Tough beginning for Harper teams in N4C play
The Harper College men's and women's basketball teams opened North Central Community College Conference play in difficult fashion last week.
The men went 0-2 in league play while the women finished the week 0-2 before both teams picked up their first conference wins earlier this week.
On Tuesday of last week, the Harper women lost 75-54 to Joliet Junior College (3-12). Facing the same foe, which is the defending national champion, the men lost 88-62.
“I didn't think we attacked (the zone) as well as we could've,” said Harper men's coach Tony Amarino. “We couldn't stop the bleeding; we were playing catch-up the whole way.”
On Saturday, it was the Harper women's turn to play a ranked opponent, second-ranked Rock Valley College. The Golden Eagles downed the visiting Hawks 78-52, and the men suffered a 69-60 loss to Rock Valley.
The women's game featured two of the NJCAA Division III leading scorers in Cierra Morris of Rock Valley and Anna Kirchoff (Barrington) of Harper.
Morris made the difference in the game, shooting 6-for-11 from the field and scoring a team-high 15 points with 5 rebounds.
Kirchoff finished 3-for-17 from the field but pitched in with 3 steals and 7 rebounds. Sara Kellermeyer score a team-high 15 points of 6-for-21 shooting to go with a game-high 9 rebounds.
The good news for head coach Mark Smith was that he was able to use his whole roster as no Hawk saw less than five minutes of action.
This week's games started better for the women's team as a four-game conference road swing coninued at Wright College. The Hawks defeated the Rams 51-46. Once again it was the inside-outside combination of Kirchoff and Kellermeyer (Schaumburg) pacing the Hawks. The duo combined to score 35 of the Hawks' 51 points. Kellermeyer also had 8 rebounds and Kirchoff finished with a team-high 4 assists.
Ÿ Freshman guard Garrett Gatz showed he might be the conference's best 3-point shooter against Rock Valley on Saturday, when he was 4-for-8 from behind the arc on the way to a 16-point game.
“Garrett was in a good ryhthm,” Amarino said.
Shonnon Barfield led the Hawks in scoring with 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field. He also producd 3 steals and 6 rebounds.
The good news for the Hawks was that they were able to force the Golden Eagles into 26 turnovers.
“They (Rock Valley) played a tough game,” Amarino said. “They just hit shots.”
On Tuesday, the Hawks traveled to Chicago and defeated Wright College 83-53.
“It was a big game for us,” Amarino said of getting the team's first conference win of the season.
On Saturday, the Hawks travel to Milwaukee to take on Milwakee Area Technical College.
“If we take care of ourselves we have a chance (to win),” said Amarino, who said his biggest concern is matching up with MATC's size advantage.