Tied at 65-65 after four quarters and one overtime period, the fourth-seeded Harrisburg Bulldogs ran out of steam against a big, talented Fulton team in the semifinal round of the championship bracket of the Harrisburg Tournament, falling 83-71 on Thursday night.

Fulton senior Walker Gohring scored 15 of his 38 total points in the second overtime period to lead his first-seeded Hornets to the championship game.

“I really wanted to win it after the first overtime because I knew we were running out of gas,” said Harrisburg coach Kyle Fisher. “When you play a team as big as skilled and as strong as Fulton, it takes a lot out of you on both ends of the floor. To continually go at them offensively and guard them defensively, it just takes a lot out of you.”

After trailing by three points in the game’s opening minutes, Harrisburg went on a 10-point run to take a lead that would hold for the remainder of the first half. Every time Fulton would threaten to tie or pull ahead, Harrisburg senior Brayden Ott would answer from the 3-point line. He scored 15 points from the arc and 17 of his 21 total points in the first half.

Harrisburg was able to use its speed to counter Fulton’s formidable size in the first half. But in the third quarter, the Hornets did a better job of paying to their height advantage, anchored by 6’6, 220-pound senior Colby Lancaster.

“When they get into a rut offensively, they’re going to go to him,” Fisher said about guarding Lancaster. “He and [Gohring] are a tough matchup for anybody. With the way our team is built this year, [Lancaster] was a tough matchup for us. If he catches the ball, he’s going to score. He’s big, strong, and he’s good. I thought we did a good job most of the night keeping the ball out of his hands. But when he caught it, there was not much we could do about it.”

Lancaster scored 11 points in the second half and 21 all night.

Harrisburg’s answer was its own No. 40, senior Braden Wyatt, who led his team with 24 points.

“I thought Braden Wyatt did a heck of a job fighting him all game with a lot of help from other guys,” Fisher said.

After trading blows in the third quarter, Fulton edged in front 40-39. But the Bulldogs responded, outscoring the Hornets 11-7 in the bottom half of the third period with six points from Wyatt.

Leading 50-47 to start the fourth quarter, both teams stayed neck and neck with three lead changes and two ties. Finally, Fulton took a 59-57 lead with 19.2 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws from Gohring. Seconds later, Harrisburg sophomore Trace Combs drove in to the lane, but his tying shot was blocked.

As time was running out, the Bulldogs’ pressure got a break. With 5.4 ticks on the clock, Fulton was whistled for a half-court violation, giving Harrisburg the ball from the sideline by the scorers’ table. Combs inbounded the ball to Wyatt, who faked a pass from the top of the key. Fulton bit, giving the Bulldogs’ scoring leader an open lane. And with 1.9 seconds left, Wyatt scored a layup to tie the game at 59-59 and give Harrisburg another chance to advance.

Wyatt gave his team a narrow lead in the opening minute of overtime, going 2-for-4 from the free-throw line. But every time Harrisburg would score, Fulton had an answer. And after a four-minute extension, the game remained tied at 65-65.

The momentum swung in Fulton’s direction during the second overtime, fueled by an 11-point performance from Gohring, who sank seven of eight free-throw attempts and made a pair of contested jump shots to earn the win. The Hornets outscored Harrisburg 18-6 in the final four minutes to earn a chance to play for the tournament title.

“I tip my cap to their great horses,” Fisher said after the game. “They’ve got two great players. Especially Gohring. He really showed up in overtime. At the end of regulation and then in the first overtime, he made a lot of tough shots to keep them in the game. In the second overtime, I thought we defended him well, he just continued to make really tough shots. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t answer them as well in the second overtime.”

Gohring’s 38 points led all scorers. He sank four baskets from the 3-point arc and made a cool 12 of 14 free-throw shots. Lancaster finished with 21 points.

Harrisburg boasted three players in double figures. Wyatt paced the Bulldogs with 24 points. Ott tallied 21 with a game-high five 3-pointers. Combs had 16 points, followed by junior Hayven Samuels with eight and senior Austin Darwent with two.

Harrisburg will play against third-seeded Hallsville for the third-place trophy on Saturday. The Indians fell to second-seeded Blair Oaks in Thursday’s nightcap 60-49. Tipoff is slated for 4:30 p.m.

“If we can use tonight to get better and build off of it, then it’s a good loss. I hate that term, but if we can learn from it and get better, it will be a good loss,” Fisher said. “We have to get ready for another great team on Saturday.”

Fulton, seeded first, will take on Blair Oaks for the tournament championship at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.