EHT - Bulldogs shoot way to semifinal win of EHT over Webster County, Ky.
The theme of the CBS TV hit reality show Survivor is: outwit, outlast and outplay your competition.
The same could be said for the Eldorado Holiday Tournament in regards to the Harrisburg High School boys' basketball team as they had to endure murders's row at the 51st Annual EHT.
After stunning Eldorado 44-39 Monday night, the Bulldogs returned to the scene of the crime and took out No. 2 seeded Webster County, Ky., 55-52 in Tuesday's semifinals.
The win sets up a matchup with Massac County for the championship.
Harrisburg was back in the title tilt for the seventh straight season and in 23 years under coach Randy Smithpeters, the Bulldogs have played in 13 championship games at the EHT.
The three words that were on Harrisburg's dry erase board before the start of the game with the Trojans Tuesday afternoon were defend, rebound and turnovers.
In the end, Smithpeters praised his club in all three categories.
"We did well. It's something that we don't do all the time, but we handled it and we got a good enough cushion that we could make some mistakes down the stretch and still be in good shape. Very happy with the win and tremendously happy to be in the championship game, again."
Harrisburg closed out the third quarter with a 34-29 lead and made one field goal in the final eight minutes and went 18-of-26 from the free throw line. Isaiah Saulsberry finished with a game-high 21 points and the Bulldogs got another 12 from senior guard Patrick Bittle.
Smithpeters said none of that was necessarily by design.
"We were just trying to take care of the basketball, we weren't trying to slow it down or hold it. We were trying to take care of it and look for situations where we could attack the basket more one-on-one. Those were a bit rare and I think in the last part of the quarter we spent so much time at the free throw line, there wasn't that opportunity."
Harrisburg had a 10-7 lead in the second quarter after a Cole Hazelwood bucket, but the Bulldogs followed with a pair of 3-pointers from Hunter Smith and Saulsberry and capped it off with a 3-point play by Jordan Bartok to build a 19-7 lead and take a 24-16 lead into the locker room.
Webster County kept nipping away at the lead and got to as many as one point, 34-33 early in the fourth, but again Harrisburg went on the offensive, scoring eight straight points with a three ball from Bittle, a pair of free throws from both Noah Ferrell and Saulsberry and one from Bartok to increase the lead to nine at 42-33.
Smithpeters talks about how the EHT continues to have a post season atmosphere that he believes helps makes his team better.
"A quality of this team that I hope people see, that I as a coach have seen, is this a tough bunch. They're tough when they are tired and we have been tougher than everyone we have played, we've been in good condition and that has to come back on them because they work hard in practice and we're young, we're learning and I think that learning curve has been good because we are playing good competition and still coming out on top.
"(Tuesday night) will be a tough test and we know that because we are outsized (against Massac) because they are very athletic and very physical, but we're just happy to be there.
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
Harrisburg 10 14 10 21 - 55
Webster Co. Ky. 05 11 13 23 - 52
Harrisburg: Bittle 2 6-6 12, Drue 0 1-4 1, Gould 0 1-5 1, Smith 1 1-4 4, Saulsberry 4 10-12 21, Bartok 3 2-5 8, Ferrell 1 6-8 8. Totals: 11 27-44 55.
Webster Co. Ky.: Yates 4 2-2 11, Ellis 1 2-4 4, Stubblefield 5 6-8 16, Edmonson 2 2-2 6, Hazelwood 2 1-3 5, Bell 1 0-0 2, Lewis 2 2-2 8. Totals 17 15-21 52.
3-point FG: HBG 6 (Saulsberry 3, Bittle 2, Smith), WCHS 3 (Lewis 2, Yates). Fouls: HBG 20, WCHS 32.