Harrison Central falls to Morgan
CADIZ — Morgan entered Tuesday night’s Division III sectional tournament game in a shooting slump. You couldn’t tell by the way it shot in the first half.
The visiting Raiders, the No. 8 seed, meshed 11 of 21 field goal attempts (52 percent) in taking a 31-21 lead into the lockerroom during their Division III boys’ sectional basketball tournament contest against fifth-seeded Harrison Central. That would be enough as the teams played on even terms in the second half in a 55-45 upset decision.
The loss ended the Huskies season at 13-10.
“We shot lights-out in that first half. I think we had seven three-point baskets,” Morgan head coach Rob Justice said. “That’s what we do is shoot the ball. Tonight we came out on fire. This beautiful facility must be the key. It’s well-lit and was very generous to us.
“It came down to we made more shots down the stretch than they did.”
Morgan (14-10) tickled the twine 10 times from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to keep the pesky Huskies (13-10) at bay.
“We missed some easy shots early on and couldn’t make a play when we needed to,” Harrison Central head coach Justin Clifford summed up the loss. “That’s what they (Morgan) do. They shoot it.
“We got rattled a little bit with their zone and they made some shots,” he added.
Junior Kobe Mitchell kept the Huskies in the game in the first half as he tallied 15 of his game-high 28.
“They threw some guys at him there in the second half in an attempt to wear him down,” Clifford said of Morgan’s defense on Mitchell.
Morgan led 16-13 after one quarter as it drained four trifectas. Harrison Central cut the deficit to 22-19 midway through the second panel, but Josh Wells knocked down a bonus goal that ignited a 9-2 run to end the half to extend the lead to 31-21.
“We knew they were a good team. We knew we were going to have to play our best to win,” Clifford said. “We played good enough, but not good enough to win.”
Both squads scored 10 points in the third quarter and 14 in the fourth.
The Huskies did threaten as they pared the margin to six twice in the fourth quarter, the final time with 42 seconds remaining, 4-0 but the Raiders cashed in at the charity stripe down the stretch in a game-ending 4-0 run.
“(Mitchell) is one heckuva player. He makes there team so much better because you have to spend so much time guarding him,” Justice said.
Josh Wells paced Morgan with 18 points. Gabe Altier added 10. Carver Myers, the Raiders’ junior 1,000-point scorer, had nine points — all in the first half — and grabbed a game-best 12 rebounds.
Skylar Mazeroski and Jonathan Vermillion each had eight rebounds for Harrison Central. Vermillion added nine points. Mitchell finished with six boards.
Morgan plays at Union Local Friday night.