The fourth-seeded Harrisburg girls battled to a 61-42 victory over fifth-seeded Glasgow on Monday for the right to move on to the championship side of the bracket.

Harrisburg is now 2-1 on the season after topping Sturgeon in the season opener and losing the home opener to Class 4 rival Hallsville last week. Glasgow falls to 0-2 overall after falling in the season opener to reigning Class 1 state champion Meadville.

“It was great,” said Harrisburg coach Ryan Richardson about the first-round win. “What a way to come back.”

Monday’s game was the first time Richardson had ever stepped foot in the historic Glasgow gym. This is his seventh season leading the Harrisburg girls, who have not played in Glasgow since winning the championship in 2014. “What a cool gym. What a neat environment. We’re really happy to be back in this tournament,” he said.

Harrisburg’s young team won Monday’s game from long range, banking a dozen shots from the 3-point arc. Four of those came from the fingertips of sophomore Jaidyn Stephenson.

Harrisburg broke the ice early, scoring the first eight points of the game in less than three minutes. The Lady Jackets cut the lead to four points but trailed by double digits at the end of the first quarter.

Harrisburg threatened over and over to run away with the game, but Glasgow continued to needle its way back in. After the Lady Bulldogs hit a three early in the second quarter to go up 24-10, coach Molly Monnig’s team went on an 8-3 run to keep the game within reaching distance.

Glasgow kept up the pressure on defense and changed it up often enough to keep Harrisburg off balance, creating turnovers and scoring opportunities.

“We were never comfortable,” Richardson explained. “We had a lead, and I thought we had an opportunity to end the game. We took a little run, and then they switched up their pressure, and we didn’t handle it very well. We have to do a better job of playing on the fly.”

By halftime, Harrisburg held a 27-18 lead.

The Lady Bulldogs increased their lead to double digits by the end of the third quarter. The two teams traded baskets, but once again, Harrisburg’s 3-point shooting made the difference. Both teams sank five shots from the field in the third period. But Stephenson’s two 3-point baskets and a 1-for-2 performance from the line from senior Emma Fischer allowed the Lady Dawgs to pull ahead by 12 with eight minutes to play.

Three-point shots again defined the fourth quarter for Harrisburg. The Lady Bulldogs sank half of their eight field goals from the arc, outscoring Glasgow 21-15 to pull away for the 61-43 win.

“The first two games of the year, I didn’t think we let it fly that much,” Richardson said. “Tonight, we came out, and we let it fly a little bit more. I still think we passed up a few too many open shots. We shot with confidence, and it really showed tonight.

“This is a great measuring stick for us, and we’re going to see how fast we can grow as a young team on Wednesday night.”

Stephenson finished with 12 points, all from the arc. Sophomore Mady Mitchell sank a pair of 3-point shots, both in the first half.

“Jaidyn Stephenson and Mady Mitchell hit some really big shots down the stretch for us. They got into a rhythm and let it fly, and it was really fun to see them play at that level,” Richardson said.

Leading Harrisburg was senior Emma Fischer with 13 hard-earned points. She finished with three field goals and finished 7-for-9 from the free-throw line before limping off the court with a sore ankle. 

The athletic senior was the only Harrisburg player to shoot from the line after battling inside the paint all night. 

Rounding out Harrisburg’s double-digit scorers was senior Abby Rosson with 10 points. She sat out for several minutes in the second half with four fouls, and Richardson said her absence was obvious.

“Abby Rosson was an unsung hero tonight. Anytime she was in the game, we were a different team,” he said.

Despite falling by 18 points, Glasgow boasted the top two leading scorers in the game. Sophomore Karsyn Massie scored a game-high 15 points and gave a perfect 5-for-5 performance from the line. Sophomore Hallie Fuemmeler added 14 points, nine of which came during the first half.

Glasgow will move on to face eighth-seeded Slater tonight (Wednesday) at 4:30 p.m. The winner advances to the consolation game at noon on Saturday.

For Harrisburg, the win earned them the right to face top-seeded and two-time reigning tournament champs Cairo in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. tonight (Wednesday). The Lady Bearcats have won the tournament five out of the last six years and have boasted 20-plus wins the last two seasons with trips to the Class 1 quarterfinals. They easily handled eighth-seeded Slater 89-20 Monday night to embark on a possible run to a third-straight tournament title.

Harrisburg and Cairo will tip off at 7:30 p.m. tonight (Wednesday). The winner moves on to the tournament championship at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The loser will play for third place at 3 p.m. on Saturday.