Last Friday night, the Harrison Central Huskies and Barnesville Shamrocks
Last Friday night, the Harrison Central Huskies and Barnesville Shamrocks met for the third time this season. The Huskies topped the Shamrocks by a combined 34 points in the first two contests, one of those a 69-54 outing in the season opener back in December, the other an 82-63 snoozer in mid-February. Those first two regular-season tips matter very little now however, as the (9) Shamrocks upset the second seeded Huskies 51-42 in the co-Sectional Championship last weekend.
Not only did the upset-minded Shamrocks thwart the Huskies bid for back-to-back Sectional titles under second year Head Coach Aaron Foldi, they did so in a convincing, downright smothering fashion.
The Huskies entered the tournament ranked as the 13th highest scoring team in the entirety of Ohio’s Div. III field at 66 points per game. That stat also mattered very little, as the Shamrocks forced the Huskies into 20+ turnovers and frenzied the pace of play to a point that the Huskies found absolutely no rhythm on the offensive end of the floor. The lower scoring affair may lead fans to believe it was a game dominated by methodical halfcourt action, but in reality, it was a suffocating and disruptive full-court defensive effort that led the Shamrocks to their first Sectional title since 1998.
The Huskies led 14-12 after the first eight minutes of play, but in the second frame the Shamrocks picked their spots and capitalized on every opportunity. Doing so gave the visitors a 28-22 lead at the break.
Brady Elliot, who turned in a team-high 15 points, knocked down eight marks in the first quarter. That early game effort was highlighted in large part by two huge trey balls in the opening minutes. Senior guard Hayden Cassidy added seven first half points to keep the home team within striking distance. The Huskies were no stranger to trailing at halftime, so a six-point deficit at the intermission in most cases this year wouldn’t be cause to press the panic button. But on the other hand, the Huskies running up double digit turnovers in the second quarter was a clear indicator to smash down on that aforementioned button.
The uncharacteristic flow of the game continued into the second half, as both teams combined to score just 11 points in the third quarter. After 24 minutes, the tally stood at an eye-catching 33-28 in favor of the Rocks.
There were late moments when it seemed the Huskies may rally and avoid being bounced from the bracket in the second round. The most obvious of those highlights came off a turnover that senior guard Alex Fluharty turned into a rim-rocking flush. The breakaway dunk breathed life into a gym that had otherwise been silenced most of the night. The Fluharty jam had cut the Barnesville lead to just four, but the excitement was short lived. Barnesville’s Taison Starr found the bottom of the net on the Shamrocks’ next possession. One last push from the Huskies came at the two-minute mark of the fourth, as an Elliot layup cut the gap down to two points (43-41). But, the Huskies would go on to score just one point in the final 120 seconds.
Senior guard Hayden Cassidy finished with 12 points. His classmate Clayton Vermillion followed that up with seven tallies. As a team, the Huskies shot 8/11 at the free throw line.
With the setback, the Huskies wrapped up their season with a 17-6 record. Before wiping out the Huskies, the Shamrocks knocked off the 5th seeded Buckeye Trail Warriors in the opening round. The top-seeded Malvern Hornets await the Rocks in the District semifinals, that game was scheduled for this past Tuesday night. Martins Ferry and Union Local were also paired up Tuesday night in the other half of the bracket.
