Round one of what could be an epic rivalry between father versus son went to North Harrison Saturday as the Shamrocks beat East Harrison 42-36.
The Bobcats talked long-time coaching institution Tom Hogan into coming out of retirement to coach the boys team. They started off with an impressive win over Breckenridge to start the season, but haven’t won another game, and only two of their games were within ten points. One of his sons, Braden Hogan, is his assistant at East Harrison after assisting the girls. His other son, Dylan Hogan, is now an assistant at North Harrison. Naturally, the recordbook went out the window as both teams wanted to beat each other. Any kid wants to beat his dad in a game both are good at, and naturally, Tom wanted to show that he hadn’t taught Dylan everything he knows.
There were some hints last year as Dylan said that Tom had never lost his passion for the game and still gave both his sons coaching advice sometimes.
Tom Hogan swears he has mellowed out over the years, but the fiery version came out after a disappointing 65-24 loss to Mercer the night before. A totally different Bobcat team took the floor for Saturday as East Harrison picked up five offensive boards in the first quarter, all by Jordan Corum, as they quickly built a 7-2 lead, four of the points coming from Corum. North Harrison was ice cold from the field, fueling the Bobcats as they were able to turn those misses into fast break points on the other end.
Kolton Graham stopped the bleeding for the Shamrocks with a pair of free throws to cut it to 7-4 after one, and then Evan Schreiber struck twice to bring them within 9-8 early in the second. Keygun Johnson’s putback finally put them in the lead at 10-9.
Diesel Boswell’s steal put East Harrison back in front 12-10, only for Tyson Gibson to get a steal and convert to swing the momentum back to the Shamrocks. A Keygun Johnson block turned into a fast break and free throws at the other end for Jerry Gilpatrick, and Dustin Hamilton scored a backdoor layup to make it 16-12. But then Garrett Baker got loose in transition and Hagen Booth scored off a steal as the Bobcats fought back to tie at 16.
The game remained close at the start of the third until Hagen Booth hit a guarded three with 5:05 left to put East Harrison in front 25-22. But then Keygun Johnson responded with a scoring burst, hitting an inside shot off a pass from Tyson Gibson, grabbing a putback, driving and scoring for two, and then posting up and scoring after a pass from Kolton Graham. Jerry Gilpatrick added a 3-pointer to make it 33-25.
But Jordan Corum, who was out with foul trouble, came in and his presence on the floor stopped the bleeding for East Harrison, who fought their way back to within 33-30 after a Grayson McFall free throw and a Hagen Booth fast break at the start of the fourth.
Tyson Gibson hit a free throw, Keygun Johnson scored after bobbling an entry pass underneath his legs and recovering, and Jerry Gilpatrick added two free throws to make it 38-32. But after Booth cut it to 38-32 and later cleaned up after a steal to cut it to 38-34, and North Harrison started missing free throws, there was reason to worry that Tom Hogan, one of the best endgame coaches around, might work up some magic at the end.
But the players still have to make the plays, and North Harrison made just enough free throws at the end to hold off the Bobcats. Corum slashed and drained a shot over the much taller Johnson to make it 40-36 with a minute left, but Jerry Gilpatrick hit one free throw at the 52 second mark and another at the 32 second mark to make it six again, and East Harrison missed a couple of threes at the end.
Keygun Johnson had 17 points, Jerry Gilpatrick 8, Tyson Gibson 6, Ethan Henson and Evan Schreiber 4 each, and Kolton Graham and Dustin Hamilton 2 each.
Ethan Henson and Keygun Johnson had 3 blocks. Tyson Gibson had 2 and Andrew Craig 1.
Keygun Johnson had 13 boards. Tyson Gibson had 12, Dustin Hamilton 4, Ethan Henson and Andrew Craig 3 each, Kolton Graham 2, and Jerry Gilpatrick and Evan Schreiber 1 each.
Jerry Gilpatrick had 5 assists. Ethan Henson had 3, Dustin Hamilton and Tyson Gibson 2 each, and Kolton Graham 1.
Keygun Johnson had 4 tips. Jerry Gilpatrick had 2, and Dustin Hamilton, Kolton Graham, Evan Schreiber, Andrew Craig, Ethan Henson, and Tyson Gibson all had 1.
Tyson Gibson had 5 steals. Dustin Hamilton and Keygun Johnson had 2, and Jerry Gilpatrick and Evan Schreiber had 1.
The season started with a lot of promise, but the team was decimated with illness and injuries early, as they got off to a 1-11 start. But the Shamrocks have gotten more competitive as the season progressed and have won their 6th game. Tyson Gibson is the only departing senior, and they will have some promising freshmen coming up from a successful junior high squad. Johnson, Gilpatrick, and Henson will return to anchor a North Harrison squad that will have a lot of firepower, while upcoming freshman Wyatt Maize could break in.
The game didn’t make any difference between father and son, as they exchanged a bear hug after the game.
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