A First Look: Noblesville

Last night, I traveled to Noblesville to see the Millers take on Lawrence North in the opener for each team.  The game started off incredibly slow, as Noblesville plays a box-and-1 every night, hoping to wear down and frustrate opponents.  But in the second half, the Wildcats were able to apply a lot more pressure and leave with a 52-32 victory on opening night.  Now in her 11^th year at Noblesville and 19^th year overall, Coach Donna Buckley looks to keep Noblesville competitive on a tough schedule, using a nice combination of guards and wings who are fairly interchangeable.  The Millers also have a good mixture of Senior leadership and youthful experience.  Below, I’ve taken the time to highlight five Millers who stood out to me during my time at Noblesville.  They are back in action tomorrow, as they travel to the Northeast corner of the state to take on Fort Wayne’s R. Nelson Snider High School. <em>NOTE:  Seniors Mallory Johnson and Madison Whetro did not play last night</em> &nbsp; [caption id="attachment_15351" align="alignright" width="229"] <em>Senior Guard Maddie Knight</em>[/caption] <strong>Maddie Knight, 2019, 5-7 G</strong> Maddie was one of the Millers’ steadiest players a season ago, so it was no shock to me that she was solid as usual last night.  She is a fairly strong guard who can play just about any role.  She began the evening more off the ball, and she was looking to score it a little more, but as the night wore on, and Lawrence North pressured more, she was entrusted with taking care of it and running offense.  She is a nice one-directional athlete who can attack the basket, plus she’s a capable perimeter shooter.  She has already committed to play basketball at IU-Southeast next year. &nbsp; <strong>Anna Kiser, 2020, 5-11 F</strong> Anna definitely comes from a basketball family, as her sister Jessica played at Purdue Northwest, her brother John is playing at Valparaiso, and her other sister Emily is now a Freshman at Michigan.  Anna is a strong, tough-nosed, high-motor kid who seems like a teammate you want to play with.  She is always working, she does a lot of the little things, and she is very coachable.  She is probably still most comfortable in the mid-post or even around the low-block, but she has shown more and more ability to play facing the basket around the perimeter in recent months.  She will likely be leaned on a lot more heavily this season. &nbsp; [caption id="attachment_16808" align="alignleft" width="234"] <em>Junior Forward Anna Kiser</em>[/caption] <strong>Sarah Etchison, 2020, 5’10 F</strong> Sarah is a strong, physical, but fairly skillful inside-out forward.  Defensively, she will battle bigger players at times because of her strength, but offensively she has a solid handle, and she has a soft touch that extends to around the perimeter.  I think for the next level, I’d probably call her a highly skilled face-up ‘4’, but I think her versatility at the high school level affords Noblesville to use her in a variety of roles and positions.  She should draw her fair share of small college interest over the next two seasons. &nbsp; <strong>Emily Wood, 2021, 5-9 F</strong> This was my first time seeing Emily play, and she had a really solid outing.  Next to Maddie Knight (<em>above</em>), I thought Emily looked the most composed against Lawrence North’s pressure.  She showed good hands, solid athleticism in all directions, and she played with a quiet toughness and a good motor.  She began the game playing more around the paint, scoring easy baskets and grabbing a handful of rebounds.  As the game continued, though, she started to flash the ability to play some on the wing.  I think she has the potential to be a really nice inside-out forward because of her versatility. &nbsp; <strong>Mallory Miller, 2021, 5-6 G</strong> This was also my first time seeing Mallory, and I’m guessing she had the opportunity to start due to the two Seniors missing the game.  Mallory has solid athleticism, a wiry strong frame, and she plays with a good motor.  She showed some versatility handling the ball and running offense at times, but she was also able to play off the ball as well.  She’s a decent perimeter shooter, an active defender, and she has some tools that can definitely be developed for small college basketball in a couple of years.  I like her upside and am anxious to see her play again at some point. &nbsp; <em>Header photo of the Noblesville Athletics logo courtesy of the Noblesville Class of 1997 Facebook page.  Photo of Maddie Knight courtesy of hcsportsdaily.com.  Photo of Anna Kiser courtesy of her own Twitter Account.</em>