Noblesville Holiday Tournament: Day 2

Wednesday and Thursday brought the annual Noblesville Holiday Tournament with teams from across Indiana coming to Hamilton County. Indiana Basketball Source was there both days to catch all the action.

The second day started off with the two semifinal games. In the first semifinal, Noblesville rode the back of junior wing Xavier Hines, who scored 22 on 6/9 shooting from three, to pull away from Broad Ripple and win by eight. Junior Zack Johnson added 14 and senior forward Ryan Barnes chipped in with 11 points and 7 rebounds. Broad Ripple was led by Caleb Brown’s 17 points and 7 boards, while Wyatt Gordon scored 13.

In the other semifinal match-up, the MIC rivals battled it out. Pike didn’t give an inch to the 6-0 Warren Central Warriors. Hunter White took the ball to the paint on a consistent basis, especially early in the second half. Jesse Bingham set the tone for Warren Central by scoring in the paint, attacking rebounds and blocking shots. Warren Central seemed to be in control of the game until senior Steve Miller dunks on four consecutive possessions for Pike. Warren only held a 37-34 lead after three quarters. Despite Brandon Vernon getting hot late for Pike, Warren Central had too much firepower. Jakobie Robinson, David Bell and Antwaan Cushingberry all had major parts in the win. Turnovers and offensive rebounding ended up giving Warren Central the 54-46 victory.

Thursday night’s championship saw the host Noblesville Millers face off against 4A #4 and undefeated Warren Central. The Warriors were without starting guard Dean Tate due to a football obligation, but that did not faze the rest of the Warren Central roster. They hit their first six field goal attempts at gaining a lead that they would never relinquish on their way to an easy victory over the Millers. Warren exercised great patience in trying to solve the 2-3 zone employed by Noblesville. Jesse Bingham made the middle of the lane his office, setting up shop and scoring on multiple midrange jumpers and mixing in a couple of drives to the hoop. Bingham would lead Warren Central with 19 points in the game on the way to being named Tournament MVP. David Bell and Jakobie Robinson filled the stat sheet to keep the Warriors unbeaten heading into 2018.

Noblesville         10    7   9  11  -  37

Warren Central  13  14  11  13  -  51

Noblesville: Ryan Barnes 12 points (6/7 FGs); Xavier Hines 7 points (3/9 FGs, 1/4 3Ps); Zack Johnson 7 points (2/5 FGs, 3/4 FTs); Jordan Schmidt 7 points; Eagan Keever-Hill 4 points (2/3 FGs)

Warren Central: Jesse Bingham 19 points (9/12 FGs), 4 rbs, 3 asts; Joe Rush 9 points; David Bell 8 points (4/6 FGs), 4 rbs, 6 asts, 2 stls; Jakobie Robinson 5 points (2/4 FGs), 9 rebs, 7 asts; Shawn Beeler 5 points; Antwaan Cushingberry 3 points (1/3 3Ps)

In the 7th place game, Columbus North demolished Lighthouse East by a final of 113-57. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 30-9 lead after a quarter and were never threatened. Senior guard Bailey Hester led Columbus North with 26 points.

In the third place contest, Pike used a hot shooting start to gain an advantage and gradually pull away from Broad Ripple. Brandon Vernon scored all 11 of his points in the first quarter as Pike made their first four three-point attempts. Athletic forward Steve Miller would lead the Red Devils with 13 points and 8 rebounds to go along with two massive blocks. Broad Ripple struggled from behind the arc, going just 3/18 from deep. Caleb Brown had 15 points and 6 boards for the Rockets.

Broad Ripple   10  12    9  10  -  41

Pike                  24  11  16  16  -  67

Broad Ripple: Caleb Brown 15 points (6/11 FGs, 3/5 FTs), 6 rbs, 2 blks; Xavier White 11 points (4/19 FGs, 1/11 3Ps, 2/5 FTs); Amil-Lion Wilburn 7 points; Wyat Gordon 3 points (1/3 3Ps), Cameron Hicks 3 points, Matthew Henderson 2 points (1/6 FGs), 7 rbs

Pike: Steve Miller 13 points (5/6 FGs, 3/3 FTs), 8 rbs, 2 blks; Brandon Vernon 11 points (4/11 FGs, 3/8 3Ps); Hunter White 8 points (4/6 FGs); Chris Robinson 8 points; Ditwan Gary 7 points (3/4 FGs), 3 asts; Caleb Redman 6 points; Darian Porch 5 points; Ahmoni Jones 4 points; Michael Jerrell 3 points

Chesterton vs. Crown Point

Chesterton ended the game on a 17-0 run to defeat DAC rival Crown Point in the Noblesville Holiday Tournament. After leading 18-11 at halftime, Chesterton found itself down 40-30 with a couple minutes left in the game. Crown Point had built the lead behind Elias Gerodemos, Sam Decker and Matt Hanlon. Chesterton extended its pressure late and Crown Point did not handle it well. The turnovers were quickly converted into points by Chesterton and mostly Jake Wadding. The sophomore took the ball to the basket with aggression late in the game and it paid off. Chesterton won 47-40.

Jake Wadding tallied 18 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, three blocks and three assists in the win. Ky Palombizo and Jack Eaton added seven points each. Elias Gerodemos finished with 18 points.