Kaden Koch Scores 30 to Ignite Shamrock Boys

North Harrison’s boys hung 78 on Grundy County in the nightcap, getting a 78-42 win as Kaden Koch went off on the Panthers, getting 30 points in the win. Last year, Grundy threw a scare into North Harrison, leading for much of the first half and forcing over 30 turnovers before the Shamrocks came back and hung on for a 46-45 win in the HDC Tournament. But this year, Kaden Koch, who was not on the floor for that game, made sure that it wouldn’t happen again, getting 14 of his 30 points in the first quarter.

This year, it looked like something like this would happen again. Grundy, which surprised North Harrison with a trapping zone in Galt last year, had built on that and added a press to their arsenal. They had gotten off to a slow start this year, but were heating up and were on a roll, up to 5-7 before Saturday’s game. Tanner Williams scored from inside, Caden Gann got a steal, and Ryan Metcalf scored in transition to put Grundy up 6-2 in the early going.

The Shamrocks fought back to a 10-10 tie, and then Panther big man Cooper Lewis picked up his third foul, which opened the floodgates for North Harrison. Koch went off, getting a pass inside from Wade Briggs, getting loose in transition for another basket, and getting loose inside for a pass from Wade Briggs for a 3-point play. Wade Briggs added a 3-pointer as the Shamrocks ensured there would be no repeat of last year as they pulled ahead to a 20-13 lead.

Steven Willhite scored from the baseline after Hunter Parkhurst kept a possession alive, Kaden Koch got fouled in transition and hit two free throws after Brett Emig got in transition after a quick outlet from Willhite, and then Emig got a tip, leading to a Cruz Ury steal and free throws from Emig to make it 26-15 after one.

Gann cut it to 26-17 for Grundy County, but then North Harrison went on a scoring binge similar to one of Worth County’s girls’ outbursts last year, when they hung 37 in a quarter on Braymer and 35 in a quarter on King City. Wade Briggs hit a free throw, Kaden Koch scored on one play where he stepped through two players, and Cruz Ury was getting on a roll, scoring twice in transition.

Just as he was getting on a roll, Ury picked up his third foul, but it didn’t matter as Koch scored again in transition, Willhite scored off a pair of steals, and Brett Emig scored in transition on one play and got a good look off a Willhite inbounds pass on another. When the dust had settled, North Harrison had scored 17 points in a span of just over four minutes to go up 43-17 to put the game out of reach. They led 51-26 at the half.

Kaden Koch and Brett Emig scored four each to start the third quarter, and Grundy County never got closer than 29 the rest of the way.

Kaden Koch had 30, Wade Briggs 18 and five 3-pointers, Brett Emig 16, Steven Willhite 6, Cruz Ury 4, Hunter Parkhurst 3, and Collin Briggs and Avery Cook 2.

Steven Willhite had 12 boards. Kaden Koch had 9, Brett Emig 6, Collin Briggs and Brandon Hamilton 2 each, and Hunter Parkhurst, Cruz Ury, Wade Briggs, Kamden Robertson, and Tyson Gibson 1 each.

The Shamrocks had 25 assists for the night. Steven Willhite had 6, Kaden Koch 5, Brett Emig and Wade Briggs 3, Hunter Parkhurst 3, and Cruz Ury, Nick Babinski, Brandon Hamilton, and Matthew Heintz 1 each.

Hunter Parkhurst had 9 tips. Wade Briggs had 7, Brett Emig 5, Steven Willhite, Cruz Ury, and Tyson Gibson 2 each, and Kaden Koch and Kamden Robertson 1 each.

Brett Emig had 5 steals, Kaden Koch had 4, Steven Willhite and Hunter Parkhurst 3, Wade Briggs and Kamden Robertson 2 each, and Cruz Ury and Cooper Cracraft 1.