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Harrisburg hangs on to win at West Frankfort

Harrisburg put three players in double figures and held off a furious fourth quarter rally from West Frankfort to survive 60-57 Friday night at Max Morris Gymnasium in a Southern Illinois River-To-River Ohio Division battle.

Carson Burtis led Harrisburg with 14 points, while Isaiah Saulsberry and Dalton Lambert each scored 13 for the Bulldogs in the win.

West Frankfort (4-14, 0-5 SIRR Ohio) got to within three at 51-48 with 4:!5 to play and following a Jordan Bartok free throw with 2:55 to play, Harrisburg held a 52-48 advantage.

Brendan Russell got the Redbirds to within one at 52-51 following a bucket, but Blake Drue held the 'Dogs push the advantage back to three at 54-51 with 2:07 to play.

A 3-pointer by C.J. Johnson with 1:50 to play knotted the score at 54-all, but Lambert helped Harrisburg regain the lead with a basket with 1:37 to play.

Saulsberry hit a pair of free throws with 57.5 to play to give Harrisburg a four-point 58-54 lead, but with 14.9 to play Bradlee Croslin cut the deficit to two for the Redbirds with a bucket.

Burtis helped seal the deal for Harrisburg with a pair of free throws with seven seconds to play and despite Johnson being fouled on a 3-point attempt with 1.1 to play, the 6-foot-4 junior made just one free throw to close out the game.

Drue added eight points for the Bulldogs (17-4, 4-1), while Will Sanders scored six. Will Gibbs and Bartok both tacked on three points.

Johnson had a game-high 15 points for the Redbirds, while Kyle Hammers flipped in 14 points and Lucas Wolfe tacked on 12 to round out the double figure scoring for West Frankfort.

Harrisburg returns to action Friday when they host Massac County.

Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Register, Eldorado Journal & The Gallatin County Democrat. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.