Insider: Jordyn Poole's return, Reagan Wilson's leadership, Norwell and 'the big dogs'

NOBLESVILLE — Noblesville played host to four of Indiana's premier girls high school basketball teams Thursday as part of its annual holiday tournament.

The host Millers captured the event championship, pulling away for a 65-56 win over Valparaiso in the opener, before fending off Class 4A No. 4 Fort Wayne Snider, 57-51, in the championship game. Iowa State commit Reagan Wilson was excellent in both games, pouring in a game-high 29 points in the opener, then logging a season-high 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting (four 3-pointers) in the finale. The Miss Basketball candidate was joined in double figures by Meredith Tippner in both games. The junior collected 20 points vs. Valparaiso, then logged 18, plus nine rebounds and five assists against Snider.

Snider's Purdue-bound senior Jordyn Poole, another Miss Basketball candidate, was held to 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting vs. the Millers, while teammate Kyra Parker tacked on 13 points. Poole finished with 22 points in the Panthers' semifinal against 3A No. 1 Norwell, while Ciara Sims tallied 12.

Norwell bounced back from its semifinal loss to Snider with a 62-55 triumph over Valparaiso in the third-place game. The Knights erased a six-point deficit over the final 4:19 with a 14-2 run. Kennedy Fuelling led the way with 32 points, with Makenzie Fuess adding 15 and Vanessa Rosswurm tallying 10.

Fuelling scored 22 points against Snider, while Fuess logged 12.

Senior Becca Gerdt led Valparaiso with 24 points against Noblesville, with Cadynce Clark and Lillian Barnes adding 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Poole (finally) back to 100% for FW Snider. 'It was a blessing in disguise'

Poole was on point, dazzling the crowd with her precision passing and knockdown shooting. The Purdue commit is as good as advertised (probably better, honestly) and considering the experience and skill surrounding her, the Panthers have a real good chance at building upon last year's regional championship run.

But only recently did Snider begin pulling things together, because it's only been a few games since its starting point guard felt like her normal self again.

Poole hyperextended her knee during an AAU practice over the summer. She suffered the injury in June and was not officially cleared until the first day of practices. The 5-7 point guard admits she "cheated" a couple times, which probably slowed her recovery a bit, but more daunting was the mental recovery.

Poole said the injury put "a little fear" in her mind, but once she started trusting in it, she began regaining strength and the confidence quickly followed. "It was a blessing in disguise," she continued. "It strengthened my mind a lot and that's something I've dealt with for a long time. My mindset and my confidence are way better."

The statistics have quickly followed. Poole is averaging around 20 points and five assists over her past five games, with a season-high 27 points last week vs. FW Bishop Luers.

Poole's floor vision is unbelievable, but more impressive than the direct assists is her ability to register the hockey assists (passes that indirectly lead to a basket). One that stood out from Thursday: Poole flung a no-look, over-the-head pass to Ciara Sims, who dribbled the baseline and passed off to Tia Phinezy for the easy basket.

"I don't even remember doing that," Poole laughed. "I just did it off instinct."

Wilson's leadership shines through for Noblesville. 'I was happy to see it pay off for her'

Wilson's stats speak for themselves. Her 29 points vs. Valparaiso were a season high and marked her sixth 20-point performance of the season. She enters the nightcap averaging over 16 points and three steals per game, with a shooting percentage right around 40%.

Make no mistake, the Iowa State commit's statistical contributions are (and will continue to be) integral to Noblesville's long-term success, but her role as a senior leader should not be overlooked.

Wilson's vocal presence as a floor general is well-documented. She's constantly talking up her teammates and directing traffic, responsibilities typical of a point guard. But this year's Millers don't have a lot of depth and lack experience at a few positions. Pair that with the fact they've played the most difficult schedule in the state, and it can be very difficult to build confidence and get everyone settled into their roles.

Enter No. 22.

Wilson has focused on bringing the younger players along and "empowering them," coach Donna Buckley said, pointing specifically to guard Ally Hutchinson. The 5-9 sophomore played junior varsity almost exclusively last season, and is now being called upon for varsity minutes against some of the best teams in the state. She had three points vs. Valpo, including a critical layup amidst a 7-0 run that put Noblesville in control in the second half. Another newcomer of note: Brookelyn Grayson, who was solid as she helped fill in for injured senior Ava Shoemaker.

