North Harrison was shorthanded coming into Tuesday's District Semifinal game with Tri-County. They had already dropped two games to the Mustangs. Given their chaotic style of basketball, living and dying by the press and the 3-pointer, they were supposed to wear down North Harrison. But instead, Emma Craig went beast mode on the Mustangs, with 15 points and 15 boards, and Halle Morgan and Trendi Johnson both stepped up their game as the Shamrocks played their best game since Payton Craig was on the floor three years ago as they dropped Tri-County 48-27.
Everybody else stepped up in the win as well. Camden Castleberry added 13 points, putting up the scoring numbers that Coach Aaron Long had been looking for from her all year. Jayliegh Robins led in assists with 6, rebounded well and found her second wind late, getting a couple of key baskets. Kami Gibson set everybody else up with 5 assists and saved some turnovers with some hustle plays.
Defensively, North Harrison locked down, limiting Tri-County to one shot down the floor, only giving up seven offensive boards. They limited Tri-County to three triples. And they overcame 20 turnovers as they were able to attack the press early and often.
The Shamrocks have been a good defensive team all year; the challenge for them has been to find a way to score. They have played well defensively, even against good teams. They finally scored as Emma Craig and Camden Castleberry got into double figures and everybody else chipped in. As of Tuesday, they were 15-1 when scoring 40+ points in a game and 0-10 when they didn't.
Lucy Turner struck first for Tri-County, but then Emma Craig scored the first seven for North Harrison, getting a shot from the right baseline off a pass from Jayliegh Robins, getting loose in transition and getting another pass from Jayleigh, and hitting a 3-pointer. Camden Castleberry hit a guarded three after getting a pass from Trendi Johnson to make it 10-2, forcing Tri-County into a timeout.
Lexi Wyant hit a shot from the high post and Lucy Turner scored off a drive to close to within 12-6 late, but then Emma Craig aired one out to Jayliegh Robins, who missed, but put back her own miss to make it 14-6 after one. Somehow, despite eight turnovers in the period, North Harrison was up eight.
Jayliegh Robins hit Camden Castleberry, who drove home for a layup, and Kami Gibson hit Trendi Johnson in the high post to make it 18-6, but then Anissa Williams knocked down a 3-point shot from the right wing, Emma Craig picked up her second foul and sat for much of the half, and then Lucy Turner dropped one from the post to cut it to 18-11.
But without Emma, North Harrison got a stop on defense. Kami Gibson hit Trendi Johnson on the right wing after a long possession, and then Emma Craig came back to get a putback. Jayliegh Robins hit Trendi Johnson in the high post to put North Harrison in front 24-11 at the half.
Tri-County tried to make a run to start the second half as Williams hit one from the baseline and Lucy Turner got loose in transition, but Camden Castleberry hit a 3-pointer and Emma Craig got a putback to make it 29-15. But then Craig picked up her third foul, and the turnover bug bit again as Destiny Gutshall got a putback and Lexi Wyant hit a 3-pointer to get it under double digits at 29-20 following a steal.
North Harrison needed to make a stand, and they got it as Trendi Johnson got a third chance putback to break the run and make it 31-20. Gutshall countered with a free throw, but then Kami Gibson weaved her way through traffic and found Halle Morgan, who was hammered on a shooting foul. She made her first, missed the second, but Kami Gibson chased it down, threw it to Jayliegh Robins in the high post, who threw it back to Halle, who made a wide open layup to make it 34-21.
Halle's heroics were not done; after Williams hit a 3-pointer for Tri-County and the Mustangs got a stop down 34-24 with a chance to cut it to eight, they missed but got the offensive board. But Halle stole the offensive board underneath the basket, and Camden Castleberry blew past multiple blue shirts to the basket and finished at the buzzer to make it 36-24 after three.
The Shamrocks milked a good portion of the clock for the first two minutes of the fourth, forcing Tri-County into a man to man, but Emma Craig was back and she scored on a backdoor layup with five minutes left. North Harrison got a stop, Kami Gibson got the defensive board, weaved her way through traffic, and found Jayliegh Robins, who had gotten behind the defense, to make it 40-24. Kami Gibson added a free throw and Emma Craig scored from inside to make it 43-24.
Gutshall jumped a pass to make it 43-27, but then Camden Castleberry countered with a free throw. Tri-County was frantically throwing up threes to try and spark a comeback, and they continued to swarm and press on defense. But after a ball got knocked out, Emma Craig inbounded to Jayliegh Robins at midcourt and she blew past multiple Tri-County defenders for a score. After another stop, Camden Castleberry found Halle Morgan in transition all alone and threw her a strike from halfcourt for a layup to make it 48-27.
Emma Craig had 15 points. Camden Castleberry had 13. Trendi Johnson had 8, a career high for her. Jayliegh Robins had 6, Halle Morgan 5 (career high), and Kami Gibson had 1.
Emma Craig had 15 boards. Jayliegh Robins had 8, Kami Gibson 6, Camden Castleberry 4, and Halle Morgan and Trendi Johnson 2 each.
Jayliegh Robins had 6 assists. Kami Gibson had 5, Emma Craig 4, Trendi Johnson 3, and Camden Castleberry 1.
Emma Craig and Camden Castleberry had 3 tips. Halle Morgan, Kami Gibson, and Trendi Johnson had 1. Camden Castleberry had 3 steals. Emma Craig, Halle Morgan, and Jayliegh Robins had 2 each, while Kami Gibson had 1 each.
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