By PAUL GOTHAM
Josh Harter isn’t much for superstitions when it comes to making his final shot during pre-game warmups. But as far as facing his dad’s alma mater, that prospect gets his attention.
On Tuesday night, Harter and the Avon Braves took the court against Mount Morris in a Livingston County Athletic Association matchup. He didn’t connect on his final attempt before the opening tip-off. That wasn’t any indicator of his subsequent performance.
Harter found the bottom of the net on his first five attempts of the game, all from behind the 3-point arc.
And he was just getting warmed up.
“I was feeling good in warmups,” he said by phone the next day. “The ball was coming off my hands pretty smoothly, but I did not make my last shot. I’m not really superstitious. I just kinda go at it.”
When his night was done, the sophomore guard put his name in the Section V record books. He connected on 12 of his first 15 attempts from long range and finished with a single-game record of 14 3-pointers.
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“It still hasn’t settled in for me.”
Josh Harter connects on 14 3-pointers and breaks the @SecVBBasketball single-game mark previously held by Northstar Christian’s Ryan Garwood. pic.twitter.com/yUpjknauaV
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 18, 2023
It almost didn’t happen.
With seven made threes in the first half, Harter shifted his attention to open the third quarter. Leading 42-23 after 16 minutes of play (largely because of Harter’s 21 points), Avon found itself having to hold off a Mount Morris run in the opening moments of the third quarter.
“In the second half, they kinda made a little run at us, so I was just focused on winning the game and however I could do that.”
Avon head coach Rob Fries made a defensive adjustment during the break that included having Harter guard Navier Ford, the primary ballhandler of Mount Morris.
“He just kept getting the outlet and driving to the basket,” the 16th-year coach said of the opposing point guard. “We couldn’t get in front of him. Nobody’s going to talk about it, but I had him guarding their best kid. He did a great job defensively on their best kid. He worked really hard the whole game. He was whipped when the game was over.
“He had seven in the first half, but at that point he wasn’t thinking he was going to have 14 tonight or anything like that. He’s still in the game. He’s always in the game. He’s thinking how are we going to win. I got to go out and shut this kid down. He did, and he exerted a lot of energy doing that.”
Harter found his shooting touch again. He hit five threes late in the quarter including two in the final minute of the frame and one in the closing seconds.
By that time, fans in the bleachers behind the Avon bench were on to the possibility.
“People were saying ‘one more, one more.’ I thought I was getting one more for the school record not the Section V record. When I heard that, I was so surprised.”
Fries saw Harter’s performance as a natural extension of his competitiveness.
“It doesn’t surprise me as much with him. He’s got a motor that just never stops. He plays as hard as anybody. He plays one speed all the time. He’s really driven. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing in gym class or playing a sectional final. That’s just the way he plays.”
A hot-shooting night isn’t unfamiliar to Avon. Earlier this season, Harter’s classmate, Trevor Stroud, also connected on seven three-pointers in the first half.
“He didn’t get any looks in the third quarter,” Fries said recalling Stroud’s performance. “He kinda cooled off at halftime. The game kinda got to be 20 points and I took him out.
“The way Josh was firing at the end of the third quarter, I felt like he could make 20. He was that good.”
To top it off, Harter handed out 12 assists in the 88-57 win while not committing a turnover.
“He’s had a great year,” Fries stated. “Yesterday just shows what kind of a shooter he is. He’s a complete basketball player. He has been really good for us.”
Accomplishing the feat against Mount Morris had added meaning for Harter, whose dad played his high school ball for those same Blue Devils.
“It was my first varsity game against them,” he said. “My dad played there. I was definitely excited to play against them. There was a little added motivation, for sure. I was excited to go out there against my dad’s old school.”
Northstar Christian’s Ryan Garwood previously held the record with 13 3-pointers in a game on January 23rd, 2020. Garwood still holds the Section V record for 370 career 3-pointers made.
Harter’s 14 triples in one game ranks second in New York State behind only Austin Uhl of Coleman Catholic’s (IX) who hit 15 3-pointers in a single game on January 15th, 2016.
“One of the coolest things was the guys on the bench,” Fries said. “As he’s knocking ‘em in, they were as excited for him as anybody. They’ll forego their own night once somebody is hot.”
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