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Harrisburg Tournament

Harrisburg boys beat Centralia in overtime for third place

Justin Addison, Editor/Publisher
Posted 2/4/25

The Harrisburg boys won an overtime thriller over Class 3 Centralia for third place in their own tournament on Saturday afternoon. Tied at 69 apiece after regulation, the Bulldogs went on to outscore …

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Harrisburg Tournament

Harrisburg boys beat Centralia in overtime for third place

Posted

The Harrisburg boys won an overtime thriller over Class 3 Centralia for third place in their own tournament on Saturday afternoon. Tied at 69 apiece after regulation, the Bulldogs went on to outscore the Panthers 9-3 in overtime to claim the 78-72 victory.

Harrisburg exploded out the gate, leading by as much as 13 in the first quarter to take an 18-8 lead after eight minutes. That lead would prove to be absolutely crucial, as Centralia won the next three quarters to tie the game at 69-69 at the end of regulation.

Harrisburg coach Kyle Fisher said the game plan was limiting the production of Centralia junior forward Anthony Ford, who was easily the biggest player on the court between both teams.

“He’s so big and strong down there. We knew we weren’t going to be able to limit him with one guy. To do that, we had to get help off the guards and double-team him a little bit. He didn’t force a lot when it wasn’t there and kicked it out to shooters,” Fisher explained,

The added pressure, combined with Harrisburg’s relentless defense, held Ford scoreless in the first quarter and to just eight points all game. Senior Myals Thornhill and junior Bender Wardrip drew the assignment to pressure the Panther forward in the paint.

“We just wanted to throw as many bodies at him as possible,” Fisher explained. They both did a tremendous job. We talked about having those guys do their work early. If you meet him at the block, he’s just going to pin you deep and score. We wanted to meet him early and try to deny him as much as possible. He’s such a good player, and sometimes he just goes right through a double team.”

Ford was whistled for his second foul late in the first quarter and his third foul near the end of the second, relegating him to the bench for consequential stretches.

Fisher considered Ford’s foul trouble a bonus. “He got going in the second half some. But you’re not going to hold him down for long. He’s a really, really good player. He’s the strongest kid out there, but I’m proud of our guys for battling and hanging in there.”

While Ford was limited to eight points on the night, his presence inside was undeniable. He often won the battle on the boards and kicked the ball to outside shooters, who sank 11 3-point baskets over the second, third, and fourth quarters, allowing the Panthers to creep back in. Centralia opened the fourth quarter down by seven but sank a pair of threes amid an eight-point run over 60 seconds to pull ahead early. Harrisburg answered with nine straight points to regain the lead. But the Panthers continued to persist. Baskets by Ford bookended 3-point shots by senior Logan Rosenfelder as a 10-3 run by Centralia slashed the deficit to one point. With 33 seconds left, senior Travis Brooks stole the ball and scored a layup, drawing a whistle and sending him to the foul line. He sank the ensuing free throw to put Centralia in front 69-67.

Harrisburg answered on its final possession with a pair of free throws by junior Caleb Sager to re-tie the game with 18.3 seconds remaining.

Coming out of a timeout, Centralia put the ball in the hands of Rosenfelder, its sharpshooter. But the last-second shot bounced away, forcing the teams into a four-minute overtime.

“In the end, we had to get one stop in regulation,” Fisher recalled. “And once we got into overtime, I told our kids to go take it. Don’t expect it to be handed to you. Don’t be scared to go win the ball game. We executed really well offensively, I thought, and got stops defensively.”

Harrisburg scored first in overtime with a bucket by Thornhill to go up by two. Centralia sophomore Hunter Hull answered with a triple a minute later to put the Panthers back in front. It would be the final basket by Centralia in the game.

Senior Bryce Ott sank his fifth 3-pointer of the game on Harrisburg’s next possession to retake the lead for good. The Bulldogs then iced the game from the foul line, sinking four of six in the final 34.5 seconds.

Centralia had a chance to take the lead with 20 seconds left, but Rosenfelder’s 3-point attempt again bounced wide, and Harrisburg secured the rebound. Two free throws by Harrisburg’s Trace Combs capped off a monster game for the senior and clinched the win for the Bulldogs.

“When Trace is at his best, that’s exactly what you see. He does things all over the court, from the 3-point line, driving to the rim, posting up, getting offensive rims,” Fisher said. “He’s such a tough matchup because he’s so tall, so long, so athletic, and skilled. Centralia through a lot of different looks at him.”

Fisher said he was proud of how Combs finished the game after turning an ankle in the fourth quarter. The tall senior finished with a game-high 29 points with a pair of threes and sank nine of 10 free throws.

Ott added 19 points with a game-best six 3-pointers.

Both Combs and Ott were selected for the All-Tournament Team.

Harrisburg finished with six players in the scorebook. Rounding out the double-digit scorers was Rylee Robinson, who played a physically large inside game.

“He’s really been coming on the last two or three weeks,” Fisher said about Robinson. “He’s figuring out ways to score inside. Even though he’s not the biggest guy in the world, he’s really strong. He’s a good athlete. A lot of times, he’s just going and getting misses and putting them back in. It’s nice to have a guy on your team that can go get a double-double that you don’t have to run any offense for.”

Brooks paced the Panthers with 20 points, followed by Rosenfelder with 19 points and four 3-point buckets, three of which came in the fourth quarter. Hull posted 11 points, including his team’s only basket in overtime. Ford finished with eight points.

With a third-place tournament finish, the Bulldogs resume Central State 8 Conference action this week. On Tuesday, they traveled to Tipton after the Advertiser went to press. Harrisburg returns home on Friday to host a struggling Linn team.

“We’ve had four weeks in a row where we’ve had three games in a week. It’ll be nice to only have two games and get some good practice time and some rest time,” Fisher said.

After facing Russellville on February 11, the Bulldogs return home to host Class 4 Mexico next Thursday. On Friday, Harrisburg hosts longtime rival Fayette for Courtwarming.

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