Prep Hoops: Enough In The End
Tailspinning in the midst of a four-game losing streak and an 11-day layoff, Harrisburg was looking to right the ship as the No. 1 seed in the Carmi-White County Class 2A Regional.
It was rough sailing Wednesday night, but the Bulldogs were able to steer clear of an upset as they escaped McDougal-Evers Gymnasium with a hard fought 71-64 win over crosstown rival Eldorado.
Harrisburg, who led by as many as seven points in the third quarter, watched that lead dwindle to two as Eldorado closed out the third period on a 5-0 run to make it a 51-40 deficit.
The Eagles took control in the early going, holding a 54-51 lead after a Nathan Burnett bucket with 7:30 to play.
From there, there were four ties and the last lead change coming at 3:14 when Bahari Amaya drilled a pair of free throws to make it a 63-61 ball game.
Eldorado got to within two at 65-62 after a basket by Burnett with 1:25 to play, but down the stretch, Harrisburg made 7-of-8 free throws and the Eagles turned the ball over seven times in the fourth, four of which came in the last 1:11.
There were 21 lead changes on the night and 13 ties as the two teams combined for 51 fouls and 59 total free throws.
The win was the first for Harrisburg since they last beat Eldorado back on Feb. 3, which was almost three weeks and a day. The Bulldogs now have seven straight wins over EHS as well.
It wasn't pretty and Randy Smithpeters knew it wouldn't be after the extensive layoff.
"I saw a team that hasn't played in almost two weeks and that's exactly what I was afraid of. We tried to simulate some of these things in practice and you can't. We don't have the competition or the intensity in practice to create games. We were a little rusty and missed a lot of shots. They were good shots, we didn't miss them badly, but we missed them."
Harrisburg shot 33 percent from the floor, going 19-for-57 from the field. The Bulldogs finished 5-of-13 from 3-point range and went 27-for-37 from the free throw line.
Amaya, who had just three points in the first half and didn't play in the second quarter because of foul trouble, led Harrisburg with 20 points.
Anfernee Houston had six points in a crucial fourth quarter and tacked on 19 for the Bulldogs, while Carson Batts, who also hit four big free throws in the fourth quarter, finished with 12. Blake Drue netted nine points for Harrisburg
It was a valiant effort by Eldorado and EHS head coach Josh Bradley had nothing but praise for his bunch.
"It was probably the best basketball game our kids have played all season," he said. "It just wasn't enough at the end, but you can't fault the effort. We finally learned how to play basketball towards the end of the season. Unfortunately, it was a situation of too little, too late. Too many turnovers, that bit us in the rear, but to give ourselves a chance at the end to be there was really all we asked for. It wasn't that we were careless or anything, but we were just trying to do too much. Everyone was trying to speed up and do too much. When you do that, things start to snowball."
The Eagles put four players in double figures as Burnett and Clay Boulds shared scoring honors with 14 points a piece.
Max Kaiser tacked on 12 for the Eagles, while Richard Graceffa finished with 10.
"I know we had a lot of turnovers tonight," Bradley said as Eldorado concluded the evening with 24 miscues, "I thought we handled their press better than we have all year. It was just nice to see Burnett and Graceffa, albeit a loss, end their careers with good games."
Smithpeters contended that the Harrisburg press was the difference in the ball game, especially late in the contest.
"We had hoped our pressure would create some situations for them," he said. "Eldorado has struggled with ball handling in the past and in my opinion it is a strength of ours. We have pressed for 28 games now, and it's something we do every night and try to create some havoc."
Eldorado shot 52 percent from the floor, going 25-for-48, but made just 3-of-10 from beyond the arc and went 10-of-22 (45 percent) from the foul line.
Adam Partridge finished with seven points for the Eagles, while Adam Ninness and Jacob Traxler each had two.
Harrisburg will get Fairfield in Friday's regional title game as the Mules knocked off Carmi-White County 58-49 in the nightcap Wednesday night.
Harrisburg has three wins against Fairfield this season. Winning 60-52 at Fairfield, 75-71 in the Eldorado Holiday Tournament and 53-50 at the Carmi-White Co. Invite Tournament this season.
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.