Miller’s season comes to an end against No. 4 Lady Royals

WESTFIELD – The Noblesville Lady Millers earned a bye in the class 4A Sectional 8 Tournament. With that bye they only needed one win to advance to the sectional championship game on Saturday night at Westfield High School. In order to do that however, they’d need to get past the defending state champion Lady Royals of Hamilton Southeastern. That task proved to be too much for the Lady Millers to handle on the night as they were defeated 59-42 and saw their season come to an end.

The Millers got off to a good start in the first quarter as they got off to a 12-7 lead over the Royals after the first quarter. However the next two quarter would see their five point lead turn into a double-digit deficit as the Millers scored just ten total points in the second and third quarters while the Lady Royals scored 33. In the fourth the Lady Millers found their offensive rhythm once again as they poured in 20 points in the final quarter, but HSE added in 19 of their own to allow them to cruise to a birth in the sectional championship game.

ARCADIA – The Hamilton Heights Huskies hosted the Frankton Eagles on Tuesday night. In what would be a wild game all-around the Huskies ended falling in overtime to the Eagles by a final score of 64-56. 

Both teams battled back and forth in the first quarter, but the Huskies were able to hold a 14-11 lead after one. Then in the second quarter, the Husky offense led by Junior Gus Etchison started to catch fire. A 22-12 quarter saw Hamilton Heights take a 36-23 lead at the half. In the second half, the Huskies offense just went cold as they combined to score just 20 points the next two quarters and in overtime (nine in the third, six in the fourth, and five in OT). 

Rocks fall to Cougars in OT

GREEENFIELD – The Westfield boys’ basketball team was back in action on Saturday night as they traveled to take on the Greenfield Central Cougars. Overtime was needed to decide a winner in this one unfortunately for the Rocks, the overtime period did not go their way as they fell 55-51. 

In the first quarter the Rocks came out and took a 16-7 lead. They were able to add one more point on to their lead at halftime as they led the Cougars 26-16. Then the Cougars made some adjustments at halftime and were able to rally back in the third, outscoring the Rocks 19-7 to turn a ten point deficit into a two point lead heading into the final quarter. 

In the final quarter the Rocks found the groove once again and were able to tie up the game at 46-46 with a 13-11 fourth quarter. However the Cougars did just enough in the overtime period with a 9-5 advantage to take home the victory. 

Along with the extra overtime period, there were 49 total fouls called between both teams with five players also fouling out. 

Nic Depasquale led the Rocks with 16 points in the overtime loss. The Rocks record now stands at 10-5 (3-2 HCC) and the team will have the week off before traveling to Kokomo on Saturday to compete against Fishers (13-5) at the legendary Kokomo Memorial Gym as part of Fox Sports annual Basketball Day in Indiana. 

Ashlynn Shade, Noblesville’s super freshman who leads the Lady Millers with a 20.3 scoring average and placed third in Hoosier Crossroads Conference scoring, will get her first taste of intense tournament pressure in tonight’s semifinal round of Sectional 8 at Westfield High School.

And there’s a pretty good chance that she’ll likely handle her part of the challenge quite well.

This is a new season. Noblesville’s 10-12 record, worst in the field, means very little.

Time to hit on all cylinders and produce a cohesive team effort. 

That’s what really matters at tourney time.

Each surviving team has at least one go-to player when times are tough.

Shade will likely need to be that player once again for the Lady Millers.

No matter the outcome of Sectional 8 this week, here’s a couple of strong possibilities for the near future in Indiana high school girls basketball:

Whichever team advances from Westfield will likely need to get past both Class 4A No. 1 Northwestern (23-0) and then No. 4 Homestead (22-1) to reach the semi-state round.

No easy task . . . indeed!

Northwestern, the two-time defending 3A state champion, was forced to move up a level under the IHSAA Tournament Success Factor.

And the Lady Tigers have yet to face a stern test in 4A. Their closest game so far was a 61-58 encounter against Maine West (Ill.).

Their closest game against an Indiana Team was a 65-51 conquest of North Central.

Yeah, they are that good! Ask anyone!

There’s nothing like the drama of a last-second shot in high school basketball.

There’s nothing like the feeling you get when the ball zips through the net.

There’s nothing like that ecstatic feeling and expressing overwhelming joy and excitement . . . or the feeling you have when a loss can feel like a dagger to the heart.

There’s nothing like your reaction whether you are a player on the court or a fan in the stands, on the winning or losing side of the floor. 

You’re either going to walk away happy or sad. Wiping tears from your eyes or pumping your fist in the air while celebrating.

That’s what this time of year is all about: It’s a one-and-done tournament. You’re either all in or all out . . . No second chances.

The 2020 IHSAA girls basketball tournament is upon us . . .  just days away!

The 45th Annual event starts with sectionals next week (Feb. 4-8).

A few questions come to mind right off the bat:

Are the Hamilton Southeastern Lady Royals, the 2019 Class 4A state champions, destined to repeat?

First things first, what are the odds they can get out of a tough sectional that’s always extremely competitive?

The Lady Royals have the most decorated and explosive player in the Sectional 8 field in 2019 Indiana Gatorade Female Player of the Year Sydney Parrish, whose 26.1 scoring average ranks second in the state. I would say that’s a pretty good sign for starters. 

Some thoughts, opinions and other notables:

I watched Friday night’s tape-delayed Hamilton Heights-Lapel game on the TV 40 sports channel.

I’ve been hearing a lot about Husky junior Gus Etchison, and it marked the first time I’ve seen him in action.

I liked what I saw. He was terrific.

The kid has GAME. He can really play. He had 34 points in a 21-point victory. Etchison did pretty much everything but sell popcorn. Very impressive player, indeed.

And watching him reminded me a great deal of 1970 Carmel Indiana Mr. Basketball David Shepherd, who scored 66 points in a game his senior year.

Gus has already delivered a 56-point performance this season. 

Etchison is a 6-foot guard like Shepherd. He’s built like the Greyhound great and he also has black hair, and he plays with much the same flare. He’s quick, pushes the ball relentlessly, can shoot from far-away places, looks for the open man, and made a couple of “oh-wow-did-he-really-do that passes!’’ and he has tremendous upper body strength.

Etchison also had two break-away dunks. Not sure I ever saw Shepherd dunk.

The Husky spit-fire is averaging 25.9 points per game, seventh best in the state. He averages 5.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.2 blocks. He shoots 59 percent on 2s and 37 percent on 3s, as well as 75 percent from the foul line.