North Harrison’s girls could not hold a 22-14 halftime lead against East Harrison Saturday as the Bobcats came back and beat the Shamrocks 35-30.
Trendi Johnson had the hot hand in the second quarter, getting nine points off 3-pointers in the period as the Shamrocks grew their lead from three. Jaci Davis hit a 3-pointer to start the third to make it 25-14. But then East Harrison put a triangle and two on Johnson and leading scorer Jayliegh Robins. Robins, who took three charges in the second and third quarters, then picked up her fourth foul and had to sit.
The second half was a microcosm of the way the season has gone for the Shamrocks, who have only won two games. They have typically played one or two strong quarters, even against good teams, only to fade away as the game progressed. The Northeast Nodaway game was a good example. With only six players, it is hard to keep up with teams with normal numbers of players and even harder to do so with foul trouble. Sure enough, by the start of the fourth quarter, the lead was gone.
Like sharks in the water smelling blood, the Bobcats sensed that North Harrison’s players were tired and went to a suffocating man to man defense in the fourth. The Bobcat lead grew to as many as five before Jayliegh Robins returned and converted a steal to make it 33-30 with 2:46 left. But when one is tired, your legs are gone and it is difficult to make tough shots. North Harrison didn’t score another point the rest of the way.
The game also showed how much the Bobcats had improved as a team. Against North Nodaway, the Bobcats threw in the towel in December after the Mustangs hung 31 points on them in the first quarter and lost 49-18; in Saturday’s game, they showed no such quit and fought back. The Bobcats managed their comeback despite their standout, Karlee Crouse, only scoring two points through three quarters before going off in the fourth quarter; the balanced scoring from five other players kept them in the game before Crouse took over in the fourth. Off to a bad start at 2-9, the Bobcats are now at 11 wins and are having their best season since the 2017-18 season, when they won 17 games under Bill Pottorff and won the HDC Tournament. They will be a team to beat next year, as they only have one senior in the roster listed.
The challenge for the Shamrocks next year will be to put a team on the floor for next year. Of their six players left, four graduate. The two current players returning are Jaci Davis and Kira Robertson. A third, Carmon Fordyce, who was injured in the Pattonsburg loss (concussion), will return. Two promising incoming freshmen in Lani Briggs and Jaxcynn Hansel make five. But if the Shamrocks are to put a competitive team on the floor next year, they will have to find a way to generate interest and excitement in the basketball team like they do for softball. The Shamrocks regularly have 20 players out every year for softball.
Jayliegh Robins and Trendi Johnson had 9 for the Shamrocks. Jaci Davis had 8, Halle Morgan 5, and Kira Robertson 1. While the stats didn’t show it, Rhaelynn Estrada got better every single game this year. Her presence on the floor meant that North Harrison didn’t have to force Jayliegh Robins or Halle Morgan to play with four fouls in the third quarter of the Winston game, one of two games the Shamrocks have won. And her presence meant that there were several times North Harrison didn’t have to finish with four players.
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