HURON The Huron Tigers rallied strong to have a chance to tie the game with a last-second shot on Saturday against the Harrisburg Tigers, but the home team fell short in a 54-53 loss at Huron Arena.
The visitors came out with a full-court man-to-man press that really frustrated Huron ballhandlers early on, and Harrisburg jumped out to a 7-0 lead with multiple turnovers by Huron.
Chloe Carr worked a pick-and-roll with Aly Davis and was fouled, hitting both free throws to put Huron on the board for the first time with four and a half minutes left in the first quarter.
Mya Johnson got into the lane for Harrisburg and hit a short jumper, but she missed the foul shot. Thats when Hylton Heinz became quite aggressive to the hoop, earning two trips to the foul line before then hitting a runner across the lane, bringing Huron within 9-7 by the end of that run.
Logan Durnil hit her second three of the quarter for Harrisburg and Heinz got to the hoop again, putting a second Harrisburg starter to the bench with two fouls. One of two at the line for Claire McCallum for Harrisburg left the score 13-8 at the end of the first frame.
Makinley Lawrenson made an aggressive move to the hoop to open the second quarter and Lyncoln Tryon drove hard from the corner without a lot of resistance to make it 16-8 Harrisburg.
Allison Janes nailed a three, but Bria Miller responded for Harrisburg with a quick drive into the lane for two, keeping the lead at 18-11 Harrisburg.
Abby Harrington was fouled underneath and got one free throw and Heinz nailed a long baseline jumper.
Lawrenson was fouled and hit a pair of free throws, and Jencie Goergen came off the bench and nailed a long three to make it 20-17, where the score would remain at half.
After attempting just 11 shots the entire first half, the Huron girls came out attacking, scoring on a transition basket to Aly Davis to get within one, but Durnil responded with a three. Davis would get another transition basket, but Jaida Mason answered with a hard drive for two. Heinz would immediately respond with a bucket in the lane to keep Huron within 25-23.
Brynn VanBockern got her first bucket and drew Carrs third foul and Mya Johnson and Lawrenson added buckets to push the lead out to 31-23.
Goergen hit her second deep three, but the offensive rebounding got extra looks for Harrisburg, which they turned into a free throw and a putback bucket. Huron continued to push the tempo, getting a layup for Addy Knight to cut it to 34-28.
VanBockern would hit a three, but Janes responded with a bucket in the lane.
Lawrenson drew Davis third foul on a move underneath, getting the hoop and the harm. After the free throw, Harrisburg held a double-digit lead, 40-30.
Janes would hit one of two free throws and Carr would hit a short shot in the lane, but Lawrenson scored her ninth point of the quarter to make it 42-33 heading into the final period.
The two teams traded buckets early in the quarter. Durnils fifth three made it 50-39, the largest lead Harrisburg enjoyed in the game.
From that point, Huron began to quickly close the gap. Davis hit a three and Heinz hit a bucket in the lane to make it 50-44.
Carr picked up her fourth foul on defense before Durnil hit her only non-three of the game. Heinz responded with a bucket and then got two free throws the next trip down to cut the lead to four, 52-48.
Lawrenson fell with the ball on a rebound, but no travel was called and Carr picked up her fifth foul attempting to get the ball on the gound. Lawrenson missed both free throws and after getting the offensive rebound on the free throw, VanBockern was fouled and hit one of two, making the lead 53-48 with less than 30 seconds left in the game.
Janes would nail a three to cut the lead to two, and Huron was able to get Johnson to the line where she would miss two, but again Harrisburg got the offensive rebound and Mason hit one of two to make it 54-51 Harrisburg.
Huron ran a play to get a three, and Allyson Knight created contact on a free throw line jumper that she hit, but no call was made, leaving the final Harrisburg 54, Huron 53.
Harrisburg moves to 4-2 behind 17 points from Durnil, including five three-pointers. Lawrenson added 16.
Huron (3-4) was led by Heinz with 16. Janes added 11 and Davis had nine and nine rebounds.
Huron coach Kody Kopfmann was frustrated with his teams defensive effort.
I didnt like our defensive execution or our defensive effort, he observed. Too many times we let a girl get to the lane and then we didnt clear it out when they did miss.
Even with his frustrations with the defense, the two big areas that Kopfmann has emphasized – avoiding turnovers and getting more shots on the hoop – were both areas he was pleased with in Saturdays tilt.
I think we had nine turnovers and ended up with 11, Kopfmann emphasized. When we take care of the ball and get shots up, good things happen. We shot 58 percent from the field, but we still need more shots.
The Tigers host Mitchell on Tuesday.
Harrisburg 13 20 42 54
Huron 8 17 33 53
Harrisburg (4-2): Mya Johnson 2 0-3 4, Brynn VanBockern 2 1-3 6, Logan Durnil 6 0-0 17, Bria Miller 1 0-0 2, Lyncoln Tryon 1 0-0 2, Makinley Lawrenson 5 4-8 16, Claire McCallum 0 2-4 2, Jaida Mason 2 1-2 5. Totals: 19 8-20 54.
Huron (3-4): Allison Janes 4 1-2 11, Aly Davis 3 2-2 9, Hylton Heinz 5 6-8 16, Abagail Harrington 0 1-2 1, Addyson Knight 2 0-0 4, Jencie Goergen 2 0-0 6, Chloe Carr 2 2-2 6. Totals: 18 12-16 53.
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