Keygun Johnson sparked the North Harrison boys basketball team with 10 first quarter points, and four Shamrocks scored double figures as they beat North Nodaway 61-28 Tuesday, November 23rd. The Shamrocks were supposedly in rebuilding mode after the graduation of Brett Emig, but they picked up right where they left off from last year, flying to the offensive glass, stealing the ball, and pushing it up the floor every chance they could get.
Johnson would go on to get 14 points. Nick Babinski would match him with 14 points and got a double double, adding 13 boards. Wade Briggs, returning from last year, added 10 while Matthew Heintz, who didn’t even go out for basketball last year, added another 10.
For North Nodaway, there was hope that this would be the year they would start to turn the corner after coach Jake Shipman left to become principal at Mound City two years ago and current coach Michael Trautz stepped into some big footsteps last year. But Aydan Blackford, who had been a rare bright spot for the Mustangs last year, will be out until January with a broken collarbone from football, and the team will have to rebuild without him until then.
Jeremiah Dobbins was a rare bright spot in Tuesday’s loss to North Harrison, getting 12 points. “He’s better than he thinks he is,” said Trautz about him last year. In Tuesday’s game, he moved well, cut well, and was the steadiest ballhandler on the court. Damian Dailey, a big man who brings much needed size to the Mustangs after an extended period with no size, sat much of the game with foul trouble, as did Preston Hansen and Ethan Fry.
The Mustangs have some talent, but the goal is to figure out how to harness it until Blackford gets back. Fry showed a lot of growth and improvement from last year and is showing he can keep up with the pace of the game this year. Owen Martin, only a freshman, is raw, but has become one of the fastest men on the team. Mason Richardson can dunk it despite being a freshman and has a deadly left hand. Dailey is starting to learn the ropes for the Mustangs as a big man after seeing extended minutes last year. Brice Trimble showed some shooting range this year.
Dobbins hit a 3-pointer right off the bat for the Mustangs, but the rest was all downhill for the rest of the first quarter. The Shamrocks outplayed, outworked, and outhustled North Nodaway. The foul differential was 7-0 in North Harrison’s favor three minutes into the game; with North Nodaway forced to throw players into the fire because of the foul trouble, the results were predictable. North Nodaway turned it over 26 times while surrendering the ball 10 times; they were outrebounded 38-23, and they only got two boards for the entire first quarter.
Meanwhile, fueled by Keygun Johnson getting to the rim at every opportunity, North Harrison pulled away from both the field and at the line. Keygun got some free throws and added a backdoor layup after Nick Babinski kept a possession alive with an offensive board, and Wade Briggs added a free throw as the Shamrocks led 9-3 at the 5:18 mark of the first. Babinski cleaned up after a Briggs steal, and then Matthew Heintz got a steal and scooped it home to make it 13-3. Johnson converted a three point play to make it 16-3.
North Nodaway stopped the bleeding for the remainder of the first quarter and trailed 22-9 after one, but then Wade Briggs got consecutive steals and consecutive three point plays to jumpstart the Shamrocks in the second. Nick Babinski scooped up a carom and scored, and cleaned up a miss in transition to make it 32-9 as the Mustang fouls and frustration mounted.
Jeremiah Dobbins scored a couple of times and Damien Dailey finally got a finish as the Mustangs closed to within 36-15 at the break. But the Shamrocks pushed it into running clock territory in the third. Keygun Johnson got loose in the paint and got a pass from Wade Briggs to start the third, and Briggs got a tip and Babinski got a steal to make it 40-15. Brice Trimble’s triple and Damian Dailey scored from inside to cut it to 42-20, but Nick Babinski and Matthew Heintz got free throws, Heintz got loose underneath and nobody matched up on him, Babinski hit from the right baseline, and Tyson Gibson got a putback as the Shamrocks scored 10 straight to finish out the period and put the game into running clock territory.
For North Harrison, Keygun Johnson and Nick Babinski had 14 each. Wade Briggs and Matthew Heintz had 10 each, Cooper Cracraft and Tyson Gibson 4 each, Brandon Hamilton 3, and Karsyn Ury 2.
Nick Babinski had 13 boards. Keygun Johnson and Tyson Gibson had 6 each, Cooper Cracraft had 4, Brandon Hamilton 3, Wade Briggs 2, and Cole Kampman, Matthew Heintz, Karsyn Ury, and Kolton Graham had 1 each.
Wade Briggs had 5 assists. Tyson Gibson had 2, while Keygun Johnson, Nick Babinski, and Cooper Cracraft had 1.
Wade Briggs had 5 steals. Nick Babinski had 4, while Keygun Johnson had 3.
For North Nodaway, Jeremiah Dobbins had 12. Damian Dailey had 6, Brice Trimble and Mason Richardson 3 each, and Dakota Dilley and Ethan Fry 2 each. Damian Dailey had 8 boards.
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