By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – The Westfield girls basketball team stayed at the top of the Hoosier Crossroads Conference standings after a home win over Noblesville on Saturday, Dec. 20.
Wheeler
The Shamrocks beat the Millers 46-32 at CSI Gymnasium. Westfield broke away from Noblesville after a close first quarter, using some hot shooting from Ellie Wheeler and solid defense to win its seventh consecutive game.
Rocks coach Kelsey Steele said this was “probably one of our best all-around defensive games” this season.
“We talked about it beforehand, like we needed to make a stand on the defensive end tonight,” said Steele. “And I felt like out kids bought into that and we did, for the most part, what we talked about going into the game.”
The Millers led 9-8 after the first quarter, with Maia Blower scoring five points. Wheeler also had five points, including a 3-pointer.
Wheeler was just getting warmed up. She nailed two more triples in the second quarter and they were part of an 11-2 run for Westfield that put the Rocks ahead 19-11.
Blower stopped the spurt with a layin, then C.C. Quigley’s and-1 brought Noblesville within 19-16 by halftime.
Norah Vetor made a free throw to begin the third quarter and cut the Shamrocks’ lead to 19-17. But Westfield went on another run, scoring 13 consecutive points for a 32-17 lead. Gracie Czubik had four points in the run, which Wheeler finished with her fourth 3 of the game.
Czubik was also an important part of the Rocks’ defense; Steele said the team was using a “high-pressure” 2-3 zone in the second half.
“With just her energy and her athleticism up top, she makes things hard because she’s so quick and so athletic,” said Steele.
The Shamrocks led 34-19 going into the fourth quarter. Freshman Lillian Clark threw in a pair of triples to push Westfield ahead 40-20. Quigley had seven points in the fourth quarter, while Blower made two 3s.
Wheeler finished with 14 points and five assists, followed by Clark with 10 points and five rebounds despite being the focal point of Noblesville’s box-and-1 defense, something Steele said the Rocks expected to see during the season.
“And when that happens, obviously she has to continue to work hard, but you need other kids to make shots,” said Steele. “And Ellie Wheeler was that kid tonight and we’re proud of her effort. She also did a good job getting into the paint and helping create offense for others.”
Blower scored 15 points and had six steals, with Quigley adding 14 points. Aleah Magee and Blythe Walker led the rebounds with five each.
“We turned it over too much, but talked about cleaning that up and giving ourselves a chance in the second half and we just did not do that,” said Millers coach Donna Buckley. “We turned the ball over way too many times and couldn’t get into our offense.”
The Rocks are now 5-0 in the conference and share the HCC lead with Hamilton Southeastern. The two teams will meet on Jan. 16 at Westfield. Overall, the Shamrocks are 11-3 and play next week at the Interra Classic at Northridge.
Noblesville is 2-3 in the conference and 6-5 overall. The Millers host their own tournament on Saturday, playing Fort Wayne Snider at 10 a.m. for their first game.
