Sunday, February 9, 2020

Shamrock Girls Win Breather, Down Bobcats

North Harrison’s girls shrugged off a setback in King City and got back on the winning track Wednesday against winless East Harrison in a makeup game as they won 56-19. East Harrison came into the game looking for their first win, but Emma Craig scored the first 12 points of the game for North Harrison as they got out to a 12-5 lead in the early going. She was able to go coast to coast, post up, drive at will, and she even stepped back and took a 3-pointer. Kami Gibson took a pass in the high post and drove for a layup as time expired to give the Shamrocks a 17-5 lead after one.

Camie Vaughn kept the orange shirts in the game during the second, as she was able to post up at will and get some good looks. She got 10 points in the first half and 12 in the game. But North Harrison pulled away more slowly, getting four more from Craig and four from Kami Gibson. Kami hit Ashlynn Gilpatrick with a backdoor layup as time expired and North Harrison beat the buzzer for the second time, getting a 27-11 halftime lead.

The second half was a totally different half for the Shamrocks, as they were able to cut down on their turnovers and gave up fewer offensive boards. They turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, but only 5 times in the second half. They gave up 7 offensive boards in the first half, but only 2 in the second half.

The result was that they were able to put together a 22 point third quarter and put the game away. Rainey Fordyce, who ran the floor well all night, hit Emma Craig on the left wing and then got behind the Bobcat defense after a Camden Castleberry steal to push it up to 20 at 31-11.

The Bobcats hung around until the 4:52 mark of the third, but then Kami Gibson, unafraid of anyone, drove into the teeth of the Bobcats’ big front line of Camie Vaughn and Hope Ellsworth and finished it to make it 36-15. The second spark occurred when the orange shirts were taking it down the right side of the floor and Rainey Fordyce took a perfect charge. The contact was so hard that she rolled over on the floor once after she fell, but she sprung up like a jack in the box after the play. Then, Jayliegh Robins, who was plunked in the face with an errant ball during pregame warmups and got a cut above her nose and was badly shaken up, suddenly came out of nowhere, getting behind the Bobcats at will, and reeled off eight points in the last 4:12 of the third quarter. Everybody sensed her heating up during that stretch; four different Shamrocks fed her the ball.

In an echo of Wednesday night’s game, Jayliegh got her head stepped on by Mercer’s Tori Meiniecke in North Harrison’s 50-38 win over Mercer Friday and still recovered to score double figures.

Consequently, the margin grew from 19 points at the 5:28 mark into running clock territory at the end of the third quarter as the Shamrocks were in unfamiliar territory, up 49-19 after three.

Camden Castleberry was another force to be reckoned with for the Shamrocks; having grown a lot since her junior high days and with big long arms, she was able to get a ton of tips and steals to keep the Bobcats at bay. In the third, she added an NBA 3-pointer and then added another in the fourth as the Shamrocks continued to pull away. Robins got to 10 points with a pair of free throws, and Halle Morgan slipped inside and scored in the latter stages.

North Harrison had three in double figures as Emma Craig had 18 points, Kami Gibson 11, and Jayliegh Robins 10. Camden Castleberry had 9, Rainey Fordyce 4, and Ashlynn Gilpatrick and Halle Morgan 2.

Emma Craig had 13 boards. Kami Gibson had 6, Rainey Fordyce and Halle Morgan 3, Carly Rinehart, Camden Castleberry, Sarah Clawson, and Jayliegh Robins 2, and Ashlynn Gilpatrick, Trendi Johnson, and Erin Virtue 1. Every single Shamrock got at least one board Wednesday night, and Emma Craig had a double double.

Camden Castleberry had 6 assists. Kami Gibson, Sarah Clawson, and Emma Craig all had 4, Jayliegh Robins 2, and Ashlynn Gilpatrick, Rainey Fordyce, and Carly Rinehart each had 1.

Camden Castleberry had 11 tips. Emma Craig had 6, Rainey Fordyce 5, Jayliegh Robins 4, Carly Rinehart 3, Trendi Johnson 2, and Halle Morgan, Kami Gibson, and Erin Virtue 1 each.

Camden Castleberry nearly had a triple double, as she had 8 steals to go with her 9 points and 11 tips. Carly Rinehart had 4, Emma Craig 3, Kami Gibson and Rainey Fordyce 2, and Ashlynn Gilpatrick 1.
But the silver lining was there for the Bobcats, which turned around and beat a team that had beaten them before as they successfully invaded Gilman City two nights later and got the 49-33 win for their first win.

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