Emma Craig Has Monster Night as Shamrock Girls Get First Win

North Harrison was searching for its first win Thursday as they hooked up against Novinger. The visiting Lady Cats were also searching for their first win. Something had to give, and it was the Shamrocks who finally got into the win column, getting the 42-35 win, although not without some anxious moments.

Novinger came into the game 0-4, yet it was misleading considering who they were playing. One loss was against Milan, who figures to contend for the GRC East this year in both boys and girls. Another was against Green City, touted by many to go to state this year. Another was to Grundy County, which won 21 games last year, scored as many as 88 points in a game this year, and returns everyone for this year; they will contend for the HDC title along with East Harrison and Mercer. Their other loss was to Putnam County, a solid Class 2 school in the GRC East. In three out of their four games, they scored over 40 points, showing they were capable of lighting up the scoreboard against anyone.
North Harrison came into the game 0-2. They lost their opener to Tri-County and lost their best point guard, Camden Castleberry, to an ankle injury during the game. Shorthanded, they lost 28-17 to Princeton; however, they played a defensive gem, shutting down Jaelyn Steeby-Thomas, holding her scoreless.

The team was still trying to find its way after losing Payton Craig and Brandy Rivet to graduation. But finally, they figured out that they were effective when they got the ball into Emma Craig, Addy Slaughter, and Kami Gibson in the post. They had to weather some charges by the explosive Novinger squad, which had several shooters and a driver in Kendra Frederick, who could light up the scoreboard at any time.

At first, it looked like an easy game for the Shamrocks, who got out of the gates with an 11-2 lead. Addie Slaughter hit a free throw, Emma Craig hit two free throws, Slaughter got a putback, and Rainey Fordyce hit Craig inside to make it 7-0 with 3:17 left in the period. Lexi Baird got Novinger on the board with a pair of free throws, but Kami Gibson got a putback and Mason Cracraft hit Addie Slaughter backdoor to make it 11-2.

But with nine seconds left, Baird hit for Novinger, and the Lady Cats started lighting up the scoreboard. Sierra Eller hit another 3-pointer to cut it to 14-10 with 4:48 left, and Novinger hung around until Cracraft scored off a drive and Emma Craig added a free throw to make it 19-12 at the break.

It looked like North Harrison would pull away after Emma Craig scored eight in the third quarter and the Lady Cats started to get into foul trouble. Addie Slaughter added a putback to make it 29-18, but then Frederick, who had been quiet all game, suddenly got two free throws to close out the third and threw up a prayer that went in to start the fourth, and suddenly, Novinger was sparked again.

Frederick scored from downtown again and Novinger was closing hard, getting it down to 31-27 despite the foul trouble mounting. Novinger switched to a man to man from a zone; they only had four team fouls going into the fourth, which meant they could be very aggressive on defense. Emma Craig scored three straight to make it 34-27 to temporarily restore order, but then Lexi Baird cut to the right corner, nobody picked her up, and she was all alone for three. Frederick added a drive and all of a sudden, it was 34-32 with 2:56 left, still plenty of time. Emma Craig scored from inside off a pass from Rainey Fordyce, but Lexi Baird hit a free throw and Frederick added a steal and it was 36-35.

Olivia Babinski drove the right baseline and found Emma Craig, who was fouled on the shot and made one of two to make it 37-35. Novinger had a chance to tie, but missed a 1-1 and Mason Cracraft hit a cutting Kami Gibson to make it two possessions again at 39-35 with 1:03 left. Frederick missed a 1-1, but Novinger pressed after the miss and forced a turnover. They tried an alley oop play, cutting Kassie Frederick to the basket, but Ashlynn Gilpatrick, not normally a shot blocker, rejected her in the paint, and came up with the loose ball after a scramble. Mason Cracraft was open on a drive, missed, but Addie Slaughter went to the line after getting an offensive glass and made one of two to make it 40-35 with 23.3 seconds left.

Kendra Frederick lost it out of bounds, but Kami Gibson missed a 1-1 with 15 seconds left. But Olivia Babinski tipped an errant pass out of bounds with 7.2 seconds left, and Kami Gibson picked off a skip pass. She missed two free throws, but Emma Craig was there for the putback at the buzzer.
Emma Craig had 26 points for North Harrison, a career high. Addie Slaughter had 10, Kami Gibson 4, and Mason Cracraft 2.

Mason Cracraft and Ashlynn Gilpatrick had 1 block each.

The rebounding was the difference in the game for North Harrison. They collected 49 boards as a team, while only allowing four offensive boards for Novinger. Emma Craig had 14 boards to go with her 26 points. Kami Gibson had 13, Addie Slaughter 8, Mason Cracraft and Olivia Babinski 4 each, Rainey Fordyce and Ashlynn Gilpatrick 3 each, and Deva Wallace 1.

Pressed into handling the ball a lot more this year, Mason Cracraft responded with her best game as a Shamrock, getting 8 assists; she was constantly looking to get the ball into Gibson, Craig, and Slaughter, and it paid off. Rainey Fordyce started off in junior high ball last year by focusing on defense and rebounding; she showed she is one of the most coachable players on the team this year as she learned how to handle the ball. She followed with 3 assists. Olivia Babinski had 1.

Emma Craig had 3 tips on defense. Mason Cracraft had 2, and Olivia Babinski had 1.

Kami Gibson had 4 steals, along with Emma Craig. Addie Slaughter and Mason Cracraft had 3 each, Rainey Fordyce had 2, and Olivia Babinski and Ashlynn Gilpatrick had 1 each.