helped the Wildcats extend their lead to 54-33 through three, making it that much tougher for a Miller comeback.
The fourth quarter became more of a shootout and a learning experience for Noblesville. Coach Buckley would leave it to no one other than the combination of seniors Katelyn O'Reilly and Alexis Shannon to wake up the Millers' offense.
It didn't go unnoticed that O'Reilly scored 15 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth and Shannon netted 7 of her 15 in the final frame.
The Millers made a great effort, but it wasn't enough as Lawrence North held on for a season-opening 72-58 win.
Lauren Dickerson led the Wildcats with a team-high 22, including four 3-pointers. Trinity Brady was the 2nd leading scorer for LN with 13, while Mya Parker added 11 off the bench on five field goals. Ae'Rianna Harris (9) and Destiny Perkins (7) also did their share for the hosts.
Noblesville (0-1) dropped their first season-opener in the Donna Keck era (now Buckley) since her first year on the Millers' bench when they opened the 2008-09 season with a 62-59 home loss to Kokomo.
The Millers were led by O'Reilly's game-high 24 points, 7 rebounds, along with 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocked shots. Alexis Shannon had 15 points and 3 rebounds. Emily Kiser (5), Brooke Herron (4), Haley Conway (4), Rachel Shipman (3) and Sam Salmon made up the remainder of the scoring.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Noblesville girls basketball 2015-16 preview
The expectations of the 2015-16 Noblesville Millers girls basketball team is no different than it was last season. Yes, an outstanding group of five seniors have graduated. But, now it's time for the younger members of the past few years to step up and show what they've got!
Two of last season's starters will be back. Senior 5'10 guard Alexis Shannon brings back her great scoring and slashing abilities and with her she'll have Indiana Junior All-State 1st Team teammate 6'0 forward Katelyn O'Reilly, who is just a complete physical presence in the middle. Senior teammates 5'5 guard Rachel Shipman and 6'0 center Haley Conway look to help provide senior leadership and depth to what will be a young Miller bench.
Sophomore Emily Kiser has now grown to 6'2 and slid right into a starting role that was Erin Wood's for the past four years. Junior point guard Brooke Herron enters her third year at the varsity level and will be looked upon to help run the point, along with Shipman and 5'3 junior Sam Salmon. 5'7 sophomore Olivia Morales will look to add defensive depth.
A trio of freshman will grace the varsity squad with their presence the winter as 5'6 Mallory Johnson, 5'6 Maddie Knight and 5'6 Kaylin Mertens will all see time off of the bench. It looked as there would be a fourth member of the freshman class that would see varsity playing time this year, but during off-season workouts, Madison Whetro suffered a season-ending ACL injury that would put her varsity playing days on hold and unfortunately won't allow her to play with this group.
It will also be a transition for all of us to changing the name of our head coach. Donna Keck became Donna Buckley on July 4th in South Carolina in front of close friends and family (and part of the coaching staff) and we couldn't be happier for her and her husband Chris! Congratulations to her and Chris and we all wish them many years of happiness!
How the schedule looks...
Noblesville has one of the toughest schedules in the state again this season, which will only fuel their fire to succeed past what last year's squad did and make their own mark in the storied history of Noblesville Millers girls basketball.
The Millers open up on Thursday, November 5th on the road and will face an extremely tough test from the start against 4A #3 Lawrence North, who advanced all the way to the 4A south semi-state championship game, losing to eventual state champion Columbus North.
Two days later in the Millers' home opener, they'll face another rough opponent in Fort Wayne Snider, who also made it to the 4A Kokomo Regional, but was ousted by eventual Regional champ and state runner-up Homestead in the second game of the day.
Indianapolis Arsenal Tech pays another visit to The Mill on Tuesday, November 10th and the week finishes up on the road with Noblesville heading to visit their neighbors to the north in the 3A Hamilton Heights Huskies, who are now coached by first-year head coach Omega Tandy.
The third week features a few key match-ups. A road trip directly west on SR 32 will be another great game between the Lebanon Tigers' Kristen Spolyar and the Millers on Tuesday, November 17th. Their first weekend back-to-back Friday/Saturday features a home game to open up Hoosier Crossroads Conference play against Brownsburg and their new head coach Debbie Guckenberger. Coach Buckley and her staff will load up the troops and head north to Warsaw on Saturday, November 21st for an evening tilt with the Tigers of the Northern Lakes Conference.
Thanksgiving week serves up a home game on Tuesday, November 24 with the 4A #8 Carmel Greyhounds, as the Millers look to extend their winning streak in the series to three games. As per usual, Noblesville and Avon will tangle in a midday affair on Saturday, November 28 on the Orioles' home court.
