After a forgettable 87-45 home loss to Princeton last week, North Harrison’s boys put up a good fight against highly-touted Winston, only trailing by 4 at halftime before finally falling by 21. But all of a sudden, they realized what they were capable of as a team and put together their most complete game of the year, a 73-42 win over Newtown-Harris to raise their record back over .500 again at 3-2.
It was a freshman, Brett Emig, who fueled them in the first four minutes of the game. While he did not lead the scoring, he put up four steals, three assists, and four boards in the first four minutes of the game as the Shamrocks raced out to a 14-3 lead at the 3:48 mark of the fourth. Much like the girls did, the boys fended off several Newtown-Harris attempts to rally before erupting again in the third quarter to put the game away.
It started on the first defensive series; North Harrison got a stop, Brett Emig got a defensive glass, and then pushed it up the floor to Collin Castleberry for the first points of the game. Andrew Garcia countered with a free throw for Newtown-Harris, but then Emig hit Steven Willhite for a triple on the left wing, got loose for another transition opportunity and free throw despite Newtown-Harris coach Ty Stillwell getting tangled up with one of his players and shoving him clear out to the middle of the floor in a futile effort to stop him, then jumped a pass to make it 8-1.
Ryan Metcalf broke the run briefly for the Tigers, but then Collin Castleberry got North Harrison started again with a drive. Then, four different Shamrocks got offensive boards on the next possession and Logan Craig converted the Shamrocks’ fifth chance to make it 12-3 and prompt an angry timeout from Tiger skipper Stillwell.
It didn’t work at first as Emig got loose again and went coast to coast and Logan Craig added a putback to make it 16-3. But then Newtown-Harris, battling back despite playing with just six players, started breaking North Harrison’s trapping defense and NaVontae Rainey, a human bulldozer who makes a living off driving Newtown-Harris’ unique baseline and the area behind the basket, got loose to make it 18-10 before Logan Huitt’s drive made it 20-10 after one.
North Harrison pushed it up to 16, only to see Newtown-Harris chip away again. Brett Emig got loose inside for a pass from Collin Castleberry and Logan Craig went coast to coast twice to make it 28-12 and the lead stayed there for a while before Rainey got loose a couple of times and Garcia hit a pair of free throws to make it 33-23.
But like the girls, the boys were able to finish the half strongly, starting with a four point swing at the 1:39 mark. Newtown-Harris had just gotten a stop and had a chance to get it under double digits and the momentum, when Steven Willhite got a tip and then a steal which he knocked down to make it 12 instead of 8. Logan Huitt added a drive; Garcia hit two free throws for Newtown-Harris, only for Huitt to knock one down from the high post and an unguarded Gavin Garrett to take one to the rack with 10 seconds left to kill Newtown-Harris’ momentum and put North Harrison up 41-25 at the half.
That seemed to open the floodgates for North Harrison, who started off with a baseline shot from Garrett. Emig threw a pass intended for someone else, but it caromed off a purple shirt right into the hands of Logan Craig, who was loose; then, Craig got a steal and threw to it Emig to make it 47-25, pushing the lead over 20.
Newtown-Harris tried to rally, getting a couple of stops, making good use of the unique playing area behind the basket, and getting a 3-pointer from Sam Rainey to make it 49-32, but then Logan Craig started putting on a clinic as Collin Castleberry hit him backdoor and he hit two free throws. Gavin Garrett hit him inside, then Brett Emig tipped one to himself for a steal and a layup. Emig got another tip and steal, missed, but got his own board to make it 57-32.
NaVontae Rainey bulldozed his way in for another basket and Newtown-Harris got a stop, but then Logan Craig blocked a shot, Logan Huitt got the board and pushed it up the floor, and Craig got the layup as the six-man Tiger squad began to wear down. Brett Emig got in on the act again, bouncing one through the Tiger defense to Grant Claycomb. Emig pushed another one ahead, this time to Logan Craig. Huitt tipped one to Logan Craig and got the ball back for a layup to make it 65-34 and push it over 30 for the first time before Tyler Marshall hit one from the baseline for Newtown-Harris to make it 65-36 after three.
Collin Castleberry drove and kicked one out to Willhite for a triple and Samuel Mejia got in on the act, banking a guarded three home from the left wing and cutting inside for a pass from Cruz Ury to give North Harrison its biggest lead of the night at 73-38.
North Harrison had three in double figures. Logan Craig, who had 12 in the third quarter, led the scoring with 22. Steven Willhite had 15 and Brett Emig had 13. Lane Huitt had 8, Samuel Mejia 5, Gavin Garrett and Collin Castleberry 4, and Grant Claycomb 2.
Logan Craig and Steven Willhite each had 1 block.
North Harrison killed Newtown-Harris on the boards, which accounted for much of their margin. They had 41 for the night. Logan Craig had 10, Brett Emig and Steven Willhite 9, Logan Huitt 4, Collin Briggs, Gavin Garrett, and Collin Castleberry 2 each, and Grant Claycomb, Hunter Parkhurst, and Cruz Ury 1 each.
Collin Castleberry had 6 assists, followed by Brett Emig with 5, Gavin Garrett had 2, and Steven Willhite, Logan Craig, Logan Huitt, Tyler Lundy, and Cruz Ury each had 1.
North Harrison had a lot more tips and steals against Newtown-Harris. Against Princeton, they had 8 tips; against Newtown-Harris, they tripled that number and had 24. Brett Emig had 7, followed by Logan Craig, Grant Claycomb, and Collin Castleberry with 3 each. Steven Willhite, Cruz Ury, and Tyler Lundy had 2 each, while Gavin Garrett and Collin Briggs had 1 each.
Against Princeton, North Harrison had 6 steals; against Newtown-Harris, they had 19. Brett Emig had 6 steals to lead the Shamrocks. Steven Willhite had 5, Collin Castleberry, Logan Craig, and Tyler Lundy had 2, and Gavin Garrett and Samuel Mejia each had 1.
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