Prep Hoops: A Clean Sweep

Harrisburg put three players in double figures in what turned out to be a sweep week for the Bulldogs as they beat Meridian 66-53 on Saturday night and bookended that with a 53-42 win over West Frankfort Friday night.

Against Meridian, Isaiah Saulsberry led all scorers with a game-high 18 points, while Hunter Smith tacked on 13 points and Noah Ferrell tossed in 12.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Meridian head coach Erik Griffin, who was a longtime assistant for Randy Smithpeters and was part of the 2012-13 state championship basketball team.

"It was different being back and being on the opposite end and not being down there next to Randy and Richard," Griffin said. "There are a lot of memories from playing and coaching here, so it was nice to have an 'away-home game' for a change."

Demareon Nicholson had 13 points for Meridian.

Jordan Gould netted nine for the Bulldogs, while Jordan Bartok chipped in with seven and Carson Burtis came off the bench to drill two 3-pointers and finish with six points. Xavier Doss tossed in a fourth quarter free throw.

Harrisburg 53, West Frankfort 42

On the road Friday night, Saulsberry had 22 points, nine of which came in the second half as Harrisburg pulled away from West Frankfort to move to 1-0 in the SIRR Ohio standings.

Smith scored 11 points for Smithpeters and company, while Gould chipped in with seven points. Ferrell scored six, while Bartok finished with four and Burtis tacked on three points.

Harrisburg led 17-6 after one quarter of play and despite being outscored 13-9 in the second quarter, the Bulldogs led 26-19 at halftime.

Harrisburg kept the edge, outscoring WF 14-13 in the third to make it 40-32 after three and closed out the game's final eight minutes outscoring the Redbirds 13-10.

Harrisburg is scheduled to play host to Massac County on Friday night and will then play Du Quoin at Davenport Gymnasium on Saturday night.