In what seemed to be a weekend theme, the Harrisburg High School boys basketball team was down early, and yet, was still able to post second-half rallies to pick up wins against Herrin and Cairo, en route to reaching the 20-win mark.
“That was one of our preseason goals and it’s always one that is always hard to get because over the course of that many games you deal with a lot of situations playing with people hurt, people sick against so many different types of teams,” head coach Randy Smithpeters said. “It’s just really a true test of a team to win 20 games.”
Cain Sheldon paced the Bulldogs with 27 points in a 64-52 win against the Pilots on Saturday at the Rich Herrin Classic in Benton.
Harrisburg came into the game having handily beaten Cairo in its home gym in early January, but Saturday’s re-match took a different course as the Pilots jumped out to an early 6-0 lead before the Bulldogs could get their wits about them.
Sheldon started the comeback with a 3-pointer, Capel Henshaw followed with a put-back shot, and after a three by Cairo, Reid Roper drilled a triple to tie the game at 8-8 early in the first quarter to set off a see-saw tilt.
HHS held an 18-14 first quarter lead, but a 7-2 spurt by Cairo to end the second quarter helped the Pilots take a 31-30 lead into halftime.
Cairo would build on its halftime advantage, taking a 35-30 lead in the third quarter’s opening moments. But just like in the first period, Harrisburg had an answer and rattled off five straight points. The Pilots answered with a five-point rally of its own to take a 40-35 lead midway through the third.
Roper hit a pair of free throws to start a 15-5 run, Henshaw hit the freebies that gave Harrisburg a one-point lead and Sheldon scored eight in the game-changing run.
Smithpeters said the Pilots kept the Bulldogs off balance by throwing numerous defenses at the team’s offense, but better on-court decisions were made to ensure Harrisburg wouldn’t let this lead slip away.
“We had to make some good decisions,” Smithpeters said. “We didn’t shoot very well in the first half and we took better shots in the second half.
In the Bulldogs’ 70-65 win against Herrin on Friday at Davenport Gymnasium, Harrisburg connected on six straight free throws in the final minute to secure its third win against the Tigers this season.
