Noblesville’s Baron Walker, Adam Fine, and Justin Curry are three of the senior leaders on this year’s boys basketball team. (Quinn Matthews)
By QUINN MATTHEWS
quinn@readthereporter.com
The Noblesville boys basketball team finished last season with an impressive 19-6 record. The team showed improvement throughout the year and made a strong postseason run, but they fell to Fishers in the sectional championship by only nine points.
“It was obviously disappointing when you get that close, but to win 19 games again, I’m certainly proud of our efforts,” said Noblesville head coach Scott McClelland. “I thought our kids gave great effort. We had good opportunities, but credit Fishers, they made a couple big plays at key times.”
The Millers are entering this season with a fresh mindset and are also bringing back some key players that made them such a strong team last year. Justin Curry and Baron Walker, who were Junior All-Stars last year, return as varsity starters for their senior year, joined with experienced seniors Adam Fine and Max Flanagan. With so much offensive talent on the roster, the team is placing extra emphasis on strengthening its defense.
“We lost five seniors last year, and I think the loss of Aidan Brewer is going to be significant. He was kind of the backbone of our defense and now we are replacing him with inexperienced and younger players to try to fill his place,” said McClelland.
While some younger players lack the experience of playing on a fast-paced varsity team, juniors Luke Fogg and Cooper Smits and sophomores Bear Rucker and Evan Magsamen are ready to contribute. With guidance from both their coaches and older teammates, they are expected to adapt quickly into the roles they have been given.
“Last year the seniors really led the whole team. I feel like I stepped into a big leadership role along with the other seniors to lead our underclassmen,” said Curry.
This leadership and teamwork in an effort to rebuild their defense and further strengthen their offense has instilled a strong chemistry throughout the players that is just as impressive as their play on the court.
“The culture of our program is just second to none. We just have really great guys that are good to each other, care about one another, and ultimately want the best for the basketball program,” said McClelland.
These athletes are ready to give this season everything they’ve got, and they have already shown that through their hard work and dedication in preseason practice.
“Our last few weeks of preseason were really geared towards getting in shape, which our guys did a really good job with. And it wasn’t always easy, we kicked them pretty hard there for a few weeks,” said McClelland.
With strong preseason progress, the team is well-positioned to continue improving as the season moves forward.
“We’re in a really good spot with our guys and we’re just trying to take a little different mindset to see if we can go compete again this year and put ourselves in a position to try to win a sectional,” said McClelland.
Even while focusing on one small step at a time, the team’s aspirations extend far beyond simply winning a sectional title.
“Our big goal is to win state. There’s no doubt about that,” said Curry.
