SHADYSIDE — It has been a winter of rebuilding for both the Barnesville and Shadyside boys’ basketball programs.

The Shamrocks welcomed back only two returning lettermen to this year’s squad. That is two more than the Tigers.

Needless to say, wins have been hard to come by so far for both teams this season.

With that as a backdrop, the two youthful squads squared off at the Tigers’ Den Friday night in a rematch of the Shamrocks’ 55-41 opening-season triumph over the Orange. And once again, Barnesville prevailed by a 55-46 count.

The Red & Green triumph came to fruition thanks to a strong defensive effort, a late first-half scoring spree and solid performances from Ryker Willis and Casey Carpenter.

The contest was close-knit for the first quarter-and-a half.

The Shamrocks led 15-11 after the opening eight minutes and maintained a similar cushion until the late stages of the first half. Coach Shane Stephens’ charges, however, closed with a 12-2 run in grabbing a 35-21 advantage at intermission.

Barnesville led the entire second half via a double-digit margin with the final score being the initial time the Tigers closed to under a 10-point deficit.

Willis led the Shamrocks’ offensive attack with 19 points. The talented southpaw netted 17 markers in the opening half. Carpenter, another lefty, was solid support with 16 counters.

Braedon Willis was next with eight tallies.

Shadyside hurt itself by committing 14 turnovers, many of the unforced variety. Eleven of those miscues came prior to intermission.

“We needed this win,” Stephens offered. “We shot the ball well tonight. That has been our Achilles heel at times this year.

“Our defense was solid which helped to feed our offense. We played with a lot of energy,” added the second-year head coach. “It was a nice solid performance. We got contributions from a lot of players.”

The win improved Barnesville to 5-10 on the campaign. The Shamrocks will host rival Union Local Tuesday.

Shadyside fell for the 12th time in 13 starts.

“We made too many mistakes. We turned the ball over way too many times in the first half,” Tigers’ veteran boss Ed Andes offered. “We let the game get away from us at the end of the first half. We got a little sloppy with the ball and they took advantage and went on a big run.”

“We don’t want to put ourselves in a position where we have to make up big deficits,” he continued. “But give Barnesville credit. They shot it well and played well.”

Shadyside welcomes Bellaire on Tuesday.

Ean Weatherson paced the Tigers with 17 points. The hard-working 6-1 senior delivered 10 of those counters in the second half. Promising sophomore Wyatt Parr turned in a solid effort with 14 points while classmate Trenton Marling had eight markers.

Barnesville, which also captured the reserve encounter, committed 12 turnovers.

“I have seen a good deal of growth in our team from the start of the season,” Stephens said. “Our younger guys are still making some youthful mistakes but they are making progress. We are trending upward.”