Huskies pull through in final moments against Weir, 68-65
Dec. 12—RACHEL — After getting out to an early lead Saturday, the North Marion Huskies were in danger of falling apart late in their game against the Weir Red Riders.
A consistent first half advantage on the scoreboard had evaporated by the end of the third quarter, with the crucial fourth frame containing two ties and five lead changes.
In a physical battle that went down to the final minute, a Parker Kincell three-pointer put North up 66-65 with 30 seconds to play. Then, one missed Weir shot later, two Tariq Miller free throws sealed the game in favor of the Huskies (1-0), 68-65.
Kincell's big shot at the end of the game was one of a few clutch moments from the junior. Kincell also banked in a nearly 40-foot three-pointer right as the third quarter ended to put North up 51-48 going into the fourth.
"I told his dad the other day, he's had confidence in practice, he's shooting the ball," North Marion head coach Steve Harbert said. "Parker just likes to compete and wants to be good at anything he plays, he's a three-sport guy, wants to be good at all of them. We have the utmost confidence in Parker."
The Huskies found themselves in a dogfight after breezing through the opening minutes against Weir. The basket looked to be about twice as wide in the the first quarter, with North hitting at a rather high efficiency and jumping out in front.
"They've been working hard," Harbert said. "When they go into practice, we get a lot of shots up. That's how we condition and how we practice. I could tell we were getting tired midway through that second quarter, we were starting to lose our legs a little bit. We've just got to continue to build depth, and we did a good job, I felt."
Harley Sickles led the Huskies in scoring Saturday, with a much-needed 19-point double-double from North's bruising interior anchor.
"He's always important," Harbert said of Sickles. "He's 6-foot-4, 215 pounds and plays hard, wants to be good. He's strong, he's a very skilled player, he can play inside and out. He's obviously important."
Sickles was gobbling up rebounds all day, but despite his day Weir still had success on the offensive glass, an advantage that afforded the Red Riders a lot of extra chances, and had Weir sitting with a 63-65 advantage with a minute to go in the game.
"My disappointment is rebounding," Harbert said. "We didn't rebound the basketball. In the second quarter and the entire second half, until I took a timeout and we discussed it."
Harbert's squad was able to settle down and make the plays they needed to down the stretch, but the Huskies had faced their fair share of adversity up to that point. Cruz Tobin didn't play past the first quarter due to illness, and multiple key North players were benched due to foul trouble.
Sickles and Preston Williams each finished with four fouls and Tariq Miller finished with three, as the hard-nosed tone the game adopted took its toll.
"The way that we practice, it's always that next-man-up mentality," Harbert said. "When a brother goes down, somebody else has to step up and take that spot. They've grasped that role. [Casey] Minor, [Landon] Frey, we thought Frey was pretty good coming in. Malachi [Funkhouser]'s Steady Eddy man, he very rarely puts you in a bad position, and he can guard one through five."
Weir was led in scoring by Anthony Cross with 18.
For North, in addition to Sickles' 19, Kincell finished with 11 on 3-4 three-point shooting, Miller finished with 12— including his two game-clinching free throws— Williams finished with 10, Tobin finished with eight, and Funkhouser finished with eight. North made five three-pointers as a team and went 11-18 (61%) from the free-throw line.
Next for North, they go on the road to take on Berkeley Springs on Wednesday.
Reach Nick Henthorn at 304-367-2548 or by email at nhenthorn@timeswv.com.