December looks to get the pot stirring even more for the Millers. at trip to HCC rival Hamilton Southeastern starts the last month of the year on the calendar with a middle of the week trip to HSE on Wednesday, December 2nd, where Noblesville won their 1st sectional championship in 19 seasons on the Royals' home floor.
A home date on Saturday afternoon December 5th will give the Millers their third games against an opponent from the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference when North Central comes to The Mill.
The schedule gets a little thick in the middle of December. Two home games in a row will bring the Fishers Tigers to Noblesville for an HCC battle. They will be without the services of senior guard/forward Kara Gerka, as she suffered a torn ACL during the off-season. December 15th will bring Shannon Cleckley and the Anderson Indians to The Mill in Cleckley's first season coaching the Indians with the departure of Chad Cook.
Westfield and first-year head coach Ginny Smith will host the Millers on Saturday, December 19th for an early afternoon game on the Shamrocks' home court. Former head coach Shane Sumpter has switched over to be the head coach of the boys team at Westfield.
The Millers finish up the month of December by playing in the Whitewater Valley Classic at Franklin County High School in southeast Indiana on December 22 and 23. That 2-day tournament at Franklin County has an 8-team field that, along with Noblesville, includes Beech Grove, Bloomington South, Danville, Franklin County, Bishop Chatard, Jennings County and South Dearborn. Noblesville will get the chance to play four games in a two-day span.
For the first time in quite a few years, Noblesville is getting the opportunity to play in the City Securities Hall of Fame Classic in New Castle on December 29. The Millers play in the 10:00 game against 3A #3 Benton Central and 3A #4 Lebanon meets up with the state's leading scorer Jackie Young and 3A #1Princeton at 11:45. The losers of the two morning games play again in the 6:00 consolation game and the winners take center stage for the championship at 7:45 that night.
Noblesville starts off the 2016 calendar on Wednesday, January 6 by heading back to Memorial Gym, but this time to face the Kokomo Wildcats. On Saturday of that week, the Mount Vernon (Fortville) Marauders head west on SR 38 to face the Millers in the afternoon.
On Friday, January 15, the Millers take their show to Boone county to play at 6:00 in the first game of a girls/boys doubleheader at Zionsville.
Two of the final three regular season games for Buckley's Millers will be on their home floor. 3A #2 Heritage Christian, who has now moved up to Class 3A as a result of the success factor from winning at the 2A level, visits The Mill on Thursday, January 21 and the Martinsville Artesians come to Noblesville on the evening of Saturday, January 23rd.
The regular season concludes with a trip to Pendleton Heights to face the Arabians and first-year head coach Chad Cook, formerly of Anderson High School.
The Class 4A Sectional 8 tournament will be hosted this year by the Westfield Shamrocks during the first full week in February.
Along with being the PA voice of Noblesville Miller girls basketball, now in my 8th season, I am also the play-by-play voice for Hometown Television Web Network/Hamilton County Television. We would like to welcome you to view our girls and boys broadcasts throughout the basketball season. I'd also like to thank you for reading my blog now and in the past!
You can follow me on Twitter at @MillerVoiceNDCB and also Hamilton County TV at @HCTelevision
Two of last season's starters will be back. Senior 5'10 guard Alexis Shannon brings back her great scoring and slashing abilities and with her she'll have Indiana Junior All-State 1st Team teammate 6'0 forward Katelyn O'Reilly, who is just a complete physical presence in the middle. Senior teammates 5'5 guard Rachel Shipman and 6'0 center Haley Conway look to help provide senior leadership and depth to what will be a young Miller bench.
Sophomore Emily Kiser has now grown to 6'2 and slid right into a starting role that was Erin Wood's for the past four years. Junior point guard Brooke Herron enters her third year at the varsity level and will be looked upon to help run the point, along with Shipman and 5'3 junior Sam Salmon. 5'7 sophomore Olivia Morales will look to add defensive depth.
A trio of freshman will grace the varsity squad with their presence the winter as 5'6 Mallory Johnson, 5'6 Maddie Knight and 5'6 Kaylin Mertens will all see time off of the bench. It looked as there would be a fourth member of the freshman class that would see varsity playing time this year, but during off-season workouts, Madison Whetro suffered a season-ending ACL injury that would put her varsity playing days on hold and unfortunately won't allow her to play with this group.
It will also be a transition for all of us to changing the name of our head coach. Donna Keck became Donna Buckley on July 4th in South Carolina in front of close friends and family (and part of the coaching staff) and we couldn't be happier for her and her husband Chris! Congratulations to her and Chris and we all wish them many years of happiness!
How the schedule looks...
Noblesville has one of the toughest schedules in the state again this season, which will only fuel their fire to succeed past what last year's squad did and make their own mark in the storied history of Noblesville Millers girls basketball.
