The Harrisburg boys won their second straight district title with a 54-40 win over longtime rival Westran, the second seed, on Friday, claiming the Class 2 District 7 Tournament crown in Glasgow.

The Bulldogs now move on to face another area rival, the high-flying Slater Wildcats, in the state sectionals on Monday. Harrisburg hosts the game, which tips off at 6 p.m.

Harrisburg earned a first-round bye as the top seed in the seven-team tournament. While not having a first-round game is suitable for resting the legs, the Bulldogs played tight over the first two quarters in the semifinals against Salisbury. And while Friday’s final against Westran was another relatively low-scoring game for teams that average 67 and 57 points, respectively, the Bulldogs entered the game with determination and focus.

“I thought our energy was good all night,” said Harrisburg coach Kyle Fisher.

Despite both teams boasting top-caliber scorers, Friday’s final would ultimately be determined by defense. Both squads deploy similar handsy, high-pressure defense styles, which thrived in the high intensity of a rough first half. “Obviously, our offense was spotty and shaky all night. That’s to the credit of Westran. They guard you really well,” Fisher said. “This game was going to be won with defense. Our defense, for the most part, was there all night. I thought our zone was really good in the second half.”

The whistles tightened up the action in the second half, and Fisher credits his team for adjusting to a different style in the third and fourth quarters. “We can play multiple styles. We can win a high-scoring game or a low-scoring game. We can win a physical game. We just adjusted in the game to how it was being called at multiple points in the game. That’s the mark of a veteran team.”

The Bulldogs set the tone early, opening the game with a 3-point bucket by senior Bryce Ott on their first possession to spark a nine-point run. Westran found its footing midway through the first quarter and outscored Harrisburg, outscoring the Bulldogs by three points to trail just 15-9 after eight minutes.

The second quarter was more consistent for both teams, albeit with fewer points scored amid the relentless defense on both ends of the floor. Harrisburg again opened with a triple, this time from senior Trace Combs, as the Bulldogs increased their lead by one point heading into the break on top 25-18.

A key point for the Bulldogs was containing big Westran senior Marshall Kitchen. The 6’4 forward is a dominant presence in the paint and scored seven of his game-high 17 points in the first two quarters. Fisher said the plan was to double him whenever he caught the ball. Senior Myals Thornhill drew the assignment of battling the powerful Hornet, who employs a left-handed hook shot that’s difficult to defend.

“He had a really good first half, especially,” Fisher said. “He did a really good job in the first half of going quick before the double could get there. In the second half, we switched to playing behind him, making him catch off the lane, then doubling him quicker than we did in the first half. He’s a hard player to guard, and I thought we did a decent job on him.

“Myals had him most of the night. He’s so active in such a hard matchup, he’s so long in there, you can’t just guard him with one guy.”

With seven points separating the top two seeds at halftime, Westran was able to close the gap to just two points. Hornet sophomore Cruze Haynes sank a shot from the arc with 3:30 left in the third period to bring his team within a basket of the lead, 27-25. Harrisburg once led by as much as 11 in the first half.

With 2:10 left in the quarter, Kitchen scored to make it a one-point game, 30-29.

The Hornets tightened up their defense as the clock ticked down in the third. With under a minute on the clock, Combs was handling the ball, driving down the left sideline. Two Westran defenders waited for him to cross halfcourt to set up a trap. That’s when the 6’5 Bulldog reverted to his three years as a starting quarterback, sending a bullet pass into the waiting hands of Sam Katsaros in the right corner. Without hesitation, the senior sank his first basket of the tournament, a 3-pointer from the right wing to give his team a six-point separation.

“That was a monster shot by Sam,” Fisher recalled. “It was a heck of a pass by Trace to see that. Before Sam even caught it, I told him to hit it. He was shot ready and didn’t hesitate and knocked it down. I thought that was huge going into the fourth quarter.”

Kitchen scored with two seconds left to make it a four-point game, 35-31 heading into the final period. But the Hornets would only score one more field goal for the rest of the game. The rest came from perfect 7-for-7 shooting from the foul line.

Meanwhile, Harrisburg was able to pull ahead by double digits. Another triple from Ott ignited a nine-point run from four different scorers over three minutes and 10 seconds to put the Bulldogs in front 44-10. Westran was held scoreless until 3:25 when Kitchen converted a pair of free throws, but the damage was done. Harrisburg was able to ride out the bottom half of the fourth quarter to secure their second straight district title in four consecutive championship game appearances.

“It’s big,” said Fisher of defending the title. “The goal at the beginning of every season is to win a district championship. The job’s not done yet. Now, we want to keep going. I liked that after the game, our guys celebrated, but not too much. They know they want to keep playing.”

Combs led four Harrisburg players in double-figures with a team-high 15 points. Ott added 13, sinking three 3-pointers and finishing perfect from the line, sinking all four free-throw attempts. Thornhill added 11 points, and junior Rylee Robinson added a hard-fought 11 points. Katsaros finished with five points, all in the second half. As a team, Harrisburg finished 9-for-14 from the foul line.

“It was kind of a different guy throughout the game,” Fisher said about the scoring distribution. “Rylee got going a little bit early on. Bryce, of course, when he gets an open shot can hit it most of the time. I thought Myals Thornhill was really good in the second half. I thought Sam’s defensive energy was really good as well.”

Kitchen’s 17 led all scorers, but he was the only Hornet to break double-figures. Senior Cooper Harvey added nine points, with a 3-pointer in the first quarter. Haynes posted seven. Westran finished 12-for-16 from the free-throw line.

The loss concludes an outstanding season for the Hornets with an overall mark of 23-6. It marks the third 20-plus win finish for Westran in the last four seasons.

Harrisburg, now 23-5 with a No. 6 ranking in the Class 2 state polls, now faces a tenacious Slater team led by the undeniable athleticism of Brandon Terrill. The senior led his Wildcats to the Class 2 District 8 title with 30 points in the championship game against Smithton Friday night in New Franklin. Slater, seeded first, won the district with an 83-44 victory over third-seeded Smithton, which edged second-seeded New Franklin in the semis on Wednesday.

Slater is now 21-4 overall with its first district championship since winning back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.

Harrisburg handily defeated Slater early in the season, 91-58, in the Glasgow Tournament. Fisher is hardly ready to hang his hat on that victory, recalling how well his team shot the ball that night. Now, after an exhausting regular season and district tournament with the chance to advance to the state quarterfinals for the second year in a row, he expects an all-out battle on Monday in front of a home crowd on Coach Combs Court.

“It’s going to be more of a war Monday night. We’ll have to be ready for them,” Fisher said.

Monday’s winner will advance to the state quarterfinals on Friday, March 7, against either Clopton (18-9) or Canton (22-5).