WARSAW – The early-season schedule has not been kind to the Warsaw girls basketball team.

That trend continued for the youthful Tigers in their home opener Saturday night.

Noblesville, ranked No. 9 in Class 4-A, lived up to its lofty ranking in topping the Tigers 55-40.

The experienced Millers forced the hosts into 33 turnovers to improve to 6-1 on the season with their sixth straight win.

Warsaw, which dropped a tough 45-42 final Friday night at Class 3-A No. 6 Tippecanoe Valley, falls to 0-4.

Despite the slow start with a team that has no seniors this season, Warsaw coach Michelle Harter remains upbeat after seeing her team play its fourth game in the last eight days to start the season.

“I’m positive and upbeat about our team,” said Harter Saturday night. “I’ve seen tremendous strides from our girls so far. They are learning. We have a young team and it’s a process. Our schedule has not been easy and we knew that we might take some lumps early with a young team.

“The girls have great attitudes. They want to get better and you can see that they are. It’s just going to take some time.”

The Millers, who went 23-4 and lost in a regional final last season, took control with their aggressive, pressure defense. Warsaw was within 15-12 in the second quarter before Noblesville used a run to build a 28-12 advantage at intermission.

“We got rattled early on and then we settled down and did the things we needed to,” noted Harter. “But then we sped ourselves up and lost our heads for a little bit and they took advantage. Noblesville is a very solid team in every aspect. They are quick, aggressive and athletic.”

Warsaw did manage a couple of positives despite the loss. The Tigers cut down their turnovers to just 10 in the final half and held the high-scoring Millers to 20 points below their season scoring average. Noblesville was averaging 75 points-per-game after an 83-67 win over Brownsburg Friday night. The Millers’ lone loss was a 72-58 setback to Lawrence North in the season opener.

“I was very pleased with what we were able to do defensively tonight,” said Harter, whose team lost at undefeated Huntington North and at Fort Wayne Luers to open the season.

Junior Dayton Groninger, the top scorer on the season for the Tigers, led the offense for Warsaw with 12 points. She also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Junior Mariah Rivera finished with six points, while freshman Kacy Bragg and juniors Madi Graham and Kenzie Welk each scored five points for Warsaw, Sophomore Emma Bohnenkamper had four points and junior Page Desenberg three and seven rebounds.

Warsaw shot 16-39 overall from the field, including 2-9 on 3-point attempts, and was 6-7 from the free throw line.

Seniors Alexis Shannon and Katelyn O’Reilly, the top two scorers this season, led Noblesville with 17 points each in the win. Shannon entered the night averaging 20 pp.. and O’Reilly 18. O’Reilly led the rebounding effort with 13 caroms for the winners.

Noblesville shot 22-64 overall from the field, including just 3-19 on 3-point tries, and went 8-13 from the free throw line.

The Millers had just 14 turnovers in the contest.

Warsaw won the junior varsity contest by a 38-31 final in overtime. Kennedy Patton led the way for the JV Tigers with 16 points. Maddie Ryman and Morgan Bruner each had six points for the winners.

The schedule does not get any easier for Warsaw. The Tigers host Class 4-A No. 3 Penn Tuesday night. The Kingsmen improved to 5-0 Saturday night with a 54-36 win at Lake Central. Warsaw then hosts Whitko on Friday night. The Wildcats are 5-1 after suffering their first loss, a 54-37 decision to Huntington North Friday night.