HARRISON VS. OZARK - CLASS 4A NORTH REGION TOURNAMENT

MORRILTON — It was Harrison's first taste of a regional tournament in nearly four decades. The Goblins didn't like the recipe that was used in the contest. Wednesday night in the Class 4A North Region, the Harrison Goblins fell to the Ozark Hillbillies, 58-48. The loss ends the Harrison season. advertisement After winning the 4A-1 District Tournament last weekend, the Goblins secured the No. 1 seed from the league. Ozark was the No. 4 seed from the 4A-4. Points were a struggle for Harrison throughout the night. Harrison trailed, 12-11, entering the second period. The Goblins were able to secure one lead in the second period, but Ozark took that advantage back 19 seconds later. The Goblins tied the contest one time in the second half. After Ozark built their lead, the Goblins could only pull within four points. With Ozark leading, 21-16, Harrison made a move. Ben Elliott completed a three-point play. Ozark hit another 3-pointer before Carson Journagan hit two free throws. He then made a basket and with 1:46 left in the first half, Elliott drained a trey from the left side of the key to give Harrison a 26-24 lead. On the next trip down the court, the Hillbillies jacked a 3-pointer up and took the lead. They never trailed again. Coming out of the locker room, Harrison trailed, 29-26. Champ Saylors scored for Harrison, but the Hillbillies hit the next four points. Saylors scored again after taking a pass from Dustin Gundry. At the 3:39 mark of the third period, Ethan Edwards tied the contest at 33. Ozark scored the last five points of the period and led 38-33. The Hillbillies opened the fourth period with a bucket after collecting an offensive putback. Gundry hit a trey with 7:07 left to make it a 40-36 game. After another score, Ozark was back up by six points. Harrison turned the basketball over, but Journagan had a steal and hit a layup to pull the Goblins back within four at 42-38. Things started to slide for Harrison. The Goblins went nearly 3 minutes without a point and Ozark built a 48-38 lead. With 2:44 left, Journagan knocked down two free throws to cut the Hillbilly lead to eight points. Ozark couldn't put the game away at the free throw line. The team netted 4-of-8 free throws allowing Journagan to scored his last points as a Goblin at the 1:41 mark of the game. He hit two free throws and later Elliott nailed a trey off the backboard. With 34.9 seconds left in the game, Jacob Shrum hit a trey to pull Harrison within, 54-48. Shrum's basket was the last of the season for Harrison. Harrison was led in scoring by Journagan and Elliott with 14 points each. Saylors added nine, Shrum five and Gundry and Edwards three each.

HARRISON VS. OZARK - CLASS 4A NORTH REGION TOURNAMENT

JEFF BRASEL

Harrison Daily Times | 2/26/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Jeff Brasel