Prep Hoops: Bulldogs take two over weekend
There was Saved By The Bell, a popular television show in the late 1980's and early 1990's and then there was Saved By The Bittle.
Harrisburg senior guard Patrick Bittle almost wielding the Bulldogs to victory on his own, dropping a game-high 24 points, helping Harrisburg to a 62-59 victory over Oregon Saturday night at the Rich Herrin Shootout.
A case could be made that Harrisburg was at least - saved by the whistle - as a late 3-pointer by Oregon's Carson Buck, that would have tied the game and likely sent the contest into overtime, was overturned after OHS head coach Quinn Virgil called a timeout just prior to Buck putting up the shot.
But in a game that saw three ties and 13 lead changes, Bittle was the one constant for Harrisburg (16-8) as he went 7-of-13 from the field and 6-of-10 from 3-point range at the most crucial times.
"There's your senior and there's your guy playing in the Rich Herrin Shootout for the last time and he's been our senior leader all year long," HHS head coach Randy Smithpeters said. "He has that grit in his gullet that just pushes people along and he means a ton to us. You look at him and you may not think he's a basketball player, but then you have to start listing all the things he does for us and it's a long list."
After Harrisburg took a 30-26 lead into the locker room, the two played tug-of-war with the lead in the third quarter, exchanging hands eight times.
Oregon's biggest lead was three at 41-38 with 3:46 to play, but that's when Bittle went to work, knocking down a three to tie the game at 41 with 2:42 to play and knocked two two more triples to close out the quarter, giving him 13 points and Harrisburg a 54-47 advantage going into the game's final eight minutes.
Bittle came out of the huddle and knocked down a 3-pointer to start the fourth, giving Harrisburg a 57-49 lead as they were able to hold on for the win.
For andy Smithpeters his team stepped up the task of going up against a much taller, longer, skilled and athletic Oregon ball club and came away with a victory.
"We knew it would a tough one for us, especially in regards to their size and we had hoped our pressure would be a neutralizing effect on that. I think our pressure did help us some and i think we defended well enough.
We helped in the post and rebounded really well, especially against that size, knowing that's what we had to do."
Oregon elected to sit back in a zone coverage on defense for a good portion of that night and that was fine for Smithpeters and company who connected from the outside, knocking down crucial shots when they had too.
Isaiah Saulsberry had 15 points for Harrisburg, this coming on the heels of a Friday night nail biter, where the sophomore dumped 33 points in a thrilling 68-67 win over SIRR Ohio rival Massac County.
Blake Drue netted nine for Harrisburg, while Anfernee Houston came off the bench to add eight points. Jordan Gould finished with four points and Noah Ferrell had two points.
"We can put enough shooters on the floor that we are able to do that," Smithpeters said. "That's kind of a blessing of this team is that they have a lot of strengths and albeit different strengths and in different places, but we can adjust to whatever. When we need some strength we can go to (Caleb) Bartok, when we need more shooters we can bring in Noah Ferrell.
"There were some things I would have liked to have done differently, but we're still learning every game and this was a good game to learn some things from."
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
Oregon 10 16 21 12 - 59
Harrisburg 09 21 24 08 - 62
Oregon: Otten 5 3-4 15, Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Orsted 5 0-0 10, Wendler 4 4-5 12, Buck 2 0-0 4, Nehrkorn 5 1-1 14, Mowry 2 0-1 4. Totals: 23 8-11 59.
Harrisburg: Bittle 7 4-5 24, Drue 2 5-7 9, Gould 2 0-1 4, Saulsberry 5 2-5 15, Bartok 0 0-0 0, Houston 3 0-0 8, Ferrell 1 0-0 2, Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 11-18 62.
3-point FG: OHS 5 (Nehrkorn 3, Otten 2), HHS 11 (Bittle 6, Saulsberry 2, Houston 2), Fouls: OHS 16, HBG 13.
Massac 11 11 18 27 - 67
Harrisburg 8 13 16 31- 68
Massac (67): Weber 5 7-8 17, Roundtree 3 1-1 8, Lawson 4 0-0 11, Farmer 6 2-5 14, Thompson 5 1-2 11, Duckworth 1 0-0 2, Schroeder 0 1-2 1, Austin 1 1-2 3. Totals 25 13-20 67.
Harrisburg (68): Bittle 2 0-1 5, Drue 4 1-2 9, Gould 1 1-2 3, Saulsberry 12 5-10 33, Houston 3 5-6 12, Bartok 1 2-4 4, Ferrell 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 14-25 68.
3-point FG: MCHS 4 (Lawson 3, Roundtree), HBG 6 (Saulsberry 4, Bittle, Houston). Team fouls: MCHS 23, HBG 18 (Drue)
Records: Massac is 16-6 (3-3 SIRR Ohio), Harrisburg is 15-8 (4-3 SIRR Ohio)