North Harrison’s junior high boys were outsized and outmanned on paper by their archrivals last Tuesday, but they took the Bobcats to overtime despite the presence of two skyscrapers in Mark Willis and Jacob Harding on the Bobcat squad.
It looked like the Bobcats would run away with the game early as they scored the first six points in transition in the first 3:15 of the game. But all of a sudden, North Harrison realized they could play basketball with them. They put together a gutsy performance, had several chances to win, and came up just short in a game that required an extra period to play.
Sparkplug Wade Briggs scored on the left baseline to put North Harrison on the board and later hit a triple to make it 8-5 after one. All of a sudden, the Shamrocks were swarming to the ball, getting a ton of tips, steals, and rebounds. Briggs hit another triple to make it 10-8 before free throws from Jacoby Roberts and Harding made it 13-8 at the break for East Harrison.
All of a sudden, North Harrison’s smaller players were crashing the offensive glass against their bigger counterparts, chipping away at the lead. Briggs jumped a pass and went to the rack for a 3-point play to put North Harrison up for the first time at 15-13 with 4:36 left. Cruz Ury got a putback to put the Shamrocks up again 17-15 with 3:00 before Trace Gibson banked one home and Willis got loose underneath to put East Harrison back up 20-17 before Ury’s putback made it 20-19 after three.
The game went back and forth in the fourth, with both sides having a chance to win. First, Briggs hit from the left wing to put North Harrison in front again 21-20. But then Jacoby Roberts banked home a free throw and Willis got loose in transition to put the Bobcats in front again 23-21.
The teams continued to trade leads as Cooper Cracraft hit a free throw and Ury got a putback to make it 24-23 North Harrison with 4:02, but Willis cleaned up off a Roberts miss to put East Harrison back up 25-24. North Harrison missed a 1-1, but Brandon Hamilton blocked one for the Shamrocks on the other hand, causing a tieup and the ball going back to East Harrison. Hunter Parkhurst came away with a steal and got it ahead to Briggs, who was leveled by Roberts but converted a 3-point play to make it 27-25.
A questionable foul call followed, as an official who was 50 feet away from the action called a foul on Cruz Ury, and Harding’s free throw made it 27-26. But it looked like North Harrison would start to take control anyway following Ury’s shot from the high post to make it 29-26.
North Harrison had a chance to make it two possessions, but turned it over twice as Willis hit a free throw and Harding scored off a lob to tie it at 29 with 1:36 left. Hunter Parkhurst’s triple was in and out, but Willis missed a runner, allowing North Harrison to run it down to 2.3 seconds left. But then Briggs’ triple hit the overhead support; he got a steal on the ensuing possession, but didn’t have time to get off a shot.
North Harrison and East Harrison traded misses, but Harding stripped a Shamrock rebounder and hit a free throw to make it 30-29. Hunter Parkhurst scored his first points of the game, going coast to coast to put North Harrison back in front 31-30, but the Shamrocks missed a shot that would have put them up three and Willis’ drive off Harding’s pick made it 32-31.
North Harrison had three chances in the last minute to take a lead, but Nick Babinski missed off a Briggs kickout, Briggs missed a 3-pointer, and Ury missed a 1-1 before Willis hit a free throw with 8.8 seconds left to make it 33-31 East Harrison. The Shamrocks had one last chance going the length of the floor, but Willis stripped Briggs at the end.
Wade Briggs led the scoring with 18 points for the Shamrocks. Cruz Ury had 10, Hunter Parkhurst 2, and Cooper Cracraft 1.
Ury had a double double as he had 15 boards for the Shamrocks. Brandon Hamilton and Hunter Parkhurst had 9, Nick Babinski 7, Wade Briggs 5, and Tyson Gibson and Cooper Cracraft 1 each.
Wade Briggs had 10 tips for the Shamrocks. Hunter Parkhurst had 9, Cruz Ury 6, Nick Babinski and Cooper Cracraft 2, and Cole Kampman 1.
Wade Briggs had 11 steals for the Shamrocks. Hunter Parkhurst had 9, Brandon Hamilton 2, and Cruz Ury 1. Hunter Parkhurst had 3 assists, while Nick Babinski and Cooper Cracraft had 1. Cruz Ury and Brandon Hamilton each had 1 block.
No comments:
Post a Comment