Brett Emig hung 41 points and 16 rebounds on Mercer Friday and North Harrison’s boys salvaged their Courtwarming with a 73-60 win. The girls played well against the powerhouse Lady Cardinals, but came up short 42-24 to drop their third straight.
Previously, the boys had lost 64-49 against Albany, snapping their five game winning streak. They had to get back to playing their game, pushing the ball up the floor and scoring over 60 points a game. The Shamrocks, as of the finish of Friday’s game, were 9-2 in games in which they score 60 or more points, and 1-7 when they don’t.
Mercer came into the game with only two wins, but were much improved from the team that Northeast Nodaway had run out of the gym to start the season. They started a new team totally from scratch this year, with only one player getting significant minutes from last year; while wins are hard to come by for the Cardinals, they have played some good teams tough.
Two consecutive three-pointers from Kaden Graham put the Cardinals on top 8-4, but Brett Emig had the hot hand for North Harrison, getting 15 points in the first quarter. The game was tied at 9, 11, 13, and 18, but the steady barrage of 3-pointers by the Cardinals put them ahead 21-20 after one quarter.
North Harrison switched from a zone to a man to man and stopped the 3-point barrage, but Brett Emig sat out much of the quarter with foul trouble. But with Emig out, the rest of the team held the fort and led by as much as five before Graham cut it to 33-31 at the half.
Like the King City win, the Shamrocks picked it up defensively and locked down in the second half to get the win. They started off the third quarter with five straight defensive stops as Emig was smart enough to stay on the floor and avoid further foul trouble. He scored on a fast break after Brandon Hamilton gave him a quick outlet, added a putback, and then Hamilton got a quick outlet to Grant Claycomb, who threw it to Emig for three to make it 40-31. Wade Briggs added an NBA 3-pointer and later hit Nick Babinski backdoor to make it 45-31.
But then Graham tried to take over the game for the Cardinals, slashing to the basket at will and scoring six straight. Tyler Meinecke added a 3-pointer and all of a sudden, Mercer was within striking distance at 45-40. But Emig countered with a 3-pointer and a drive. Brendan Wolfe scored from the left wing, but North Harrison got three straight stops as Emig and Briggs both hit 3-pointers to put the Shamrocks back up 14 to end the third quarter up 56-42.
Briggs hit another NBA 3-pointer to start the fourth to give North Harrison its biggest lead of the night at 59-44, but then Wolfe and Graham both heated up for Mercer, who twice cut it to nine at 60-51, and later at 65-56. But then Brett Emig scored off a drive, and Hamilton hit free throws as North Harrison pushed back ahead to 70-56, they got three straight stops, and Wolfe fouled out.
Graham got down the right baseline and scored to cut it to 70-58, but time was running out and Wade Briggs managed to dribble in circles for almost 20 seconds before the red shirts could get him fouled; he hit both free throws and Grant Claycomb added another one to put the game out of reach.
Brett Emig had 41 points. Wade Briggs had 18, Brandon Hamilton 9, Grant Claycomb 3, and Nick Babinski 2.
Brett Emig had 16 boards. Brandon Hamilton had 8, Grant Claycomb 5, Nick Babinski, Wade Briggs, and Cooper Cracraft had 4 each, Tyson Gibson 3, and Kamden Robertson and Keygun Johnson had 1 each.
Wade Briggs had 6 assists for the Shamrocks, who continued to show improvement in sharing the ball, getting 20 assists for the night. Grant Claycomb had 5, Brett Emig 4, Brandon Hamilton 2, and Cooper Cracraft, Kamden Robertson, and Nick Babinski 1 each.
Brett Emig had 7 tips. Nick Babinski had 4, Grant Claycomb 3, and Kamden Robertson, Tyson Gibson, Cooper Cracraft, Brandon Hamilton, and Wade Briggs all had 1.
Brett Emig and Grant Claycomb had 4 steals each. Brandon Hamilton and Nick Babinski had 3 each, and Wade Briggs had 2.
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