Young Shamrocks Swarm to Second Victory

The young North Harrison Shamrock girls junior high squad, with only two players who had played ball before, looked in for a long year at the start of the season. But they made strides after dropping a 38-6 loss to Mercer, well on its way to reload again in a few years after having won state last year. Finally, they picked up their first victory over Worth County last Monday and followed it up with a 25-7 win over East Harrison the next night.

It looked like a tight game would develop at first as the Bobcats came into the game with a skyscraper in Kennedie Baxter, who figured to cause problems. Deva Wallace drained one from the top of the key, only for Baxter to get loose to tie it up. But then Jayliegh Robins set the tone, coming out with frantic intensity in the first three minutes of the game, getting four tips in rapid succession at one point and wreaking general havoc on defense. There was a scary moment at the 3:02 of the first quarter as she went after a loose ball and crashed head first into the bulletin board and fell, stunned, to the floor. The game was held up for a minute, but then miraculously, she bounced up under her own power and ran off the floor into the locker on the other end to be looked at. Thankfully, she came back in at the start of the second quarter and played at full strength the rest of the game.

Meanwhile the rest of the Shamrocks rallied and pulled away. Camden Castleberry, quiet but no less deadly, tipped an errant pass to herself and scored, then hit Rainey Fordyce in transition. She then got a steal and skipped it to Deva Wallace to make it 8-2 after one.

North Harrison continued to gain separation in the second as Castleberry scored off another steal and Robins drove down the left baseline to score to make it 12-2 at the break. Robins scored off another drive after Castleberry got her the ball, then Wallace hit Castleberry on the right wing and Castleberry hit Fordyce in the high post to make it 18-5 after three.

The Shamrocks continued to pull away in the fourth. Trendi Johnson grabbed a putback and Deva Wallace added a steal and drive, while Rainey Fordyce kicked it out to Katelyn Briggs on the left wing and Fordyce kept a possession alive and Briggs hit Johnson in the high post.

The game was a total team effort for the young squad. All nine Shamrocks got tips, six players got 2 or more steals, seven different players got boards, and six different players scored. Four different players had assists.

Deva Wallace and Camden Castleberry had 6 each for the Shamrocks. Rainey Fordyce, Jayleigh Robins, and Trendi Johnson all had 4. Katelyn Briggs had 2.

Jayleigh Robins had 4 boards for the Shamrocks. Deva Wallace and Trendi Johnson had 3 each, Camden Castleberry had 2, and Katelyn Briggs, Amber Briggs, and Rainey Fordyce all had 1.

Camden Castleberry had six assists, making everyone around her better throughout the night. Rainey Fordyce, Katelyn Briggs, and Deva Wallace each had 1.

Camden Castleberry had 9 tips. Jayleigh Robins had 8, Halle Morgan had 6, Rainey Fordyce 5, Baily Briggs, Katelyn Briggs, and Amber Wilson 4 each, Trendi Johnson 3, and Deva Wallace 1.

Camden Castleberry had 5 steals for the Shamrocks. Jayleigh Robins had 3, and Deva Wallace, Halle Morgan, Katelyn Briggs, and Trendi Johnson each had 2.

Deva Wallace and Camden Castleberry each had 2 blocks, while Jayleigh Robins added 1.