Shamrock Seniors Changed the Culture in Four Years

North Harrison’s boys ended their campaign Thursday with a 65-49 loss to Pattonsburg after they left it all out on the court in District Semifinal action. They last had a winning season during the 2012-13 campaign, but they clinched a winning season this year with a 13-12 record after coming close the two years before.

Playing in their last game Friday were Logan Huitt, Logan Craig, Gavin Garrett, and Tyler Lundy. Logan Huitt crossed the 1,000 point mark this year. They will return a solid nucleus which will remain competitive for the next few years.

When they were freshmen, the Shamrocks were struggling to score; they won two games and had only six games in which they scored 30 or more points. They showed some life as sophomores as the win total jumped to 11 games, they won a district game, and gave Mercer all they could handle for a half before they fell to the district runners-up. Last year, they won nine as everyone ahead of them returned everyone and they played a tough schedule. But they finally got over the hump this year, scoring 70 or more points in six games. They were in all but one of their games, against undefeated powerhouse Winston.

Against Pattonsburg, with whom the Shamrocks play football with during fall, it was one of those games in which both sides wanted to beat each other. North Harrison came out strong after falling behind 7-4 early after Trevor Ireland hit a 3-pointer for Pattonsburg. Logan Craig’s free throws and tipin put North Harrison up 8-7 at the 3:20 mark. Carter Crone knotted it up at 8, but then Steven Willhite hit a 3-pointer off a pass from Logan Craig to make it 11-8 with 2:58 left in the first.

That was the high water mark for North Harrison, as Pattonsburg’s interior duo of Carter Crone and Connor Ireland protected the paint and blocked a ton of shots, and wreaked a ton of havoc on the offensive end as well. Connor Ireland hit a 3-pointer and Cameron Jones’ putback at the buzzer put Pattonsburg up 18-12 after one.

Grant Claycomb’s triple to start the second sliced Pattonsburg’s lead in half, but then that was the last points North Harrison would get until the closing seconds of the quarter. While North Harrison could do nothing against the two-headed monster of Connor Ireland and Carter Crone, Connor scored six in the period as Pattonsburg raised its lead to 25-15 despite Logan Huitt taking a charge on defense. Finally, Logan Craig got behind the defense with seven seconds left and got a pass from Brett Emig to make it 25-17 at the half.

But that failed to spark North Harrison as Patrick Cowley connected from inside and Connor Ireland got behind the North Harrison defense to make it 29-17 at the 6:55 mark of the third. Brett Emig’s free throws cut it to 29-19, but Dillon Turner got the hot hand for Pattonsburg off the bench as they pulled away to a 40-19 lead late in the period. The game threatened to get out of hand and turn into a layup drill, but Brett Emig hit Collin Briggs for three and Emig went coast to coast after a Willhite defensive board to make it 40-24.

Steven Willhite and Logan Craig picked up their fourth fouls late in the third and Cameron Jones got behind the North Harrison defense to make it 46-27 after three. Logan Craig came back in and scored off a drive after a pass from Collin Briggs and Collin Briggs hit a three in transition to make it 46-32, but Pattonsburg seemingly put it away when Trevor Ireland hit a triple from the top of the key, Cameron Jones hit two free throws, and Trevor Ireland scored from inside to make it 53-32.

But then Trevor Ireland picked up his fifth foul, his coach Scott Ireland nearly got a technical foul for protesting the call, and North Harrison got new life after Steven Willhite grabbed a long board, stepped back, and hit a 3-pointer with 4:42 left. Willhite aired one out to Brett Emig for a 3-point play to make it 53-38. Dillon Turner countered with a baseline shot, but then Willhite got loose in transition and Logan Craig was hammered by Cameron Jones attempting a 3-pointer. That was Jones’ fifth foul and Logan Craig hit two of three, Steven Willhite got the offensive board, and hit one of two to make it 55-43 with 3:44 left.

Connor Ireland’s shot made it 58-45, but then Grant Claycomb hit a free throw and Steven Willhite stole the ensuing inbounds pass to make it 58-48 with two minutes left to make things interesting.
But then the referees missed a critical call as one of Pattonsburg’s guards was dancing around as though he was at a rock concert trying to elude pressure after bringing it across the timeline, but the referees never saw it. Instead, the Panthers ran down some clock, North Harrison had to start fouling, and Pattonsburg was five for six from the line and added a breakaway from Dillon Turner, who was instrumental off the bench for the Panthers.

Logan Craig had 14 points. Brett Emig had 13, Steven Willhite 11, Collin Briggs 6, Grant Claycomb 4, and Gavin Garrett 3.

Steven Willhite had 1 block.

Willhite had 12 boards to complete a double double. Brett Emig had 9, Logan Craig 7, Collin Briggs 2, and Logan Huitt and Wade Briggs 1.

Steven Willhite had 4 assists. Brett Emig had 3, Logan Craig 2, and Grant Claycomb, Gavin Garrett, Collin Briggs, and Logan Huitt had 1.

Logan Huitt had 2 tips on defense. Logan Craig and Brett Emig had 1. Steven Willhite had 3 steals, while Brett Emig had 2.