North Harrison’s junior high boys got off to a promising start against a red-hot Grundy County squad, leading them by as much as nine in the first half. However, they faded in the second half and fell 32-26 to the Panthers Friday night.
Grundy County finished with a 10-4 mark, winning their last six games. North Harrison goes into their home basketball tournament starting November 26th with a 3-9 mark. This includes six games that they lost by fewer than ten points.
The Shamrocks started off the year by dropping their first four games. They fell in overtime, 13-10 to Mercer. They lost 26-12 to South Harrison, then nearly knocked off Pattonsburg before falling 28-24; they fell to Worth County 27-18. They finally got their first win against archrival East Harrison, 17-12 before losing a 27-25 heartbreaker to Princeton. They fell hard 40-22 to Grundy to start the Mercer Tournament before coming alive in the other two games by beating Pleasant View 44-13 and avenging their season-opening loss with a 23-16 win over Mercer. They lost narrowly to Albany 25-20 and Gilman 36-24 before Friday’s game.
Against Grundy, North Harrison played their best two quarters of the year in building up an 18-9 lead at one point. They faceguarded Grundy’s best player, Corbin Axtell, only a seventh grader, and held him to four in the first half. In the meantime, they found success with Kamden Robertson hitting Nick Babinski inside as they built up a 9-7 lead after one.
Robertson started the scoring in the second quarter by getting a basket off a Tyson Gibson tip. He had the hot hand with eight points in the period, getting a putback, a steal, and two free throws. Cole Kampman added one as the Shamrocks led 18-9 at one point.
But right before half, Logan Foster hit an NBA three, which jumpstarted the Panthers as they trailed 18-12 at the half. That sparked them in the third quarter as they rallied to tie it at 18. Babinski’s drive made it 22-18 again, but then Grundy started pressuring the outlets and North Harrison started panicking, throwing the ball to people with their backs turned and giving up too many offensive boards. Like sharks in the water smelling blood, the Grundy County fans went into a rabid frenzy as their players were getting steals and fast breaks, beating North Harrison up and down the court. For the game, North Harrison turned it over 26 times and gave up 14 offensive boards.
The Shamrocks went into a 6½ minute scoring drought, finally breaking it when Robertson’s inside shot cut Grundy’s lead to 26-24 with 3:56 left. But then Axtell’s reverse layup following an offensive board sent the sharks into a blood frenzy again, and more fast break looks and steals followed. By the time the dust settled, the Panthers were up 32-24 before Babinski scored off a drive to break the run with one minute left, too late to affect the outcome.
Kamden Robertson had 12 points for North Harrison. Nick Babinski had 8, Cole Kampman had 5, and Tyson Gibson had 1.
Nick Babinski blocked three shots for the Shamrocks.
Nick Babinski had 12 boards for North Harrison. Kamden Robertson had 8, Cole Kampman 7, Tyson Gibson 5, and Grant Trusty 1.
Kamden Robertson had 4 assists for North Harrison. Cole Kampman had 2, and Nick Babinski and Jerry Gilpatrick had 1. Gilpatrick showed some potential in a recent game after he came out with a bloody nose. He insisted on going back in for the “B” game and went on a scoring flurry in the last three minutes, earning some playing time Friday.
Tyson Gibson had 6 tips for North Harrison. Kamden Robertson had 3, Nick Babinski 2, Cole Kampman 1, and Grant Trusty 1.
Nick Babinski had 6 steals for North Harrison. Kamden Robertson had 4, and Tyson Gibson and Karsyn Ury had 2.
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