GOBLINS SHOW OUT IN RIVALRY WIN AT BRANSON

BRANSON, Mo. — The game was close...for 2 minutes. After that, the Harrison Goblins blew the doors off their cross-state rivals, the Branson Pirates. Harrison brought home a 61-42 win over the Pirates in what was a dominating performance for the Goblins. It should come as no surprise that the Goblin defense was the catalyst to the rout. Tanner Curry opened the game with a triple from the left corner to give Harrison a lead that wouldn’t last long. The Pirates responded with a three of their own, but Braeden Boren hit a layup to put the Gobs back on top. After a basket from Branson to even the game at 5-5, Harrison went on a 13-0 run, led by the defense. Jackson Marseilles knocked down a free throw before Boren came up with back-to-back steals leading to layups. Curry hit Marseilles under the basket for an easy lay in and Curry then knocked down a pair of charity tosses to make it 14-5. The first double-digit lead for Harrison came on a play that erupted the entire gym. A missed layup by the Goblins in traffic bounced of the rims, but senior standout Trevor Atwell cut through the lane to rise about the defense and put a two-handed slam down for a 16-5 lead. Just 30 seconds later, Atwell got his second dunk of the night after being left wide open under the basket to cap the run at 18-5. Branson hit back-to-back 3s, but Harrison would score the final eight points of the quarter. Atwell had an offensive putback before Nathan Jenkins added a triple from the right corner with 43 seconds left. The Goblins had the ball for one last possession and time winding down in the quarter when Boren got off an off-balanced 3 from the left wing that found nothing but net as the buzzer sounded. Harrison led, 26-11. Branson started the second quarter with a bucket and back-to-back 3s to cut the lead to eight points, but Harrison began to roll, and it was once again aided by the Goblin defense. Curry scored on a driving layup before the Goblins took back-to-back charges on the defensive end of the floor. Jenkins took the first charge before Atwell set up for the second. The Gobs got another score from Curry in the paint before Jenkins came up with a steal and fed Boren for a layup. Marseilles drained a 3-pointer to move the Harrison lead to 35-18 and the Goblin defense again forced a turnover as Curry took a charge, the third charge taken in the quarter for Harrison. After a jumper from Marseilles and a layup for Skyler Young off a pass from Jenkins, Harrison took a 39-19 lead into the half. It was all Harrison in the third quarter. A driving layup from Curry ended with an and-one play as he sank the foul shot. Just 15 seconds later, the Goblins got another steal and Boren left a lob off the backboard to Atwell who finished with a flush. Harrison would increase its lead to 58-29 at the conclusion of the third quarter. Marseilles finished with a team-leading 16 points for the Goblins. Boren added 13, Curry 10, Atwell eight, Jenkins six, Young five and Colton Youngblood three. “Coach Todd Richardson takes care of our defense and does a great job,” Harrison head coach David Stahler said following the win. “He kind of turned up the pressure a bit. Our two guards can dictate the tempo of the game, Tanner and Braeden, and they did. Their pressure was great. They played games with their guards. They double teamed and then rotate and then jump passing lanes and trapped, and that set the tone for the rest of the game.” Stahler turned his attention to not only what the team did well on the night, but also a habit the team is prone to falling into he would like to see fixed. “I think our guard play is really good,” he started. “And, really, our front line play is really good. The thing I’m pleased with after this game, you have to be pleased with the defense. I felt like in the second and third quarters, they were in their zone, and I feel like a lot of people are going to play a zone, and we expect them to. In the second and third quarters we attacked the middle a lot more. “We have a problem when we’re too 3 oriented,” he remarked on the Gobs habit to rely on the longball at times. “We pass the ball around the perimeter and we get 3s and take a lot of 3s. We’ve been taking a lot of 3s without getting the ball in the lane. We had a big, early lead and let them back into it a littlle bit because of our shot selection. We don’t need to get complacent in our execution. In the second and third quarters we were able to probe the zone a little bit better. I think that’s the biggest concern is to get consistent.” One of the things that was evident during the lopsided win for the Goblins is the amount of fun this team has on the court. After playing together for so long, this Goblin team has gelled and it shows with their play.

GOBLINS SHOW OUT IN RIVALRY WIN AT BRANSON

CRAIG ENLOE

Harrison Daily | 11/23/2016

PHOTO CREDIT: Harrison Athletics