The Salisbury boys won their third straight district title after rallying from a first-half deficit to defeat rival Harrisburg 59-52 in the championship game Friday night in New Franklin.

Salisbury, seeded second, cruised past seventh-seeded Santa Fe, 82-31, to open the tournament on Monday, then topped third-seeded New Franklin 63-50 in the semifinals to advance to the championship game. Fourth-seeded Harrisburg eased past fifth-seeded Fayette 84-59 in the opening round. The Bulldogs played their best game of the season, defeating top-seeded Westran 60-39 in Wednesday’s semifinal.

The Panthers now move on to face District 8 champion Lincoln. The No. 2 ranked Cardinals maintained their perfect record, easily winning both district games by no fewer than 25 points.

Harrisburg built a solid first-half lead but struggled with turnovers in the second half that allowed Salisbury to pull ahead for the win. Bulldogs’ Coach Kyle Fisher said turnovers and easy shots in the second half made the difference.

“With their size and their strength and their length, they’re going to win the rebound battle. If they win the rebound battle and the turnover battle, it’s pretty tough to beat those guys,” Fisher said. “You just have to shoot lights out. In a game where the two teams know each other so well, and when they’re both very good defensively, it’s going to be hard to shoot a really high percentage against them.”

The two teams have a long history of epic battles. Salisbury has now won the last six matchups dating back to February 2019.

Coming off their best game of the season against Westran two days prior, Harrisburg didn’t lose a beat in the first quarter of the championship game. After trading baskets in the first two minutes, the Bulldogs took a 7-2 lead when senior sharpshooter Brayden Ott sank a 3-pointer at the 5:22 mark.

Salisbury cut the score to one point midway through the opening period, but Harrisburg outscored the Panthers 9-3 in the bottom half of the quarter to take a 16-9 advantage.

Salisbury was held to three points on six free-throw tries in the opening half of the second quarter. Meanwhile, Harrisburg increased its lead to eight points with shots by Ott and sophomore Trace Combs.

That’s when the momentum seemed to swing in favor of the Panthers.

Salisbury rattled off six points in 40 seconds, sparked by a 3-pointer by senior Ethan Hamilton for the team’s first field goal of the second period, to come within two points of the lead.

The Bulldogs responded with a 3-pointer by Combs, then a bucket by senor Braden Wyatt to again lead by seven.

But Salisbury had the last word in the half when senior Eli Wekenborg hit a shot from behind the arc with three seconds left to make it a four-point game at halftime.

Harrisburg was able to hold Cooper Francis, Salisbury’s leading scorer, to just four points in the first half. Two of those points came on 2-for-4 shooting at the free-throw line. Hamilton scored just three points on a long shot in the second quarter. Those two would become instrumental in the Panthers’ second-half rally. Francis scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the second half with a 3-pointer and 3-for-6 shooting from the line. Hamilton scored six of his nine total points in the fourth quarter, converting four of six free-throw chances.

The Bulldogs seemed to lose some of their mojo in the third quarter as Salisbury crept in. After scoring four points each in the opening minutes, Salisbury took its first lead of the game on a basket by Francis and a 3-pointer by senior Ryan Binder.

After another lead change and a tie, the Panthers took the lead for good with 1:36 left in the third quarter.

Second-half adjustments by the Panthers included a heavy focus on Harrisburg senior Brayden Wyatt, who had scored eight of his 10 first-half points in the first quarter.

“They made an adjustment and started doubling him more when he caught the ball,” Fisher explained. “I thought he did a great job of continuing to be aggressive and continuing to try to put us on his back a little bit.”

Trailing by five, Combs hit his second 3-pointer of the night with 28 seconds on the clock to bring Harrisburg back within two points with one quarter left to play.

However, Harrisburg turnovers began to mount as the Panthers quickly increased their lead to nine points in the first two minutes and 15 seconds of the final period.

“I thought they did a better job of executing offensively than we did,” said Fisher. “They got more easy buckets, whether that was off of offensive execution, offensive boards, or in transition. It was one of the things we talked about before the game, trying to get more easy ones than they did.”

Harrisburg closed the lead to four points midway through the fourth, but the Panthers patiently responded with six straight points to expand their lead to 10 points, all while running time off the clock.

Salisbury led by as much as 11 until Harrisburg closed the gap to six points, culminating a five-point run with a 3-point shot by Wyatt. But with only 37 seconds left on the clock, Salisbury was able to convert three of four free-throw attempts in the final half-minute to stay ahead and win by seven.

“In the first half, I didn’t think either team got many easy ones. In the second half, they were able to get more easy ones off our mistakes or off of turnovers,” Fisher said. “I thought that was the difference in the ball game.

“They’re really good. You don’t have to play a perfect game, but you can’t beat yourself,” Fisher added. “I don’t know if we necessarily beat ourselves. I think it was more about what Salisbury did do rather than what we didn’t do. It was their turn again this year, and they were deserving of it.”

Combs led three Harrisburg players in double-figures with a game-high 19 points with a pair of 3-pointers.

Seniors Braden Wyatt and Brayden Ott finished with 17 and 10 points, respectively, in their final game.

“He kept going until the very end and didn’t go down without a fight,” Fisher said about Wyatt, who still managed to score seven second-half points despite the extra pressure. “He made a couple of mistakes in the second half, but they were aggressive mistakes. I’m super proud of him.”

With the loss, Harrisburg bids farewell to senior starters Wyatt and Ott, along with a supporting cast of Jordan Sager and Austin Darwent.

“They are four great kids,” Fisher said after the game. “I have had them for six years. It’s hard saying goodbye to any group, but this one especially. This is my sixth year as head coach of the program, and they were my first seventh-grade group. All of them had to battle through a lot of adversity this year. For those guys to battle like they did and be great teammates and great leaders like they were… They pulled us together at the end of the year. I credit that to those seniors and the leadership that they showed.”

Harrisburg concludes the season with an overall record of 18-11. Season highlights include wins over larger-class teams Boonville, Southern Boone, and Centralia, and two against Moberly.

The Panthers are now 23-5 overall, with a district championship and a No. 5 ranking in Class 2. They will face the 28-0 and No. 2-ranked Lincoln Cardinals in the Class 2 state sectional round at 6 p.m. on Monday, February 27, at Capital City High School in Jefferson City.