Tyler New, Caleb New Lead Tigers Back From Dead Against Shamrocks

Worth County’s boys rose from the dead Monday night against North Harrison, holding them to four points in the last quarter and the extra period and coming back to get a 56-45 win Monday night.

The game started off well for the Tigers after Tyler New scored five straight, Caleb New had the hot hand, and Bo Collins and Hayden Sanders chipped in. Wyatt Maize kept the Shamrocks in the game with six points in the period, but Worth County led 16-10 after one.

But the Shamrocks had been playing excellent basketball lately and had been doing well on the road, and they suddenly started taking over. Dustin Hamilton got a steal, and Owan Roberson hit from the high post. Hayden Sanders hit his second three to give the Tigers a 21-14 lead, but then Keygun Johnson got untracked with five straight and Kolton Graham got a putback to tie it at 21. Caleb New hit a 3-pointer, but Jerry Gilpatrick got loose backdoor and Keygun Johnson got loose as well to put the Shamrocks up 25-24. Defensively, they were playing a zone, packing it in to take away the high-low and driving lanes for Tyler New, and forcing Worth County to try to beat them deep.

The Shamrocks have multiple weapons they can use, and Wyatt Maize started playing some of his best ball as a Shamrock, knocking down a 3-pointer, scoring off a Jerry Gilpatrick steal, slashing to the rim, and getting loose backdoor and getting a three point play for ten points in the third. Ethan Henson followed with back to back jacks, and all of a sudden, North Harrison was up 41-31 going into the fourth.

The score was stuck there for the first two minutes, but then all of a sudden, Worth County showed the kind of cornered animal mentality that brought them comeback wins against some good teams, including North Andrew, Gilman City, and Princeton. Tyler New, held to 11 points up to that point, scored off consecutive steals to cut it to 41-35 and then got a putback with 3:34 left to make it 41-37.

With the Tigers playing lockdown defense, something had to give, and finally, they started getting the kind of ball movement on offense that they had been struggling to find against North Harrison’s length and athleticism. Jerry Gilpatrick hit two free throws for North Harrison to break a seven minute scoring drought, but then Tyler New drove and kicked it out to Caleb New in the corner. Wyatt Maize blocked the shot, but then the officials said he contacted Caleb on the follow through, setting up a three shot foul. Caleb made all three foul shots to draw the Tigers to within 43-40 with 2:30 left. Similarly, Caleb made three straight free throws in a key sequence against North Andrew back in December.

Following another stop, Cole Ruby skipped one to Caleb New for three, and the game was all tied up at 43 with 2:30 left. North Harrison traveled on its next possession and Worth County had a chance to go ahead, but Cole Ruby missed a 3-pointer and the ball went out of bounds off the green shirts with 1:13 left. Cole Ruby missed again with 25 seconds left after another long possession. North Harrison had a chance to win in regulation, but Ethan Henson’s off balance three was short and the Tigers had forced overtime.

Caleb New, who had been hot all night, finally missed a 3-pointer, but Cole Ruby got the offensive board and the possession continued. Worth County had been looking for someone besides Tyler New, Karson Briner, and Bo Collins to step up their rebounding, and Cole stepped up when they needed him to. This time. Tyler New knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key and followed it with another with 2:13 left after Ethan Henson missed a 3-pointer. Tyler New then got a steal and Bo Collins got it into Karson Briner to make it eight at 51-43. Caleb New got a steal, and the Shamrocks had to start fouling. Tyler New was five for six from the line in the last 1:15 of the extra period.

For Worth County, Tyler New had 26, Caleb New 18, Hayden Sanders 6, Karson Briner 4, and Bo Collins 2.

Karson Briner had 2 blocks.

Bo Collins had 9 boards. Tyler New had 7, Karson Briner 6, Cole Ruby 5, Caleb New 2, and Hayden Sanders 1.

Tyler New had 6 assists. Caleb New had 3, Hayden Sanders and Cole Ruby 2, and Bo Collins 1.

Tyler New, Caleb New, and Karson Briner had 2 tips. Bo Collins had 1.

Tyler New had 7 steals. Karson Briner and Cannon Fletcher had 2, and Hayden Sanders, Bo Collins, Caleb New, and Cole Ruby had 1.

Wyatt Maize had 16 for North Harrison. Keygun Johnson had 9, Jerry Gilpatrick and Ethan Henson had 6, Dustin Hamilton 4, and Owan Roberson and Kolton Graham 2 each.

Wyatt Maize and Ethan Henson had 1 block each.

Keygun Johnson had 8 boards. Jerry Gilpatrick had 6, Ethan Henson 5, Kolton Graham 2, and Wyatt Maize 2.

Ethan Henson had 4 assists. Wyatt Maize and Jerry Gilpatrick had 3, Keygun Johnson 2, and Dustin Hamilton and Kolton Graham 1.

Wyatt Maize had 5 tips. Jerry Gilpatrick had 4, and Ethan Henson, Kolton Graham, and Keygun Johnson had 1.

Jerry Gilpatrick and Kolton Graham had 3 steals each. Dustin Hamilton had 2, and Wyatt Maize and Keygun Johnson had 1.