North Harrison played their most complete game of the year as they downed an improving Newtown-Harris squad 58-28 Monday night. Despite the Tigers’ best efforts to stop her, Payton Craig filled up the stat line; she had 19 points, 7 boards, 10 assists, 10 tips, and 8 steals. Brandy Rivet erupted for 11 points in the third quarter as she also had 19 points for North Harrison. Emma Craig is turning into a third scoring option as she added 9 points and 8 boards after posting 16 against Winston Friday.
Craig started off the scoring by hitting Addie Slaughter inside, then Emma Craig cleaned up after a Payton steal. Craig swiped another one off North Harrison’s trapping defense and got it to Brandy Rivet before Newtown-Harris knew what hit them and they were down 6-0.
Gabrielle Nielson hit two free throws to make it 6-2, but then Payton Craig hit Olivia Babinski in the high post and she was fouled and hit a free throw. Craig then swiped an errant outlet and converted it into two free throws to make it 9-2. Tiger sharpshooter Nielson hit one in the high post, but then Brandy Rivet hit Craig for a 3-pointer and then Craig hit two more free throws off an Emma Craig steal and then got a 3-point play off a steal of her own to make it 17-4 with 3:16 left.
North Harrison couldn’t sustain that forever, and Newtown Harris started to chip away, getting their deficit to 17-8 behind two Lillian Fordyce baskets to end the first. Payton Craig got loose in the open court again, getting a free throw, hitting Emma Craig in transition, and getting a drive off a pass from Mason Cracraft to make it 22-8. But then Newtown-Harris started breaking North Harrison’s trap, chipping away again as Lillian Fordyce scored backdoor, Emily Otto hit from the baseline, and Nielson knocked down a long 3-pointer in transition to make it 22-15.
Mason Cracraft’s inside shot off a pass from Payton Craig and a free throw from Cracraft were the only points of the next few minutes as it was a battle of wills. Tiger skipper Ty Stillwell was whipping his troops into a frenzy, telling them they were just as good as the Shamrocks and that Craig was their whole offense. But all of a sudden, the floodgates opened in the last 52 seconds as Brandy Rivet skipped one to Payton Craig on the left wing. Emma Craig got a steal, missed the layup, but Payton had her back, stealing the outlet for a layup with 36 seconds left; then, Payton Craig threw a pass out of double coverage to Brandy Rivet at the top of the key with 20 seconds left to make it 32-15 at the half.
Rivet had been quiet for most of the first half, but she showed why she was such a deadly force in the third quarter, showing the ability to score in bunches. She erupted for 11 points in the period as North Harrison pulled away to a 26 point lead. First, Payton Craig hit Addie Slaughter in the high post after the Shamrocks won a loose ball scramble to start the quarter. Then, Rivet hit a 3-pointer on the top of the key. On the next possession, Rivet tipped one to Payton Craig, who later cleaned up on a missed shot to make it 39-15.
Nielson hit a 3-pointer to make it 39-18, but in general, North Harrison did a much better job of shutting her down as Emma Craig faceguarded her for much of the second half. Rivet, along with Olivia Babinski also took turns on her. Rivet got the Shamrocks going again as she drove into traffic and hit a runner, then Carly Rinehart hit her for a 3-pointer and Emma Craig grabbed a putback to make it 46-18.
Lillian Fordyce – no relation to Rainey – drove the right side for a layup; the area behind the basket and along the baseline is in play and the wall is out of bounds at Newtown-Harris, unlike most gyms, which threw the players off-guard for much of the night in both the boys’ and girls’ games. The unique rubber tile floor was not much of a factor Monday night, but the unusual out of bounds configuration was.
Nielson answered Rivet’s third 3-pointer with one of her own to end the third period with North Harrison leading 49-23 and Fordyce’s baseline shot made it 49-25, but Payton Craig hit Olivia Babinski cutting straight down the middle to fuel another Shamrock rally. Fordyce countered with another free throw, but Payton Craig hit Brandy Rivet on the left wing, and Mason Cracraft hit Emma Craig inside to give North Harrison its biggest lead of the night at 56-26 with 5:02 left, a lead they would match later with Kami Gibson’s free throw.
Payton Craig and Brandi Rivet shared scoring honors for North Harrison with 19 each. Emma Craig had 9, Addie Slaughter had 4, Olivia Babinski and Mason Cracraft had 3 each, and Kami Gibson had 1.
Kami Gibson had 1 blocked shot for the Shamrocks.
Emma Craig nearly posted a double double as she had 8 boards for North Harrison. Payton Craig had 7, Addie Slaughter 5, Olivia Babinski, Mason Cracraft, and Kami Gibson had 3, Brandy Rivet, Carly Rinehart, and Rainey Fordyce had 2 each, and Ashlynn Gilpatrick and Vici Stellpflug each had 1. Stellpflug is the third German exchange student who has gone to school in the area in the last two years; the other two were Isabel Metzger (North Nodaway) and Sophia Obermuller (Worth County), who were exchange students last year.
Payton Craig had 10 assists, as she was constantly drawing double teams from Newtown-Harris all night and constantly passing out of them and finding the open players. Brandy Rivet and Mason Cracraft had 3 each, Carly Rinehart had 2, and Emma Craig and Olivia Babinski had 1 each.
Payton Craig had 10 tips. Brandy Rivet had 6, Carly Rinehart 3, and Emma Craig, Mason Cracraft, and Addie Slaughter all had 2.
Payton Craig had 8 steals for the Shamrocks. Mason Cracraft had 3, Emma Craig 2, and Addie Slaughter and Kami Gibson had 1 each.
No comments:
Post a Comment