North Harrison rallied from a 13 point first half deficit to beat Tri-County for the second time this year, 50-35 to win the consolation round of the Gilman City Tournament. Previously, the Shamrocks had been run out of the gym by St. Joseph Christian in the first round. In the consolation semifinals, they got an early lead against Union Star; the looks and the body language on the Trojan coaches said, “Here we go again!” But the Shamrocks spent the rest of the game struggling with sloppy play and allowing the Trojans to hang around before coming away with a 40-30 win. In a precursor to Friday night’s game, it was Jerry Gilpatrick who made some timely shots in the second half to keep the Trojans from ever catching North Harrison.
The win put them into the consolation game against Tri-County, a team that was bent on revenge. North Harrison had beaten Tri-County in the consolation round of the South Harrison tournament earlier this year after the Mustangs had their number in a running clock win the year before. Tri-County was bound and determine to ensure that it didn’t happen again and got off to a quick early lead. Everything they threw up in the first few minutes of the game was going in, their press was working, and they had a 15-2 lead by the 3:42 mark of the first quarter.
There was no one particular play that turned things around for the Shamrocks; they simply settled down and played much better basketball than they did in the Union Star game. They cut their turnovers from 16 to 12, gave up 5 offensive boards compared to 10 in the Union Star game, and had 40 rebounds in Friday’s game compared to 31 in the previous game.
Ethan Henson hit Keygun Johnson inside to break the early Tri-County run. Tyson Gibson twice went coast to coast against the press, and Keygun Johnson scored off a drive as the Shamrocks cut their deficit down to 17-10 before they fouled Keaton Norman at the buzzer and he made both free throws to put Tri-County up 19-10 after one.
North Harrison hung around for most of the second quarter, but continued to trail. But it was Jerry Gilpatrick who sparked them late after getting a pass from Ethan Henson and hit a 3-pointer to get the deficit down to three at 23-20. Keygun Johnson scored off a drive to cut it down to 23-22 at the half.
Keygun Johnson and Tyson Gibson had 19 of their 22 first half points, but they needed a third scoring option in order to be effective. It was Jerry Gilpatrick who carried the team on his shoulders to start the third quarter, started off with a textbook drive in which he went downhill, drew contact, and finished at the free throw line to give the Shamrocks the lead for the first time at 24-23. He followed it up with two NBA 3-pointers, and all of a sudden, it was 30-23 in North Harrison’s favor.
Gabe Manning’s free throw temporarily stopped the run, and Tri-County tried to adjust, but then Tyson Gibson’s tipin sparked another Shamrock rally. Keygun Johnson found Gibson loose underneath for another basket, Keygun scored from inside off a pass from Kolton Graham, and Keygun scored again off a drive to make it 38-24.
Derick Curtis hit two free throws at the end of the third for Tri-County to cut it to 38-26, but Jerry Gilpatrick struck again, this time from the baseline after a pass from Dustin Hamilton, and then Keygun Johnson got a steal on defense. His behind the back move didn’t lead to a basket as he missed the shot, but then Ethan Henson kept the possession alive and found Tyson Gibson open just inside the three point line at the top of the key to make it 43-26.
Tri-County tried to rally as Keaton Norman scored off a drive and Curtis followed with a shot to make it 43-30 with 4:44 left. Tyson Gibson hit two free throws and Ethan Henson hit Keygun Johnson inside to make it 47-30 again. Curtis hit a 3-pointer with 2:10 left to make it 47-33 before Keygun Johnson converted a steal and Jerry Gilpatrick added a free throw before Curtis hit a meaningless layup at the end.
Tyson Gibson had 18, Keygun Johnson 17, and Jerry Gilpatrick a career high 15.
Keygun Johnson blocked two shots, and Tyson Gibson and Ethan Henson 1.
Keygun Johnson had 13 boards, Tyson Gibson 10, Jerry Gilpatrick and Ethan Henson 7 each, Kolton Graham 2, and Andrew Craig 1. Andrew Craig has been getting better; he was a bright spot in the Union Star game and got quality minutes in both the Union Star and Tri-County games.
Ethan Henson missed several shots, but made up for it by getting open people the ball; he had 6 assists. Jerry Gilpatrick, Dustin Hamilton, and Keygun Johnson had 2, and Kolton Graham and Tyson Gibson had 1 each.
Keygun Johnson had 6 tips. Tyson Gibson, Dustin Hamilton, Jerry Gilpatrick, and Ethan Henson had 1.
Tyson Gibson had 6 steals. Jerry Gilpatrick and Keygun Johnson had 2 each, and Evan Schreiber and Dustin Hamilton had 1.
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