Barnesville upsets the Huskies in sectionals
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CADIZ -- Barnesville pulled off the shocker Friday night in Cadiz.
Facing the second-seeded Huskies for the third time this season, the Shamrocks outhustled and outplayed Harrison through four quarters and walked away with a cherished sectional co-championship via a hard-fought 51-42 victory.
Turnovers were the name of the game in the first half, especially in the second quarter when the visitors forced 15 turnovers and used a 16-8 run to take a 28-22 lead at the break.
Harrison owned a decided height advantage, and Barnesville and head coach Shane Stephens knew cranking up the defensive pressure would be paramount.
"I think our guys knew we'd have to press them," Stephens said as his team advances to a district semifinal meeting with Malvern, a big winner Friday against Edison. "We knew we'd have to throw everything we had at them to give us the best chance and, in the end, it worked.
"We put some pressure on and got them in a bind and we were able to stay on top."
In the previous meeting, Barnesville press did some damage early, but Harrison made some corrections in the second half, coming out and roaring back to win the game.
There'd be no such repeat Friday.
While the Huskies corrected the turnover problem in the third quarter -- dropping from 15 to only two -- the team still couldn't manage to buy a bucket. To make matters worse, Harrison held Barnesville nearly scoreless in the quarter.
Barnesville scored five points, but all five came within the final two minutes. Harrison's total for the third quarter? Six points. A prime opportunity to not only trim the deficit but in all likelihood take the lead went unrealized.
"They got us out of our zone," Harrison Central head coach Aaron Foldi said. "We talk about playing like us, and we didn't play like us. They did a great job of getting us out of what we like to do offensively, and defensively.
"They spread us out defensively and we made mistakes, made turnovers and it was their pressure that caused it."
When the third quarter ended, Barnesville still led by five at 33-28. Harrison did make one final run though.
Momentun appeared to finally swing the Huskies way when Alex Fluharty made a steal near midourt, drove to the basket and threw down a strong one-handed dunk, igniting the home crowd.
That cut the deficit to two at 35-33, but the Huskies got no closer. A possibility to tie the score at 43 came and went later in the final quarter when both ends of a two-shot foul rimmed out.
Harrison is one of the Ohio Valley's top-shooting free throw teams across the board, yet the Huskies finished an uncharacteristic 6-of-12 at the line. It just wasn't their night.
"The toughest thing is for our seven seniors," Foldi said. "Right there, the word we use is love, we love these guys and that's the type of program and culture we're trying to build here.
"But we just go out of our zone, and that's on me too as a coach. I have to do a better job of preparing and learning as a young coach."
Casey Carpenter finished with a game-high 19 points to lead the Shamrocks, including nine in the final quarter when the Barnesville guard came up with big plays all over the court.
Brady Elliott led Harrison with 15 points, which also received 12 from leading scorer Hayden Cassidy. Cassidy and second-leading scorer Mykel Quito, however, were limited to six points combined in the second half. Elliott didn't fare much better, totaling only five after a 10-point first quarter explosion.
Barnesville knew were to target its defensive efforts most, and it paid off.
"We focused on them hard, especailly (Cassidy and Elliott)," Stephens said. "Cassidy is a very good player and he had 20-some the last time we played, so we tried to keep them in check and make the other guys beat us and it worked."
Barnesville 51, Harrison Central 42
Barnesville 12 16 15 18 — 51
Harrison Central 14 8 6 14 — 42
B - Carpenter 8 3-3 19; Starr 5 0-2 10; Detling 0 1-2 1; Castello 5 3-4 14; Geilinger 0 3-4 3; Willis 1 0-0 3; Totals: 19 19015 51.
H - Cassidy 4 3-3 12; Elliott 5 3-4 15; Quito 1 2-2 4; Ody 1 0-0 2; Vermillion 3 1-3 7; A.Fluharty 1 0-0 2; Hutton 0 0-0 0; Totals: 15 6-12 42.
Three-point Goals: Castello 2, Willis. Elliott 2, Cassidy