The Harrisburg Bulldogs entered the postseason with a completely new district and walked away with the District 5 title Saturday afternoon, upsetting top-seeded Van-Far 57-48. The win marks Harrisburg’s first district championship since 2018.

“It feels good. We’ve been close several times in recent years, so it feels good to finally get one,” said Harrisburg coach Kyle Fisher.

The Bulldogs, seeded second, eased past a struggling Wellsville-Middletown 87-22 in the opening round and advanced to the championship with a 67-47 win over third-seeded Clopton on Thursday.

Fisher said the district change gave his team the advantage of unfamiliarity, although Harrisburg had played Van-Far early in the season.

“It may have helped us a little bit, but I think we can beat anybody in the state,” Fisher said. “I do think the unfamiliarity sometimes plays to our advantage a little bit.”

For the past several years, Harrisburg had faced area rivals in the district tournament. The change meant the Bulldogs didn’t have to contend with the likes of No. 1-ranked Salisbury and No. 7-ranked New Franklin in the Class 2 District 7 Tournament. 

However, the Bulldogs could still run into Salisbury in the state quarterfinals on Saturday should both teams win their state sectionals. Harrisburg was scheduled to play District 6 winner Canton (21-7) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Canton. Salisbury is well on its way to defending its state title from a year ago and played District 8 champions Tipton (19-9) on Tuesday at Tipton. (Both games were played after the Advertiser went to press.)

Van-Far opened the game on fire from the 3-point line. Sophomore Pacey Reading netted four triples and a free throw to lead the Indians to a 17-12 lead after one quarter. The two teams tied 11-11 in the second quarter to go into the break with Van-Far on top 28-23.

“They kind of came out and punched us in the mouth,” Fisher said.

Harrisburg inched back in the third quarter, outscoring the Indians 11-9, but Fisher said the team really just trod water in the first three quarters. Both teams struggled to hit shots all night, which Fisher credits to solid defense on both ends of the floor.

Finally, as the game moved into the final stanza, the Bulldogs were able to take a lead thanks to eight straight points from junior Bryce Ott.

The run started when junior Trace Combs connected with Ott on a cross-court pass in front of the Harrisburg bench. Ott then hit the first of two 3-pointers that bookended the eight-point run by the junior. The second triple put the Bulldogs up by eight with about two minutes left. Harrisburg then hit free throws down the stretch to clinch the district title.

“We were fortunate enough to hit some shots in the fourth quarter and string a bunch of stops together,” Fisher said. “We won by 9, but we didn’t really break away until around the two-and-a-half-minute mark.”

Ott finished with 15 points after sinking four of the team’s eight 3-pointers. He also connected from the arc in each of the first two quarters.

Combs led Harrisburg with a game-high 23 points with three triples and 3-of-6 shooting from the line. Senior Wyatt Lind, who emerged as a major scoring threat this season, delivered a consistent performance with 13 points. Bringing up the rear was sophomore Caleb Sager with six points.

Reading led two Van-Far scorers in double figures with 21 points and a game-high five 3-point baskets. Senior Nikos Connaway added 13 points.

Harrisburg is currently 18-11 overall.