The Millers open up on Thursday, November 5th on the road and will face an extremely tough test from the start against 4A #3 Lawrence North, who advanced all the way to the 4A south semi-state championship game, losing to eventual state champion Columbus North.
Two days later in the Millers' home opener, they'll face another rough opponent in Fort Wayne Snider, who also made it to the 4A Kokomo Regional, but was ousted by eventual Regional champ and state runner-up Homestead in the second game of the day.
Indianapolis Arsenal Tech pays another visit to The Mill on Tuesday, November 10th and the week finishes up on the road with Noblesville heading to visit their neighbors to the north in the 3A Hamilton Heights Huskies, who are now coached by first-year head coach Omega Tandy.
The third week features a few key match-ups. A road trip directly west on SR 32 will be another great game between the Lebanon Tigers' Kristen Spolyar and the Millers on Tuesday, November 17th. Their first weekend back-to-back Friday/Saturday features a home game to open up Hoosier Crossroads Conference play against Brownsburg and their new head coach Debbie Guckenberger. Coach Buckley and her staff will load up the troops and head north to Warsaw on Saturday, November 21st for an evening tilt with the Tigers of the Northern Lakes Conference.
Thanksgiving week serves up a home game on Tuesday, November 24 with the 4A #8 Carmel Greyhounds, as the Millers look to extend their winning streak in the series to three games. As per usual, Noblesville and Avon will tangle in a midday affair on Saturday, November 28 on the Orioles' home court.
December looks to get the pot stirring even more for the Millers. at trip to HCC rival Hamilton Southeastern starts the last month of the year on the calendar with a middle of the week trip to HSE on Wednesday, December 2nd, where Noblesville won their 1st sectional championship in 19 seasons on the Royals' home floor.
A home date on Saturday afternoon December 5th will give the Millers their third games against an opponent from the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference when North Central comes to The Mill.
The schedule gets a little thick in the middle of December. Two home games in a row will bring the Fishers Tigers to Noblesville for an HCC battle. They will be without the services of senior guard/forward Kara Gerka, as she suffered a torn ACL during the off-season. December 15th will bring Shannon Cleckley and the Anderson Indians to The Mill in Cleckley's first season coaching the Indians with the departure of Chad Cook.
Westfield and first-year head coach Ginny Smith will host the Millers on Saturday, December 19th for an early afternoon game on the Shamrocks' home court. Former head coach Shane Sumpter has switched over to be the head coach of the boys team at Westfield.
The Millers finish up the month of December by playing in the Whitewater Valley Classic at Franklin County High School in southeast Indiana on December 22 and 23. That 2-day tournament at Franklin County has an 8-team field that, along with Noblesville, includes Beech Grove, Bloomington South, Danville, Franklin County, Bishop Chatard, Jennings County and South Dearborn. Noblesville will get the chance to play four games in a two-day span.
For the first time in quite a few years, Noblesville is getting the opportunity to play in the City Securities Hall of Fame Classic in New Castle on December 29. The Millers play in the 10:00 game against 3A #3 Benton Central and 3A #4 Lebanon meets up with the state's leading scorer Jackie Young and 3A #1Princeton at 11:45. The losers of the two morning games play again in the 6:00 consolation game and the winners take center stage for the championship at 7:45 that night.
Noblesville starts off the 2016 calendar on Wednesday, January 6 by heading back to Memorial Gym, but this time to face the Kokomo Wildcats. On Saturday of that week, the Mount Vernon (Fortville) Marauders head west on SR 38 to face the Millers in the afternoon.
On Friday, January 15, the Millers take their show to Boone county to play at 6:00 in the first game of a girls/boys doubleheader at Zionsville.
Two of the final three regular season games for Buckley's Millers will be on their home floor. 3A #2 Heritage Christian, who has now moved up to Class 3A as a result of the success factor from winning at the 2A level, visits The Mill on Thursday, January 21 and the Martinsville Artesians come to Noblesville on the evening of Saturday, January 23rd.
The regular season concludes with a trip to Pendleton Heights to face the Arabians and first-year head coach Chad Cook, formerly of Anderson High School.
The Class 4A Sectional 8 tournament will be hosted this year by the Westfield Shamrocks during the first full week in February.
Along with being the PA voice of Noblesville Miller girls basketball, now in my 8th season, I am also the play-by-play voice for Hometown Television Web Network/Hamilton County Television. We would like to welcome you to view our girls and boys broadcasts throughout the basketball season. I'd also like to thank you for reading my blog now and in the past!
You can follow me on Twitter at @MillerVoiceNDCB and also Hamilton County TV at @HCTelevision
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)