An extended break in basketball action due to COVID-19 concerns was ended on Thursday night when Harrison opened Goblin Arena for a senior-high non-conference matchup with the War Eagles and Lady Eagles of Rogers Heritage.
The opening game featured a big lead for Harrison in the senior girls game that ended with a 46-38 win for the Lady Goblins.
The final game of the night featured the Goblins being defeated by the War Eagles, 68-60.
Senior Girls
The Lady Goblins led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter and outlasted a late push by Rogers Heritage to claim a 46-38 win at home.
It was Rogers Heritage who scored first in the non-conference contest, but it was Harrison who scored the next six field goals.
After a pair of Mariah Hudson free throws, Clare Barger scored back-to-back buckets followed by a trey by Sydney Shrum. Hudson added a driving score and Alex Hill hit consecutive 3-pointers to give Harrison a 17-4 lead.
Rogers Heritage hit a 3 and the Lady Goblins had a 17-7 edge at the first break.
Barger scored the first three points of the second period for Harrison, but Rogers Heritage scored eight unanswered points to get within, 20-17, with 3 minutes remaining in the first half.
The Lady Goblins finished the second with a 6-0 run. Hill hit a pair of charity shots before Barger scored her ninth point of the game. Hudson scored on a putback and Harrison controlled a 26-17 lead at intermission.
Harrison went 4-of-6 at the foul line in the third period with Hudson scoring seven points to lead the way. Barger scored on a baseline drive and then assisted to Shrum on the next possession. The Lady Goblins outscored the Lady War Eagles by a 13-6 score and entered the fourth period with a 39-23 lead.
Rogers Heritage struck first in the fourth period but Harrison responded. Maggie Salmon scored on an offensive putback and Hudson later pushed the ball in transition and finished with an assist to Barger for a layup.
Hudson hit two free throws that gave the Lady Goblins their biggest lead of the night, 45-28.
Rogers Heritage then went on a 10-1 run to finish the game while Tenelle Tate scored the lone Harrison point in the final 5 minutes of the contest.
Hudson led all scorers with 15 points for the Lady Goblins. Barger finished with 13 points. Hill eight, Shrum seven, Salmon two and Tate one.
Senior Boys
The Thursday nightcap at Goblin Arena didn’t go in favor of the home team.
Harrison never gave up the fight and fought until the final buzzer. The Goblins could never regain the lead after the first period and ended the night with a 68-60 loss at the hands of Rogers Heritage.
After trailing by 10 points early in the third period, Harrison went on a 9-2 run to make it a three-point contest.
A Logan Plumlee free throw was followed by Bryce Bonds assisting Ethan Edwards for an acrobatic layup while in transition to begin the run. Edwards scored the next six points capped by a step-back trey on the right wing that moved Harrison to its smallest deficit, down 45-42, with 1:39 left in the third period.
The War Eagles then responded with six unanswered points.
Edwards drained his fifth 3 of the night before the end of the third and Harrison trailed, 51-45.
Rogers Heritage opened the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run with Edwards scoring the lone Harrison field goal. The 60-47 lead was the biggest lead of the night for the War Eagles.
A collective effort by the Goblins offensively tried to catch up with Rogers Heritage the rest of the way.
Timber Crenwelge added a pair of buckets in the paint while Gatlin James and Abe Glidewell each scored in the lane. Logan Plumlee added a trey from the left side after a James steal but eight points from the War Eagles in the final two minutes was too much for Harrison to overcome.
Edwards scored eight of his 29 points in the first period with a pair of treys and a driving layup. Maverick Wynn and Owen Styles each scored in the first period and Harrison trailed by a 17-12 score at the first break.
The second period was even on both ends of the court as the two teams traded baskets during the entirety of the period before halftime.
Edwards and Glidewell each tallied six points in the quarter while Plumlee shot for five points.
The 29 points from Edwards led all scorers. Glidewell finished in double-digits with 10 points and Plumlee scored nine. Crenwelge and Wynn scored four apiece and James and Styles added two each.
LADY GOBLINS STAY UNDEFEATED WITH WIN OVER RH; GOBLINS FALL SHORT
