A rough first half hamstringed the Harrisburg Bulldogs in a battle against South Iron at the Norm Stewart Classic at Mizzou Arena on Thursday. Harrisburg lost 62-51 after a second-half comeback.

After trailing by as much as 18 points in the second quarter, Harrisburg came within seven points late in the fourth but ultimately couldn’t undo the damage against the three-time defending Class 1 State champions.

Once again, Harrisburg was without starting senior Carter Bremmer, who remains sidelined with an illness. Fellow senior Hayven Samuels was benched for the first two quarters after being whistled for a technical foul the Saturday before in the championship game of the Glasgow Tournament.

Samuels ended up being one of three Harrisburg scorers to finish in double digits, and he did it in just two and a half quarters before fouling out in the last minute. 

Trailing 33-16 at halftime, Harrisburg opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer by Bryce Ott. The junior netted another shot from the arc a minute later. Then junior Trace Combs sank a bonus free-throw to complete a 3-point play as the Bulldogs started to inch back. Harrisburg came as close as 10 points in the third period.

Three-point shots kept Harrisburg in the game during the fourth quarter. A layup by Wyatt Lind with 1:55 on the clock brought the Bulldogs within seven points.

But every time the Bulldogs would make inroads, the Panthers had an answer. A late 3-point shot by Samuels with under a minute to play once again made the deficit seven points, but Harrisburg could come no closer.

Harrisburg coach Kyle Fisher said it came down to his team’s aggressiveness, or lack thereof, in the first half. 

“We just weren’t the most aggressive team in the first half. We got off to a good start, but lost our aggressiveness for some reason,” Fisher said. “I thought in that second half we were the most aggressive team on the floor. But down 17 points to a team like that, it’s a tall task. We fought and gave them a little bit of a scare at the end there, but 17 points was just too much to spot them at halftime.”

Ott led the Bulldogs with 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the 3-point arc. Samuels scored 13 minutes in just 10 minutes on the floor. Combs added 12 points and was 6-for-7 from the free-throw line.

In a game where both teams shot poorly from the floor‑Harrisburg made just 29.3% compared to 36.7% for South Iron—it came down to rebounding. The Panthers owned the glass, finishing with a 46-32 rebounding advantage over Harrisburg.

Thursday’s loss was the second in a row for Harrisburg. The Bulldogs lost to rival New Franklin for the Glasgow Tournament crown on Saturday before falling to South Iron on Norm Stewart Court.

“Those were two big stages and two big ball games that you want to win. We have to learn from this,” Fisher said. “We came out, and I think we were just a little nervous. And South Iron is really good and is used to winning. We knew they weren’t going to be rattled by the big stage.”

Harrisburg was expected to spring right back into the winning column Tuesday after the Advertiser went to press with a home game against a struggling Fayette team. On Saturday, the Bulldogs face district opponent Van Far at the Gary Filbert Classic on a neutral floor in Mexico, Mo.