Jaxcynn Hansel Boards 20, Blocks 7, but Shamrocks Lose Final Game

Jaxcynn Hansel did all she could to stave off the inevitable, grabbing 20 boards and blocking seven shots Thursday, but the East Harrison Bobcats beat the Shamrocks up and down the court and got plenty of transition opportunities as they beat North Harrison 44-22. With the loss, the Shamrocks finished the regular season winless. Hansel had plenty of help on the boards as Carmon Fordyce, one of the shortest players on the floor any given night, came away with 11. Kira Robertson had 9 and Erica Gerken, who had not played ball since her freshman year, got to where she could give the team valuable minutes off the bench, added six. Gerken added two blocked shots of her own.

Five different Bobcats got into the scoring column as they raced out to a 10-0 lead in the first few minutes. While Karlee Crouse was the best player on the floor for them, they have gotten to where you can’t just guard her anymore. North Harrison hung around for a while as Jaci Davis hit a 3-pointer and Lani Briggs scored off a drive. But then a sixth Bobcat scored, and they continued to crash the boards and get the lead to 15-5 before Lani Briggs’ free throw cut it to 15-6 after one.

The Shamrocks hung around for the first part of the second quarter and even made East Harrison use a timeout, but then the bottom dropped out as Crouse fueled a big run that put the Bobcats up 31-8 before Jaxcynn Hansel cut it to 31-10 at the half. But the break did not save North Harrison as the Bobcat run continued through the third quarter as they lead grew to 43-11 after three.

But then, with five minutes left, Erica Gerken, playing in her last home game as a Shamrock, caught a skip pass, skidded along a slick spot on the floor near the right baseline, threw up a prayer from the three point line while falling backwards, and it somehow went in to spark the Shamrocks. She had been making her 3-point shots during halftime warmups, and it paid off. From there, the Shamrocks got one of their first sustained scoring runs all year as Jaci Davis got loose in transition, Lani Briggs got a tip, Carmon Fordyce got a steal, and threw it back to Briggs for two free throws, Jaci Davis drove and pulled up and scored from the high post, and then little-used Raven McClellan got an offensive board as time was expiring, handed it off to Carmon Fordyce, who put it back up and in as time expired.

Jaci Davis had 7 for the Shamrocks. Lani Briggs had 6, Jaxcynn Hansel 4, Erica Gerken 3, and Carmon Fordyce 2.

Kira Robertson had 3 assists. Lani Briggs and Jaci Davis had 2, and Carmon Fordyce, Jaxcynn Hansel, and Raven McClellan had 1.

Jaxcynn Hansel had 4 tips. Carmon Fordyce had 3, Kira Robertson 2, and Jaci Davis and Lani Briggs had 1.

Jaxcynn Hansel had 2 steals. Erica Gerken, Kira Robertson, Carmon Fordyce, and Lani Briggs had 1.