Hamilton Southeastern’s Abby Orme made two 3-pointers during the Royals’ win over Noblesville on Wednesday. (Richie Hall)
By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – The Hamilton Southeastern girls basketball team is the first to reach 3-0 in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference this season.
Noblesville’s C.C. Quigley had eight points and six rebounds. (Richie Hall)
The Royals reached that mark by beating county rival Noblesville 50-34 Wednesday in a home game. Southeastern cruised to a halftime lead, held off a Millers comeback attempt in the third quarter, then ran away with the game in the fourth period.
Noblesville briefly led in the first quarter before the Royals built an 11-5 lead by the end of the period. Kennedy Holman was already taking control with eight points, while Eevey Tolliver hit a 3-pointer.
The Millers’ Maia Blower nailed a triple to start the second quarter and Ally Hutchinson’s jump shot put Noblesville within 11-10. But Southeastern sprinted to halftime by making an 18-5 run and the Royals led 29-15 at the break.
Tolliver scored five points during that run, including another 3. She was one of four HSE players to make a 3-pointer in the quarter, along with Antonette Green, Abby Orme and Haylee Mezera.
Royals coach Brian Satterfield said that Tolliver had been splitting between varsity and junior varsity, “and this was the first game where we just had her going varsity only. She came in and provided a good spark for us there in that second quarter.”
Holman began the third quarter with an and-1 to give Southeastern its largest lead at 32-15. But it was all Noblesville for the remainder of the third, as the Millers used a 17-2 spurt to get within 34-32.
Norah Vetor, Ellie Motz and Blower all made a triple during the run, while C.C. Quigley added an and-1 of her own. Blower’s layin cut the Royals lead to two points, but Holman finished the quarter with a jumper and HSE led 36-32.
Quigley got the fourth quarter’s first basket, a layin to bring Noblesville within 36-34. But Southeastern would allow the Millers no more points, finishing the game on a 14-0 run. Holman scored seven points during the quarter, with Orme hitting a second 3 and Kayla Stidham finishing the scoring with a basket.
“They made their run, we responded,” said Satterfield. The coach credited his team with taking care of the basketball and “defensively, got back to what we were doing there for the first two quarters.”
Holman finished the game with a double-double of 24 points and 15 rebounds. Blower came close with 14 points and nine rebounds, also dishing out five assists. Quigley collected eight rebounds while Hutchinson pulled six.
“Our kids will show toughness,” said Noblesville coach Donna Buckley. “We got down to Carmel as well and fought our way back and had a chance. We had the lead in that game late. This is a young group that’s trying to find who we are. It’s coming together.”
Southeastern is 5-1 and travels to Evansville North this weekend to play two games, taking on Evansville Central Friday and Greensburg Saturday.
The Millers are 1-2 in conference play and 4-3 overall and hosts Crispus Attucks Saturday afternoon.
