Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009

I thought I would share the newspaper story about Will from last night in the Times News.

Emotional victoryJerome girls exact revenge on Minico
By David BashoreTimes-News writer


Friday night's Great Basin Conference West girls basketball clash between Minico and Class 4A No. 1 Jerome was over the second Will Harbison set foot on the court minutes before the opening tip.After spending nearly 11 months in hospitals in Salt Lake City and Boise recovering from complications following a double-lung transplant to combat his cystic fibrosis, the former Jerome girls basketball coach received a heartfelt standing ovation from the Jerome and Minico players, coaches and fans as he took in his first game since coming home a couple of weeks ago.

Then his beloved Tigers, who didn't know he was going to be there, raced out to a 13-point first quarter lead en route to an emotional 51-26 throttling of the visiting Spartans.Jerome (13-3, 3-1 GBW) used pressure defense and transition baskets to forge an 18-5 lead in the opening period. It was eerily similar to the Tigers' 39-30 loss in Rupert earlier this season, when they took a 15-3 lead to start the game, but there was no collapse this time.Not with Harbison in the house, and not with revenge on the players' minds."This was redemption for us. Everyone was really excited for the game all week, and we knew we had to get them back," said sophomore guard Carrie Thibault, who scored a game-high 14 points. "It was really nice to see coach Will here supporting us. It really inspired us."

Baylie Smith added 13 points to help offset Minico's successful negation of Aubree Callen. The Spartans (7-8, 3-2) held Callen without a field goal and to just three points total.But the Jerome junior found another, just as effective, way to get involved as she pulled down five rebounds and dished out eight assists."She knows that when teams are (playing box-and-one against) her that she needs to get her teammates involved," Jerome head coach Brent Clark said of Callen. "She did a really good job of that, and she was strong on the defensive end.Jerome's defensive tenacity caused the Spartans to panic, Minico coach Joe D. Shepard said. The Tigers harried Minico into 27 turnovers in the game, compared to just 15 for the Tigers - six of those coming in garbage time in the fourth quarter.
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Will had dialysis today and he did okay. His cousin, Danny, Danny's girlfriend, AnnMarie, and her two kids were here tonight. They entertained Will all night. They are staying the night too.

I don't think Will has come down off from his "high" of last night. Just being on the gym floor was the best medicine. Now there won't be any stopping him. I know I still have the video to post to this blog but I just didn't have time today. So, so sorry.

God bless