The Harrisburg boys gutted out a low-scoring 43-38 win over rival Canton on Coach Combs Court Saturday night in the Ramey Basketball Mid-Missouri Invitational.

The game was a rematch of sorts of last year’s Class 2 state quarterfinal in which Canton claimed the five-point victory before ultimately finishing runner-up in the state.

While Saturday’s game held less significance in the long term, it was still a highly contested face-off between two teams that have become postseason rivals. Harrisburg now holds a 2-1 record against the Eagles after winning a state sectional matchup in 2024.

After short runs by each team to start the game, Harrisburg took an early lead on a bucket by senior Rylee Robinson in the opening quarter, and stayed in front until Canton freshman Bryson Brewer sank back-to-back 3-point shots midway through the fourth quarter to pull ahead by three.

In a game where made shots were at a premium, Robinson created some consistency in the final period, scoring eight straight points to retake the lead. A 3-pointer from left of the key with 1:58 on the clock was the go-ahead shot.

“I told Rylee at halftime to quit shooting threes. I’m glad he didn’t listen to me. He was in rhythm on that one and knocked it down,” Harrisburg coach Kyle Fisher said after the game.

Ahead by three with 14.8 seconds left in the game, Canton’s senior sharpshooter, Kaden Oliver, put the ball in the air from the left side of the 3-point arc. A make would have tied the game. But the shot was off, and Harrisburg sophomore Evan Freeman pulled down the rebound and drew a foul to earn a trip to the line.

Up to that point, Harrisburg had made just nine of 22 free-throw shots. Freeman sank both tries with 8.8 seconds left to make it a two-possession game and all but ice the win for the Bulldogs.

“We struggled offensively at times,” Fisher said. “We struggled to make free throws. When we get those things figured out, we’re going to be really tough. Until then, we’ve preached to our guys to keep defending and rebounding and keep competing as hard as you can. If you’re going to do those three things, you’re going to be in a lot of games. Up until today, we’ve been in a lot of games, but because of those three things, we haven’t pulled out the close ones.”

Harrisburg labored around the basket all night, missing layups and close buckets on both ends of the floor. But the Bulldogs’ tenacious, handsy defense limited Canton’s shooting opportunities, often forcing the ball out of bounds on fast breaks.

The Bulldogs led by as much as eight points in the second quarter, but Oliver sank two consecutive 3-pointers to keep his team within two points of the lead and force Harrisburg to call a timeout. By halftime, the margin was just four points, 23-19, in favor of Harrisburg.

The Bulldogs made some adjustments at the break and opened the second half with five straight points to once again lead by eight. Four of those points came in the paint by Harrisburg senior Bender Wardrip.

“If we had an advantage over them, it was our size in our strength,” Fisher explained. “We knew we had to win the boards on both ends to have a chance to win, and I thought we did that. Bender was really good today on both ends of the floor. It was a tough game for him defensively because they didn’t really have any big guys for him to guard. He had to play really good help-side defense. But we wanted to have him out there so we could take advantage of him on the offensive end of the floor. He was a force. He got double- and triple-teamed some and opened up some things for some other guys.”

Despite an eight-point lead, Canton held Harrisburg to just two points in the final six minutes of the third quarter while outscoring the Bulldogs 9-7 over the period to pull within two heading into the final stanza.

Harrisburg’s scoring drought continued into the fourth quarter, with the Bulldogs going 3-for-8 from the line in the first five minutes. Canton, meanwhile, scored eight straight points to go ahead by one.

The Bulldogs scored their first field goal in nearly eight minutes when Robinson heated up to score eight straight points.

“Defensive rebounding kept us in it until our offense finally made a couple of plays at the end,” Fisher said.

Robinson led all scorers with 16 points, the only Harrisburg player to reach double-figures. Freeman posted eight points with sophomore Nash Sublett adding seven.

Brewer paced Canton with 12 points. Oliver was limited to 11 points on the night, taking the brunt of Harrisburg’s defense after scoring 25 points on five 3-point shots against the Bulldogs in last season’s state quarterfinal.

“I thought he was the biggest reason why last year they beat us,” Fisher said about Oliver. “He had a phenomenal game. We knew what he could do. The big thing was, we wanted to limit his touches as much as possible. I thought Silas Butler and Jason Eskew were the two main guys who had him throughout the game. I thought they did a great job. When he gets the ball in his hands, he’s a load.”

Harrisburg, now 4-9 overall, returned to the Central State 8 hardwood at South Callaway on Tuesday after the Advertiser went to press. The Bulldogs travel to New Franklin tonight (Wednesday) before returning to Coach Combs Court for Courtwarming on Friday against CS8 opponent and Class 2 defending state champion Eugene (12-3).

Next week, the Bulldogs will compete for a trophy in their own tournament as the sixth seed. Fisher said the seeding was appropriate and hopes to compete against a bracket full of the area’s better teams. “It’s a good tournament. We are seeded where we should be. The two teams at the top, Blair Oaks and Hallsville, are really, really good. And there’s a bunch of teams in the middle, us being one of them, that have played a lot of really good teams close.“

Harrisburg opens the tournament against third-seeded Marshall at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in the middle school gym. (See brackets on Page 9).