Prep Boys' Hoops: Eight is great

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ For the eighth time, dating back to the 2009-10 season, Harrisburg knocked off Massac County 66-58 for another conference win in the Ohio Division of the River-to-River Conference.

The win took some trying for the Bulldogs, who had to weather a 13-4 run by Massac County to close out the game and had to swallow the bitter pill of going 11-for-23 from the foul stripe, including a 6-for-13 clip in the game's final eight minutes.

"I thought for the most part this was one of our better outings," Harrisburg head coach Randy Smithpeters said. "We handled the emotional side very well and I thought we played hard. We built an 18-point lead and I'll take the blame for the lead disappearing the way it did, because we changed up our philosophy. This is about the third time this season we have done that and I think from now on when we get up like that, we'll just continue to play and not eat the clock and generate points.

"Massac played better in the second half and we missed some free throws," Smithpeters added. "Those things happen, but happy with a conference win."

Malcom Amos, Massac County's do-all senior, try to will his team to victory. Trailing 54-38 heading into the fourth quarter, the Patriot guard caught fire and scored 16 points, including two 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 31 points, 25 of which came in the second half alone.

Meanwhile, Harrisburg was led by a team-high 23 points from Capel Henshaw, while the rest of the scoring was balanced for the Bulldogs.

Eli Taborn-Scott tacked on 10 points, while Tyler Smithpeters and Ryne Roper each netted nine points. Caleb Goldman chipped in with six points off the bench, while Kashmere Barners finished with five points and Justin Younger had two.

The Bulldogs built their lead in the first half with a solid offensive game and a bolt-tightening defense as they held the Patriots to just 23 percent shooting on 9-of-25 from the field. Harrisburg was 14-of-27 for 51 percent and held a 36-24 halftime lead.

The first quarter included two ties and four lead changes, but the last lead change occurred when Harrisburg went up 11-10 and never looked back.

The Bulldogs will now play Teutopolis in Saturday's Rich Herrin Shoot out at Benton. Game time is slated for 4:30 p.m.

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