Wade Briggs shot the Shamrocks past East Harrison Wednesday night as they won 78-62 and propelled themselves into a district championship with Grundy County. Previously, the Shamrocks had ended the regular season in a slump, with losses to Worth County and Pattonsburg. But they miraculously came back to win against Gilman City 89-85 and East Harrison won handily over Tri-County to set up Wednesday's matchup.
The game was the fourth meeting between the two squads; the teams knew each other well both on and off the court. Both sides tried to run each other out of the gym. The focus of the game for North Harrison was to hold Adam Rinehart and Mark Willis down. While both scored less than in the previous meeting between the two teams, the supporting cast was not ready to see the season end, and they kept the Bobcats in the game until the end. The game hinged on foul trouble; while Brett Emig picked up two in the first quarter and sat for much of the first half, he didn't pick up a single foul in the second half. Meanwhile, both Rinehart and Willis fouled out in the fourth, quashing any hopes of a comeback.
The game threatened to head south real quickly for the Shamrocks as Rinehart hit back to back threes for the orange shirts to make it 8-1. But then Wade Briggs shot the Shamrocks back into the game despite Emig's foul trouble, hitting three triples in the period as North Harrison climbed back to within 17-16 by the end of the first quarter. Wade Briggs hit his fourth and fifth three pointers and Brett Emig got himself untracked with a drive and shot over Willis and a 3-pointer of his own as North Harrison moved ahead 27-21 early in the second.
But then the supporting cast started coming up big for the Bobcats as Hunter Kirk hit for the orange and Mark Willis followed with a dunk. Jared Milligan then followed with a 3-pointer to put the Bobcats back into the lead at 28-27 with 4:11 left. The teams traded leads for the remainder of the period until Wade Briggs got loose in transition to put the Shamrocks up 35-34 late. East Harrison committed a costly foul near the end of the half as Adam Rinehart picked up his third.
Brett Emig's free throws put North Harrison up 39-36 to start the third, but then Willis' dunk and another shot put the Bobcats back in front 40-39. Brandon Hamilton hit Wade Briggs in transition, but Hunter Kirk got loose for East Harrison to make it 42-41.
East Harrison threatened to take over when Rinehart got a three point play to make it 45-41. Brett Emig got a shot from the high post, but Willis countered with his third dunk of the night to make it 47-43.
But then the turning point came when North Harrison fought back when an 8-0 run to close out the third period. Brett Emig got loose inside for two, added a shot from the high post to tie, and then Wade Briggs went coast to coast to put the Shamrocks back in front 49-47. Nick Babinski got a putback with five seconds left to make it 51-47 after three.
Wade Briggs took a charge on Willis to start the fourth, his third, and Brett Emig got loose to make it 53-47. Emig hit Nick Babinski backdoor to make it 55-47. Willis hit a free throw, but Brandon Hamilton hit Emig on a quick outlet, Hamilton drew Rinehart's fourth foul and hit one of two to make it 58-48, and then Nick Babinski jumped a pass and scored to make it 60-48.
East Harrison made a desperate push as Willis got a putback, Garrett Baker got a drive, and Rinehart hit two free throws to close to within 62-54. But then Brett Emig quashed the comeback bid with a 3-pointer; Kamden Robertson hit one free throw, missed the second, but Emig was there for the putback to make it 68-54. Jacoby Roberts got two free throws, but Wade Briggs hit his sixth 3-pointer, Willis got his fifth foul battling with Brandon Hamilton for an offensive board, and Hamilton hit both free throws to make it 73-56.
Jared Milligan got a putback for East Harrison, and then Roberts got loose in transition for a layup and added two free throws to make it 74-62, but then Wade Briggs got two free throws and then got a quick outlet from Kamden Robertson that he converted for the dagger.
Wade Briggs had 32 points for the Shamrocks. Brett Emig had 29, Nick Babinski 6, Brandon Hamilton 4, Kamden Robertson 3, Tyson Gibson 2, and Grant Claycomb 1.
Nick Babinski and Brett Emig had 9 boards each. Wade Briggs and Kamden Robertson had 6 each, Tyson Gibson 5, Brandon Hamilton 4, and Grant Claycomb and Cooper Cracraft 1 each.
Brett Emig had 7 assists. Wade Briggs had 6, Grant Claycomb 5, Tyson Gibson 2, and Brandon Hamilton and Kamden Robertson 1 each.
Tyson Gibson had 3 tips. Brandon Hamilton, Brett Emig, and Grant Claycomb had 2 each, while Nick Babinski and Wade Briggs had 1.
Grant Claycomb had 6 steals. Wade Briggs had 5, Kamden Robertson and Nick Babinski had 2 each, while Tyson Gibson, Brandon Hamilton, and Brett Emig had 1 each.
For East Harrison, Adam Rinehart had 18 and Mark Willis 13. Seven different Bobcats found their way into the scoring column as they put up a much better fight than the last time the two teams met. Jared Milligan had 9, Jacoby Roberts 8, Hunter Kirk 6, Grayson McFall 5, and Garrett Baker 2.
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