When North Harrison’s girls won 54-27 at Lamoni this year, it marked Coach Aaron Long’s 150th career win at North Harrison on the girls side. The Shamrocks finished the season this year with 23 wins, putting him at 168 career wins and 75 losses at North Harrison according to records on the North Harrison school website. He has coached for the Shamrocks since 2009-2010.
From the 1996-97 season to the 2009-2010 season, North Harrison had gone through a coaching carousel, with nobody staying on the job for more than two years. But when Long came on board, the Shamrocks showed a lot more fire on the floor, playing hardnosed physical ball and refusing to accept defeat until the final buzzer. The 2009-2010 season was North Harrison’s first winning season since the 2003-2004 season, when they went 24-3. They also got their first trophy since that time, getting consolation at the HDC Tournament.
Since then, North Harrison has had a winning season ever since. They have had some talented players come through, such as Payton and Haley Craig, Brandy Rivet, and Cooper Sadowski, among others. But under Long, North Harrison has had a steady supply of role players who do the kind of floor play and dirty work that is just as essential for winning games.
In 2011, North Harrison won its first tournament in seven years, winning at Gilman City. In 2013-14, they got their first 20-win season in 10 years and were runner-ups in districts. In the 2014-2015 season, Long became the winningest girls coach in school history and won his 100th game. And in 2015-16 and this year, they won 23 games. Overshadowed by Sierra Michaelis, Courtney Owens, Bailey Owens, and the Mercer Cardinals for the last several years, North Harrison finally got past Mercer along with other contenders East Harrison and Grundy County to win the HDC Conference Title this year.
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