North Harrison’s girls won the HDC Conference Title this year for just the second time in 40 years. But when Mercer knocked them off in the HDC Tournament in Eagleville, that opened the barn door for East Harrison to make history. They did so by holding off Mercer 47-45 to win the tournament. It was the first time ever that East Harrison’s girls had won a tournament as a cooperative, the first time ever that Ridgeway’s girls had won the HDC Tournament, and the first time since 1999 that Cainsville had won a tournament.
Ridgeway’s girls had come close in the HDC Tournament once before. In 1967, the Owls had won the regular season HDC Conference Title, only to be knocked off by Gilman City in the tournament.
This year has seen a lot of Cinderella teams on the rise this year on the girls side. North Harrison, overshadowed by Mercer the last few years, finally overcame them to win a conference title this year. They have lost only four games this year despite having the target on their backs since the second week of January.
Grundy County came within one point of the title in December against North Harrison in a game that turned out to decide the title. Stuck on one win in the 2011-2012 season, they have improved ever since and are in their best season in recent memory despite their disappointing finish at the HDC Tournament. They bring all but one of their players back next year and a large freshman contingent.
Osborn, despite their recent loss to NEN, is at nine wins, their best season since 2010-2011 and brings most of their players back.
Worth County, struggling to get out of the cellar since 2006-2007, has turned things around the last two years. They finally posted their first winning season since the 2005-2006 season last year, beating North Harrison in double overtime to do it in districts. They finished 11-3 after starting the year 4-10. As of Sunday, they were 15-7 with games with NEN and North Harrison on tap this week. They return everyone back next year and will be a team to beat.
And East Harrison has seen their fortunes change under new skipper and North Harrison grad Bill Pottorff, who had previously coached successfully at South Harrison. Last year, East Harrison went 11-13 after being stuck between 3-5 wins as a cooperative. They showed some promise in districts, losing to Worth County 50-42 after having lost to them by 68-39 earlier in the year. This year, with their win over Mercer, they also clinched their first winning season as a basketball cooperative. They are now at 13-9, with two more regular season games and then districts.
North Harrison has produced several different coaches over the years in addition to Pottorff. Don Edwards, who for many years coached both the Jefferson boys and girls, is on the 1,000 point club at North Harrison. He showed the same hell-bent approach and attention to detail that he had as a player. Josh Smith is currently Worth County’s girls junior high coach. Jerry Armstrong, one of the best players North Harrison ever produced, coached some strong King City boys teams in the 1980’s. His trademark was his glare and his frown as he looked ready to bite his players’ heads off if they slacked off in any way. He was instrumental in North Harrison’s 1961-62 state runner-up finish. Brandon Craig is currently the girls softball coach at North Harrison, and guided them to third in the state this year.
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