Defensive woes hurt Harper against Joliet
As much as the Harper College men's basketball staff might like to rewind the clock to better times — such as last year's meeting against Joliet, when the Hawks stayed close to the Wolves before falling on a last-second shot — there's no choice but to live in the present.
With most of the players gone from last season's thrilling meeting between the teams, Harper was left with an 80-66 loss to Joliet on Wednesday in the Sports and Wellness Center in Palatine.
And their most recent outcome left the Hawks focusing on getting better defensive results.
“We just have to focus on defense,” said Harper sophomore forward Shonnon Barfield, who led the Hawks in scoring with 15 points along with teammate Horace Grant, Jr. “Offensively — we can't worry about that right now.”
Early in the contest it seemed as if the Wolves were the more focused team. Harrison Hines and Jon Bartlett helped set the tone for Joliet, scoring 19 of the Wolves' first 21 points as Joliet jumped out to a 21-8 lead.
The Hawks responded with an 8-2 run, cutting the lead to 6.
That was the pattern for most of the first half, as Harper produced small scoring spurts to stay close and Joliet responded to stay comfortably ahead.
Harper coach Tony Amarino summed up the evening in two words: “Very frustrating.”
By halftime, the Wolves (13-6 overall, 2-1 North Central Community College Conference) had a 40-28 lead.
“We came out walking instead of getting after it,” Amarino said of his team's first-half effort.
In the second half, the Hawks hit the floor running. Grant Jr., Barfield and Brian Battaglia (Elk Grove, 7 points) combined to score the first 7 points of the half.
That forced Joliet coach Joe Kuhn to call a timeout with his team leading 40-35 with 17:50 to play. He looked again to Bartlett (20 points) and Hines (game-high 23) for some scoring, and they delivered with 4 points.
But Harper stubbornly responded. Freshman point guard Connor Miklasz (Hersey) drained the first of two 3-point shots, keying a 13-0 run. Barfield added 5 points the final two, giving the Hawks a 51-49 lead with 12:47 to play. Miklasz finished with 14 points and made 4 3-pointers.
“We decided to play with the tempo and the intensity that we love (to play with),” Amarino said. “When we do things well, we are just as good as who we are playing.”
With 11:56 to play, Barfield picked up his fourth foul. He did not return until 6:38 remaining, and at that point the Hawks trailed 61-55. Once again the Wolves played coy with the Hawks, going on an 8-0 run to put the game out of reach.
“It's so frustrating that we have such bad stretches,” Amarino said of the multiple point runs that his team gave up.
Joliet outrebounded Harper 44-17.