In a district with three ranked teams and a fourth-seed knocking on the door, it’s a natural disappointment to bow out early. For the third-seeded New Franklin Bulldogs, that moment came during the Class 2 District 7 semifinals when they fell 63-50 to second-seeded Salisbury on Wednesday.

Heading into the game, New Franklin held the No. 8 ranking among Class 2 boys’ teams in Missouri, while Salisbury was ranked fifth. The teams had split during the regular season, each winning one game against the other. New Franklin won the first battle by seven in double-overtime on November 22. Salisbury earned the victory on January 26 in the Sturgeon Tournament.

Wednesday’s semifinal was more than just the rubber match. The winner would advance to the championship game while the loser was sent packing. For New Franklin, it meant the end of the line in a 24-4 season.

“We can’t hang our heads at a 24-4 season one bit,” said New Franklin coach Jim Schlotzhauer. “The four losses came to teams who are all ranked at the end of the season. This district is one of the toughest I’ve ever seen. I wish we were playing in the championship, but Salisbury was the better team tonight.”

New Franklin drew first blood in Wednesday’s game with a three-point play by junior Connor Wilmsmeyer 86 into the first quarter. He sank a contested shot in the paint while being fouled and made the bonus free throw. Junior Drake Clark added a free throw moments later to give the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead.

But Salisbury found its footing with a 9-0 run to take a five-point lead with two minutes left in the first period, capped by a 3-pointer by senior Ryan Binder. The Bulldogs made it a two-point game with a bucket by senior Owen Armentrout, then tied the game at 9-9 with a 3-point buzzer-beater by junior Tanner Bishop.

Bishop sank another 3-pointer 25 seconds into the second quarter to put the momentum behind New Franklin. Half a minute later, Connor Wilmsmeyer scored his second field goal of the night to give the Bulldogs a five-point lead.

Salisbury answered with five points on a pair of free throws by junior Hayden Wooldridge and a 3-point shot from junior Cooper Francis to re-tie the game. The two teams traded blows over the next two minutes before Salisbury seized the momentum with an 8-3 run over the last three minutes of the half to take a 30-22 lead into the break.

“They took it right back,” Schlotzhauer recalled. “They did a really good job of rebounding. That’s really tough for us. They are bigger and longer than we are, so when we’re not in perfect position, it’s very hard for us to get the rebound. They are more physical than we are.”

New Franklin cut the deficit to four points early in the second half on a bucket by senior Clayton Wilmsmeyer and a pair of free throws by Connor Wilmsmeyer. But for every encroachment by the Bulldogs, Salisbury seemed to have an answer. By the end of the third quarter, Salisbury’s eight-point advantage remained.

“It really seemed like they got the momentum a few times, and we just couldn’t stop the ball from rolling toward them,” Schlotzhauer said. “They got a lot of bounces and a lot of rolls there that we didn’t seem to get for some reason.”

With eight minutes to play, time was running out for the Bulldogs. Salisbury outscored New Franklin 12-6 over the first three and a half minutes of the final quarter. But New Franklin cut the lead back down to single-digits on another 3-point shot by Bishop, followed by a field goal from Clayton Wilmsmeyer.

Leading by eight with two minutes left, Salisbury made eight out of 14 free-throw chances while holding the Bulldogs to just three points to clinch the win.

Despite a district title on the line and a shot to play in the state tournament, Schlotzhauer said he didn’t think his team played its best basketball on Wednesday. “I thought defensively, they really took us out of our offense,” he said. “We were trying to get our guys to cut a little bit more than they were. But when you get pressure like that, it’s kind of hard to know what to do sometimes. I think that stalled us out a little bit. There were a lot of cuts I thought were there that we did not necessarily make. I think that’s the biggest thing in the game as to why we did not get the best looks. We weren’t as aggressive as we needed to be. They were being aggressive on the defensive end.”

Bishop’s sharpshooting paced two New Franklin scorers in double-figures. The junior scored 14 points and made four 3-point shots. Clayton Wilmsmeyer posted 11 points and was 3-for-5 from the line in his last game in a Bulldog uniform. Junior Owen Curry and Connor Wilmsmeyer each scored seven points. Senior Owen Armentrout had six points off the bench in his final game, followed by junior Drake Clark with five.

Schlotzhauer said he was proud of his team and his senior leadership. “Both of those guys represented the program well. We’re proud of what they have accomplished in four years. They’ve been on some pretty decent teams. And this is probably the best team they were on. Hopefully, they’re proud of that, and hopefully, they can hold their heads high.

“Salisbury is a good team, and there’s no shame in losing to them.”

Francis led the Panthers with a game-high 19 points with a pair of 3-pointers and 5-for-6 shooting from the line. Senior Ethan Hamilton added 12 points.

Salisbury made 16 of 28 free-throw attempts, compared to 13 of 22 for New Franklin.

New Franklin now can only watch as the Class 2 District 7 championship is decided Friday night between Salisbury and Harrisburg. The Panthers hope to win their third-straight district title. Harrisburg is coming off a dominant semifinal win over top-seeded Westran. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. in New Franklin. The winner will take on the District 8 winner at 6 p.m. in Jefferson City on Monday, February 27.