Maya Makalusky's 30 points fuel HSE victory. 'She's as good as anyone in the state'

FISHERS — No. 4 Hamilton Southeastern held on for a 71-69 win over sectional rival Noblesville on Wednesday night in Fishers.

It was an impressive performance by the Royals (8-1), who bounced back from their first loss of the season by shooting 52% and knocking off the 14th-ranked Millers (4-4) for the second straight season.

As for the Millers, there were some positives to be gleaned from their third consecutive loss, wherein they shot 53% as a team and rallied from a double-digit deficit late in the fourth.

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Here are five takeaways from the night's proceedings.

Maya Makalusky. That's it. That's the takeaway.

My goodness: 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting (6-for-10 from 3), five rebounds, an assist and one turnover.

The Indiana commit was on fire (again) and probably would've finished closer to 40 points if not for her fourth foul at the 1:45 mark of the third quarter (returned mid-fourth quarter).

Makalusky, who had 29 in Saturday's loss to Columbia City, accounted for 20 of her points over the first 16 minutes, this despite Noblesville contesting virtually every one of her shots.

One that stands out in particular: HSE grabbed an offensive rebound and swung it out to Makalusky on the wing. The 6-4 junior quickly gathered herself and drilled the 3-pointer over the out-stretched arm of the 5-10 Meredith Tippner.

It was unbelievable.

Makalusky is unbelievable.

HSE coach Brian Satterfield noted his star's improvement from year-to-year, praising the strides she's made on both ends of the floor.

"Makalusky is going to get 30 no matter what you do," Noblesville coach Donna Buckley said.  "We boxed-and-1 against her and she still hit some really, really tough shots. … She's as good as anyone in the state. I mean, that kid's really come a long way. I remember seeing her for the first time and thinking 'Sydney Parrish.' She's just really good."

Noblesville doomed by poor free throw shooting

The Millers went 8-for-17 at the line in a game decided by two points.

It allowed HSE to build a 10-point in the first half, then severely undermined the visitor's comeback efforts in the second. It got to the point in the second half when it felt like HSE was better served sending its opponent to the line rather than allowing it to register a field goal attempt.

"We just have not shot free throws well as a team all year," said Buckley, whose team was shooting 61% through seven games. "It's something we have to do a better job of. I mean, my goodness, if we make some free throws in three of the four losses, and those are wins."

Stidham & Holman

Satterfield noticed early in the third quarter that sophomore Kayla Stidham was getting down on herself following a rugged first half. "She wasn't quite there," he said. So he pulled her out, had a quick talk with her and subbed her back in.

The 6-0 forward bounced back quite nicely, scoring eight points over the final few minutes of the third quarter (most came with Makalusky on the bench), then tacking on four more points in the fourth with a free throw and a triple from the corner that made it a 10-point game with 2:07 remaining. "She was a big spark for us," Satterfield said.

"I've always had the mindset to just keep shooting," Stidham added. "Even though they weren't falling early, I knew they would eventually."

Stidham found her game late; Kennedy Holman — the Royals' other sophomore standout — shined throughout, registering a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists.

The 5-8 point guard helped the Royals reclaim full control midway through the fourth, following a jumper and a triple by Makalusky with a layup to make it a 10-point game with 4:52 left.

Defensively, Holman blanketed Noblesville point guard Reagan Wilson throughout the night, forcing a five-second violation and registering a few deflections late.

"Kennedy just does it all for us," Satterfield said. "I've seen her play since the third grade. She's all over the place defensively, just hounding people. You're trying to disrupt people, and she's the main reason why we can do that to certain teams.

HSE scoring depth

One more tidbit on HSE: It found scoring beyond its big-3. Addison Van Hoesen had eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, plus three rebounds and a block; Antonette Greene went 2-for-2 from 3; and Kayla Brinley chipped in four points.

That's a total of 18 points between the three of them.

Quigley (and Tippner) inside

Good things happened when Noblesville got the ball inside, whether it was finding CC Quigley in the post or allowing Tippner to attack the basket.

Quigley, a 6-2 sophomore, was particularly noticeable, registering 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting with an assist, three blocks and four rebounds. She was posting up on the block, and converting when given the opportunity.

"CC was great," Buckley said. "We have to keep getting her the ball, because she's shot extremely well from everywhere on the floor (and) she did an awesome job finishing around the rim tonight."

Tippner, who was shadowed by Makalusky through most of the first three quarters (they switched her off when Makalusky ran into foul trouble), scored a team-high 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field. She's like a bull in a china shop when it comes to attacking the basket, and her aggressiveness helped land Makalusky in foul trouble.

Couple others to spotlight from Noblesville…

Ava Shoemaker hit a series of massive 3-pointers, finishing 5-for-7 from behind the arc for 17 points.

Reagan Wilson stepped up in crunch time, marching Noblesville back into contention late in the fourth quarter with 10 points and a few big plays defensively. She also notched five assists, four rebounds and a steal.

Up next

Hamilton Southeastern at Pendleton Heights on Dec. 5.

Noblesville vs. Fort Wayne Northrop on Saturday.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA girls basketball: What we learned from HSE's win vs. Noblesville