Lions split with 4A Hamilton County schools
Feb. 7—ANDERSON — After Tuesday's lopsided 77-40 loss at home to Class 4A Noblesville, Liberty Christian boys basketball coach Norm Anderson told his players in the locker room to keep their heads up. There is a larger importance this game holds than a defeat on the schedule.
Especially when coupled with the team's last outing, a stunning upset win at 4A Westfield 10 days earlier.
"I go into every game thinking we can pull it out, and I went in thinking we could (win) against Noblesville," he said. "The team I saw tonight was not the same team I've seen the last couple weeks."
That the outcome against this Hamilton County school would be different was evident early on as the Millers sank the Lions with a first-half 3-point barrage.
Luke Almodovar gave Noblesville (14-5) its first lead, and Hunter Walston put the Millers out in front for good with early 3s at 3-2 and 6-4 respectively as Noblesville connected on 7-of-16 from beyond the arc in the first half.
A breakaway dunk by Almodovar and another three from Walston pushed Noblesville up by double figures for good at 24-13. A Walston layup to close out the half sent the Lions to the locker room 16 points down.
Things did not get better after the halftime talk.
Three straight Lions turnovers out of the locker room and three transition Noblesville baskets — including a second Almodovar dunk — pushed the lead to 47-25, prompting Anderson to call a timeout.
"I don't think we had a good week in practice," he said. "There was a lot of time off, and I could see the writing on the wall before this happened. Even then, as a coach, I'm taking the blame and not blaming the kids. Maybe there was something I could have done better."
Ethan Troutman — who led Liberty with 13 points — buried a 3-pointer of his own to pause the Millers' run, but Cooper Bean and Almodovar each connected again from long-range as a precursor to Aaron Fine's drive to close out the period to put Noblesville up 64-37 at the end of the third quarter.
The Millers opened the fourth quarter with 11 straight points, the first nine triggering the running clock rule as the lead swelled over 35 points. The only score of the fourth quarter for Liberty Christian (10-8) was a three-point play by 6-foot-7 senior Kobe Watson with under two minutes to play.
Also saddled with early foul trouble, that was Watson's lone field goal, and he finished with just five points and four rebounds.
"Kobe is a huge part of what we do, and he's a huge part of our program," Anderson said. "Having to sit him on the bench for much of the game, obviously that hurts us."
Cedric Anderson added eight points and led the Lions with six rebounds while Eric Troutman scored six points.
Almodovar led Noblesville with 22 points, Walston scored 18 points with seven rebounds and five assists, and Fine added 15 points.
Anderson and the Lions are keeping their eyes on the bigger picture.
"Playing against this tough competition — those guys from Noblesville are big, they were fast and they are strong — it only helps us. It doesn't hurt us," he said. "It prepares us for teams like Bethesda and on down the line."
The Lions will meet 1A third-ranked Bethesda Christian on Saturday in their Pioneer Academic Athletic Conference crossover game at 7:30 p.m. at The Den.
The LC junior varsity team was no match Tuesday evening, falling 72-21 to the Millers. Luke Woodyard led the Lions with five points, including a long 3-point basket at the end of the third quarter.
Contact Rob Hunt at rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.
