Shamrock Boys Can't Climb Out of Hole Against Redbirds

North Harrison couldn't climb out of a 16 point hole against Winston Tuesday and fell 65-49 to the perennial powerhouse team. The Redbirds have fallen off a little from last year's Quarterfinal team, but are still a tough match for anyone, raising their record to 8-4 and are still one of the teams to beat in the HDC.

The Redbirds had the hot hand early, as Jacob Uthe had two 3-pointers and Jakub Hisle one as they raced out to a 10-0 lead. The Shamrocks fought back twice to within six as Kaden Koch scored four of of his team's six points as they cut it to 12-6. But then Uthe hit another three and Hisle scored four more points as the Redbirds jumped out to a 19-8 first quarter lead.

Uthe hit his fourth triple at the start of the second and Brian Lewis got the hot hand for Winston as they pushed ahead to a 28-12 lead. That was when North Harrison realized they could play ball with the Redbirds, and Brett Emig started scoring for the green shirts. Kaden Koch added a free throw and an inside shot as North Harrison closed to within 33-20 before Uthe hit his sixth triple to put Winston up 36-20 at the break.

It looked like Winston would put the game away at the start of the third, as they scored the first six points of the period to go up 42-20. But then Kaden Koch put the Shamrocks on his back as he scored seven in the period. Wade Briggs added a pair of free throws, Brett Emig cleaned up off a Briggs steal, and Steven Willhite added a drive as North Harrison closed back to within 51-33 after three.

The Shamrocks made things interesting for a while to start the fourth as Brett Emig scored off a drive, Steven Willhite hit a free throw, Wade Briggs got untracked with a 3-pointer, and Koch added another as the Shamrocks got the deficit down to 53-42 at one point. But then Marshall Farrell countered with a 3-pointer and Uthe added his seventh triple of the night to make it 59-44. Brett Emig got a free throw to make it 59-45, but then Kadin Ragan got loose twice to put the game out of reach at 63-45 with just under three minutes left.

Kaden Koch had 23 points for the Shamrocks, a career high. Brett Emig had 14, Wade Briggs and Steven Willhite 5 each, and Hunter Parkhurst 2. Steven Willhite had 6 boards. Hunter Parkhurst and Brett Emig had 4 assists each.