By
Craig Adkins
Hamilton County Reporter
It wouldn’t be easy, but Hamilton Southeastern was looking to stay perfect in Hoosier Crossroads Conference play on the road Friday night at Noblesville.
The Millers had their chances throughout, but the Class 4A No. 7 Royals’ size, speed and length turned out to be more than the hosts could handle as Hamilton Southeastern moved to 4-0 in HCC play with a 62-45 victory on Friday.
A chess match for the first couple minutes, the Hamilton County and conference rivals went back and forth for the majority of the first before the Royals found wiggle room.
Noblesville struck first with a Jaron Youree three, but Hamilton Southeastern tied it with a three of their own from Nick Bowman. Teeter-tottering the rest of the quarter, there would be three lead changes before Aaron Ethering swished a fadeaway long two-point jumper in the final seconds to a 13-9 lead for HSE after one.
The Millers got the closest they would get the rest of the night at 15-12 on a Xavier Hines three-point bomb of 7’1 sophomore Mabor Majok. The Royals went on a 13-0 run, thanks to eight points on four field goals from sophomore Chris Grubbs. Noblesville got another three from Hines to make it 28-15 at halftime, only managing two made field goals in the second quarter.
“I thought in the first half we were more locked in defensively and got to things. We moved the basketball better and were able to hit and get it to spots that we talked about,” said Hamilton Southeastern head coach Brian Satterfield on his Royals jumping out to a 13-point lead at halftime.
Hines was back at it right away to start the second half, sinking another three from the left corner to cut the Royals’ lead back to ten at 28-18.
The Millers did everything they could to chip away. Things got a little bit chippy between the two squads at the midway point of the third.
Chaz Birchfield and Eagan Keever-Hill both went for a loose ball and the tie up resulted in what almost turned into a small scuffle. Keever-Hill was whistled for his third personal foul and Birchfield received a technical foul. Birchfield made his two free throws and Hines netted both of his to bring it back under 10 at 32-23.
Jordan Schmidt made two more from the charity stripe with 3:47 left in the third to make it 32-25, but Etherington pushed it back to nine again.
The perimeter attack of Noblesville would get them back to within striking distance again. Hines and Youree helped get the Millers back to within six through three quarters, 37-31.
“I’m really proud of our effort in the third quarter and throughout the game. We battled the boards and hung tough there. We made shots. We took four charges, just kept ourselves in the game,” said Noblesville head coach Brian McCauley on his team’s third quarter play.
“That third quarter, they just out-hustled us and I know there was one time where they had four shots at a basket in one trip. They were getting 50-50 balls and we just didn’t come up with it, then they cut it to six,” Satterfield complimenting Noblesville’s third quarter efforts.
Noblesville gave it one last attempt at keeping the deficit under ten points and chip away, but with the speed and length of Hamilton Southeastern, it was a tougher task.
A bucket by Hines and a free throw from Ryan Barnes and the Millers cut it to 39-34, the closest they had been since 15-12.
From that point on, the Royals kept pouring it on. Southeastern went on an 8-0 run that extended their lead back to double-digits at 47-34, highlighted in the middle of it with a breakaway dunk from junior guard Noah Smith.
Satterfield knows that he can count on players like Smith and Etherington, but Grubbs was one player that stepped up when needed and was an X-factor at times.
“Well, I think that’s something special about this team. We’ve got different guys to step up on different nights and depending on the match up or what’s happening, we know if one guy’s not getting it done, we’ve got other guys who are ready to take on that challenge,” said Satterfield on his team’s willingness to step up, no matter who it is.
Hamilton Southeastern ended the game on a 15-8 scoring spree that would put the icing on the cake of this HCC win at Noblesville on Friday night, 62-45.
“Ultimately, we battled and had the ball with five minutes to go, down five with 5:48 to go, and unfortunately, we turned it over on that possession,” said McCauley on the Millers’ chances to comeback in the fourth.
The Millers (8-8, 2-1 HCC) lost their first conference game of the season and get stay in conference on Saturday night, as they head to Zionsville as the second game of the girls-boys doubleheader.
Noblesville was led in scoring by Xavier Hines and his game-high 20 points. Jaron Youree had 10 points on four field goals and Jordan Schmidt added nine.
Hamilton Southeastern (15-2, 4-0 HCC) won its fourth straight game and is now in sole possession of first place in the HCC with Zionsville defeating Brownsburg 68-51 on Friday.
The Royals were led by Aaron Etherington’s team-high 15 points. Nick Bowman was right behind him with 14, with Chaz Birchfield and Chris Grubbs each adding 10 for four from HSE in double figures.