Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Brett Emig Scores 43 But Shamrock Boys Fall Short

North Harrison’s boys lost to West Nodaway 84-62, but they may have turned a corner Monday night. First year Shamrock coach J.W. Brandt said that they were finally starting to do what he was asking them to do on the floor. West Nodaway is fielding their best boys basketball team in quite some time, with Tyler Blay, Hunter Dawson, and Bracxten Rohlmeier all firing from downtown and Dawson Fast able to finish from the high post. They have lost two games, but played both Platte Valley and Mound City, two of the top programs in the area, tough. More recently, they buried St. Joseph Christian, a team that Worth County’s boys barely beat, by 20 points.

The best thing about the game is that they are starting to get other teams’ respect. Brett Emig had 43 points, one of the highest ever by a Shamrock, and that includes some pretty solid players such as Don Edwards, Mike Elliott, Shane Skinner, and Jerry Armstrong. “Every single one of us on the floor had to guard him [Emig] at one point,” Tyler Blay told the Maryville Forum after the game. “He is a great player. We have stuff to work on with that. We've never played a kid like him, so we definitely have stuff to work on.” Emig will graduate after this year, but two of the underclassmen were clamoring after the game to get in the gym to get some extra shooting in. The hunger is there among the players.

Blay and Rohlmeier both had the hot hand for West Nodaway early as they raced out to a 9-2 lead. But all of a sudden, the Shamrocks, instead of folding like they did against Hale and Novinger, realized they could play basketball with them and started fighting back. Brett Emig dropped a 3-pointer, Grant Claycomb got a putback, Brandon Hamilton got a free throw, Wade Briggs went coast to coast, and Brett Emig scored off a Briggs steal as North Harrison reeled off 10 unanswered points to take a 12-9 lead.

The game was tied at 14, 16, and 18 before Tyson Gibson got a steal and Brett Emig’s pass to Grant Claycomb put the Shamrocks back in front. Emig went coast to coast and knocked down a shot from the high post to make it 24-18 before the Rockets started chipping away and coming back as they started pushing it right back at North Harrison. They tied it at 27 and 29 before Brett Emig’s drive made it 31-29 at the half.

Brett Emig continued to carry the team on his shoulders, getting 14 points in the third quarter. But then Blay and Dawson both got the hot hand for West Nodaway; the Rockets had 15 3-pointers for the night. Their last five shots of the fourth quarter, taken within the last 2:40 of the third, were all 3-pointers as the Rockets went from down 43-41 to up 56-47 after three.

Wade Briggs knocked one down from the right wing and Tyson Gibson aired one out to Brett Emig to make it 56-52, but then Rohlmeier scored a three point play, Blay hit a 3-pointer, Dawson got a steal, and then Fast got the hot hand in the high post as the Rockets went up 66-52 and thwarted any chance of a comeback. 

Brett Emig had 43 points. Wade Briggs had 9, Grant Claycomb 6, Brandon Hamilton 3, and Tyson Gibson 1.

Brett Emig had 10 rebounds. Tyson Gibson had 8, Nick Babinski, Grant Claycomb, and Wade Briggs 5 each, Brandon Hamilton 3, and Cooper Cracraft 1.

Grant Claycomb had 6 assists. Wade Briggs had 5, Tyson Gibson 2, and Brett Emig and Nick Babinski had 1 each.

Tyson Gibson had 3 tips. Nick Babinski, Brett Emig, and Grant Claycomb had 2.

Brett Emig had 5 steals. Wade Briggs and Tyson Gibson had 4, Grant Claycomb 2, and Brandon Hamilton and Nick Babinski had 1 each.


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