A dominant third quarter lifted the No. 6 Harrisburg boys over the Slater Wildcats on the way to a 78-44 Bulldogs victory in the Class 2 state sectional round Monday night on Coach Combs Court.

The win sends Harrisburg to the state quarterfinals for the second year in a row, with a 7 p.m. tipoff Friday in Canton. The Canton Tigers (23-5) dominated Clopton in the sectional on Monday night, 69-37.

Harrisburg coach Kyle Fisher said the home crowd made the win extra sweet. “Harrisburg fans really showed out tonight. To have this home crowd show up like they did and to be able to perform like we did, especially in the second half, in front of them, was a very special night for Harrisburg.”

Monday’s game was the first state sectional Harrisburg has hosted on Coach Combs Court. They defeated Canton in the sectional round last year before moving on to fall at Salisbury in the quarterfinals. This year, the towering Canton team, led by 6’8 senior Preston Brewer, is the only team standing in the way of a trip to Mizzou Arena for the state semifinals.

“Canton is huge. And they have a lot of their pieces back,” Fisher said.

After battling against Slater for two quarters on Monday, the teams were separated by just five points at halftime, with the Bulldogs in front 29-24. Harrisburg then took over the third quarter, outscoring the Wildcats 22-6 to all but put the game away.

The Wildcats scored just one field goal in the third period, a 3-point bucket by sophomore point guard Nixon Sanders that interrupted an otherwise 18-point run by Harrisburg. The Wildcats converted three of four free throws in the final minute to emerge from the third quarter down 21 points, 51-30.

“I felt like every possession in the second half we were getting to the rim, whether it be a drive or a post-up or an offensive rebound,” Fisher said. “When we play like that, we’re pretty good.”

The Bulldogs missed a fair amount of what usually would be easy buckets in the first half, allowing the score to stay close. Fisher attributes that to his team possibly being too amped up for the big home game. He said his team played out of character, dishing the ball instead of taking shots and playing in a hurry. 

“At halftime, I told the guys to just relax and go play. There weren’t any magic adjustments or anything. Just relax, stay in character, and play Harrisburg basketball,” Fisher explained.

Of course, a big part of Monday’s game plan for Harrisburg was containing Slater senior Brandon Terrill. Junior Caleb Sager drew the assignment of guarding arguably the most athletic player on the court.

“He’s going to be the best athlete on the floor pretty much every game. He’s one of the few guys in this area, maybe in the state, who can go toe-to-toe athletically with Trace [Combs]. I thought in the first half, we let him get to the free-throw line a little too much and also gave him too many clean looks, even from the 3-point line. We talked about in the second half making sure that whatever he gets, he earns. Let’s make sure he’s got to go through two or three guys and shooting with a hand in his face.”

Terrill scored 14 of his team-high 22 points in the first half and sank seven of eight shots from the foul line in the first two quarters. The Bulldogs held him to just two free throws in the third quarter and two 3-pointers in the fourth.

“When we stretch that lead out, we knew he was going to try and take over. And he should. He’s a great player,” Fisher said.

Monday’s win was another solid team effort by the Bulldogs, whose starting five combined for 58 of the team’s 78 total points. Senior Trace Combs led all scorers with an astounding 27 points, 19 of which came in the second half. Junior Rylee Robinson added 14, followed by senior Myals Thornhill with nine, Sager with five, and senior Bryce Ott with three.

“That’s the mark of a good team,” Fisher said. “When you key on Trace a lot, that’s going to open up other guys. I thought Myals got some stuff going early. Rylee was huge all night.”

Ott was held uncharacteristically to just one 3-point bucket. The Slater defense stuck to the Bulldogs’ sharpshooter, rarely giving up an open look.

“We didn’t really get Bryce going tonight,” Fisher said. “Bryce had some open looks he normally knocks down that he didn’t knock down tonight. Hopefully, he’s saving them for Friday.”

Senior Ike DeMuth led a strong effort off the bench with nine points. Senior Sam Katsaros sank a timely 3-point shot in the second quarter, and junior Bender Wardrip scored a key putback during the Bulldogs’ third-quarter run.

“We had some good contributions off the bench from Ike DeMuth and from Bender and Sam. Those guys were tremendous,” Fisher added.

With the sectional win under their belts, the Bulldogs step to the edge of familiar territory with a return to the state quarterfinals. Harrisburg made it as far a year ago, only to fall to defending state champs Salisbury, which went on to finish third overall in Class 2. A win on Friday would advance the Bulldogs to the state semifinals for the first time since 2017, when they placed third overall in the state.

The matchup pits two teams with strikingly similar numbers. Canton is 23-5 overall having scored 63.6 points per game while allowing 52.5. The Bulldogs are now 24-5 overall, scoring an average of 67.3 points per game while allowing opponents to score 53.

The winner advances to the Class 2 semifinals against either South Iron (23-4) or Puxico (26-3) on Wednesday, March 12. Tipoff for the semifinal game is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Mizzou Arena.