By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Noblesville spent Wednesday morning taking final exams. Must have passed them. The Millers certainly aced their second test of the day, while Bedford North Lawrence earned a red-letter ‘F’ when quizzed about attacking a zone.
The Millers, clogging BNL’s offense to a befuddled, lazy-pass standstill, adjusted to an afternoon matinee start to the Pete Pritchett Limestone Classic with rock-solid starts to each half, and the Stars launched stones from long range while suffering their second double-digit loss of the season.,
No.8 Noblesville, slowing one of the state’s dynamic offenses to a quagmire, posted a 54-44 victory over No.4 BNL in the first game of the holiday showcase featuring three of the state’s top-tier teams. Reagan Wilson scored 16 points as the Millers (10-3) avenged a loss to BNL in last year’s Pritchett finale.
The Stars (12-2) never figured out Noblesville’s zone tentacles, a 3-2 zone that forced 18 turnovers. BNL shot a miserable 4 for 26 from deep, about as cold as the approaching predicted wind chill. Half those made treys came during the second quarter, BNL’s only sustained excellence as it erased a double-digit deficit and took a brief lead..
That didn’t last, neither the BNL hot streak nor the advantage.
“We turned the ball over way too much against a really good team,” BNL coach Jeff Allen said. “They played well. They started the game with a sense of urgency, and we didn’t. We fought back in the second quarter, then the second half was more of the same. They played with more desire to win than we did.”
What was so mysterious about that zone? Whatever the riddle, the answer eluded the Stars. In addition to the turnovers, Noblesville deflected multiple passes. BNL passers had the look of bewilderment. Too many people, too many problems, welcome to the land of confusion.
“With their ability to put it on the floor, we needed to take away the driving lanes, hopefully force them into a lot of long threes,” Noblesville coach Donna Buckley said. “It worked out for us. They normally shoot the ball so much better. Credit our kids for getting hands on a lot of basketballs, and they didn’t get a lot of clean looks. When you play zone, you’re going to give up shots. We didn’t want to give up rhythm shots.”
Noblesville set the early tone with the final 12 points of the first quarter while BNL missed 10 straight shots. The biggest gap then was 17-6, which triggered BNL’s comeback. Mallory Pride did most of that work, scoring inside four times. Karsyn Norman’s steal for a breakaway, Chloe Spreen’s spin in the lane, Pride’s layup off a Norman drive and Norman’s 3-pointer powered BNL in front 23-21.
But from that point, disaster. The Millers took the halftime lead on Kaitlyn Shoemaker’s late bomb, then went on a 10-2 run to start the third quarter. BNL never closed after that. Hard to do when shooting so poorly.
“We kept trying to find people on the baseline to make that shot, couldn’t find anybody,” Allen said. “Some days are going to be like that. But you can still be aggressive. For some reason, I don’t know why, we were timid. You can’t be that way. You have to attack gaps and move the basketball with confidence.”
Shoemaker added 14 points while Meredith Tippner had a strong double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.
“This is a hard place to play, one of the best programs ever,” Buckley said. “Last year (before Noblesville went on to win the 4A state title) we got it handed to us, start to finish. We did a much better job of being ready to play. It was a weird start time, and you have to come out ready to play. Our kids definitely did that.”
Norman finished with 19 points and Pride totaled 14 (plus 8 boards). But outside of Norman, BNL guards were a combined 0-for-15 from the 3-point line. Spreen was limited to a season-low 9 points, and BNL (averaging 65.5 points per game) was held under 45 for the second time this year. It’s no coincidence those are both the losses.
“I have to take responsibility,” Allen said. “I don’t think our kids were ready to play. We didn’t do anything we had talked about. Kids are a mystery sometimes. Hopefully we’ll learn from it and get better. We have to.”
Noblesville with meet No.7 Lake Central (8-1) in the middle game of the three-game Classic at 10 a.m. on Thursday. BNL will then face Lake Central in the final game at 1 p.m.
NOBLESVILLE MILLERS (54)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
23 Meredith Tippner, f 1-4 3-8 3-4 10 3 10
32 Dani Mendez, f 0-0 3-5 0-2 4 2 6
22 Reagan WIlson, g 1-5 7-13 1-1 3 0 16
3 Kaitlyn Shoemaker, g 2-4 5-12 2-5 5 5 14
11 Brooklyn Ely, g 0-3 0-4 1-2 0 0 1
43 C.C. Quigley 0-0 0-1 1-2 3 0 1
24 Kate Rollins 0-1 2-3 2-2 1 2 6
Totals 4-17 20-46 10-18 24 12 54
BEDFORD NL STARS (44)
3s FGs FTs R F Pts
2 Chloe Spreen, f 1-3 4-8 0-0 7 5 9
22 Mallory Pride, f 0-0 6-7 2-3 8 1 14
24 Madisyn Bailey, g 0-7 1-8 0-0 3 2 2
20 Emma Brown, g 0-5 0-5 0-0 1 3 0
21 Karsyn Norman, g 3-8 7-13 2-3 5 2 19
12 Tori Nikirk 0-2 0-2 0-0 4 3 0
32 Trinidy Bailey 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
50 Emma Crane 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 4-26 18-44 4-6 30 16 44
Noblesville 14 10 14 16 – 54
Bedford NL 4 19 7 14 – 44
Turnovers – Noblesville 10, BNL 18
Field goal percentage – Noblesville 20-46 (.435), BNL 18-44 (.409)
Free throw percentage – Noblesville 10-18 (.556), BNL 4-6 (.667)