"Reagan's done a great job of bringing those kids along and not letting them get lost, because it would be very easy to do that or not even trust them," Buckley said. "She's been great and I was happy to see that pay off for her today."

Norwell has played with the 'big dogs,' but that doesn't make the losses any easier to take

Norwell's 15-point loss to Snider was its most lopsided loss of the season, an impressive stat considering the three other losses: 4A Northridge (54-53), 4A Homestead (56-52) and 4A Lawrence North (57-55 in the final second). And honestly, the Snider game wasn't quite as lopsided as the 65-50 final. It was a nine-point game at half and the Knights had multiple opportunities to bring the margin under 10 in the third quarter with a chance to make it an eight-point game late in the frame. But they struggled to pair stops with buckets and didn't have the athleticism to keep pace with the 4A power from Fort Wayne.

They attack in waves, Norwell coach Eric Thornton said. "That pressure was just too much to overcome."

Unable to match Snider's shooters in man-to-man, Norwell opted for a 1-3-1 with a focus on keeping everything in front of them and on being as disruptive as possible. There were times when they managed to steal a pass or force a tough shot, Thornton observed, but Snider's skill proved overwhelming. "It's not just their athleticism."

"We've played a lot of really good teams on our schedule and (Snider is) the best team we've seen so far," continued Thornton, whose team handed then-No. 1 Columbia City its first loss earlier this month.

There were silver linings to Norwell's performance Thursday and a lot of value in those close losses (not to mention the wins over Warsaw, FW Northrop and Columbia City). And while Thornton was pleased with his team's effort, a close 4A loss is still a loss.

"We're playing the big dogs right now and we're not afraid to do that, but that doesn't mean it's easy," he said. "It's tough because they want to win. It's not a loss where you give yourself an excuse: 'Well, we lost to these guys because they're 4A and we're 3A.' When they step on the floor, they believe they're good enough to win. And that's hard to go through initially."

Norwell could have scheduled lesser opponents over Christmas break to feel good about themselves and not improved as a basketball team, Thornton continued. But with everyone back from last year's regional runner-up (including Junior Indiana All-Star Kennedy Fuelling), plus a few additions from an undefeated JV team, he opted to go in the opposite direction and built what currently ranks as the toughest schedule in 3A.

Asked how he's kept team morale up amidst the losses, the long-time coach said he's reminded them of the big picture. It may not feel like it at the moment, but they're still a really good team. But they have to play 32 minutes against teams like Snider and Lawrence North. "That's a good lesson for us to learn along the way, and the only way to learn that is by going through this ringer that we're going through," Thornton said.

"This is what we decided we needed to do and we really believe in this team and they can get it done."

More to come on Valparaiso

It's been a tough three-game stretch for Valparaiso, which squandered a nine-point halftime lead en route to a 49-48 loss to Penn on Dec. 23, then dropped both games Thursday. It was competitive against Noblesville, but was ultimately doomed by a 7-0 run after cutting the margin to five; then fell to Norwell in the finale.

Two tough losses, and there are a few massive tests yet to go in January with Lawrence North (Jan. 3), at Twin Lakes (Jan. 16) and at Lake Central (Jan. 19).

However, the Vikings are the favorite in their sectional (Chesterton and Crown Point are probably the top competitors) and they should only continue to improve as senior Becca Gerdt (coming off a knee injury) and sophomore Lillian Barnes (returning from a back injury and running point for the first time) continue settling in, and the younger players behind them continue to develop.

"We're just starting to get our chemistry together," coach Candy Wilson said. "We just got our team together in November, really, and we're getting some younger kids mixing with the older kids. Freshman Delilah Kincaid came off the bench and gave us some really good minutes (against Noblesville). We have to get the pieces where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there and (clean up) the little things."

"Hopefully (the schedule) helps us at the end of the season," Wilson continued. "That's the ultimate goal. The things we need to work on are very fixable and they're going to come."

I'll have more on Gerdt and Barnes next week.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana girls basketball: Noblesville holiday tournament wrap-up