The New Franklin and Harrisburg boys duked it out in what felt like a heavyweight title fight Saturday night for the historic Glasgow Invitational Basketball Tournament championship. Top-seeded New Franklin pulled away for a 72-64 victory to claim its first title since 2019.

New Franklin coach Jim Schlotzhauer said it felt good to win and that it was a big deal for his eight seniors who have come up short in the last four years.

Both teams opened the tournament with lopsided wins. New Franklin upended eighth-seeded Marceline 100-33 on Monday. Harrisburg, the second seed, eased past seventh-seeded Fayette 76-30.

The semifinals proved to be a little more of a test for New Franklin. The Bulldogs defeated fourth-seeded Westran in a rematch of last year’s energetic semifinal. This time, New Franklin walked away with the hard-fought win for the right to play for the title.

“I think we really learned from the Westran game and sat down and looked at what we were doing,” Schlotzhauer said. “I think some of that showed tonight. It was sloppy times, but I think it was the effort of both teams that made it sloppy. Both teams worked really hard, and that’s tough to play against.”

Harrisburg’s high-intensity style and deep bench proved too much for sixth-seeded Slater in the semis on Thursday, with the Bulldogs winning handily 80-39.

Saturday’s championship lived up to the rough and tumble expectations of a battle between two of Mid-Missouri’s fiercest and battle-tested competitors.

“I thought the game was a war. It was really physical,” Schlotzhauer said after the game. “We got up and down a lot at a pretty good pace. I don’t think either team played particularly well. It wasn’t well executed. But you can’t doubt that both teams played really, really hard. That’s why it was hard to execute.”

In a high-intensity game where nearly every shot is fiercely contested, New Franklin appeared to play with a slightly more relaxed attitude, allowing them to finish at the rim and pull down key rebounds.

“I thought their poise was just a little bit better than ours was,” said Harrisburg coach Kyle Fisher. “In a game like that, usually the team that is the most poised and makes the fewest mistakes wins the ball game. Both teams made mistakes and had adversity. I thought they handled that a little bit better than we did.”

Those mistakes cost Harrisburg early on, as leading scorer Trace Combs quickly found himself on the bench after picking up two charge calls in the first four minutes of the game. The Bulldogs were also without starter Carter Bremer, who was out sick.

Senior Wyatt Lind and starting guard Hayven Samuels were also in early foul trouble, forcing Harrisburg to go deep into its bench. Both Combs and Lind would foul out in the fourth quarter.

“I thought they did a better job staying out of foul trouble with their big guys,” Fisher said. “When our two got into foul trouble in the first half, I think that threw us off a little bit.”

Both teams traded baskets, with New Franklin striking first to start the game. Harrisburg took a quick 5-2 on a 3-pointer by Combs. 

And even with Combs riding the bench with two charge fouls at the end of the first quarter, the Bulldogs in red were able to jump ahead 20-14 after eight minutes. 

But New Franklin battled right back, opening the second quarter with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 20 apiece. 

The two teams were neck and neck until New Franklin senior Drake Clark sank a free throw to cap off a three-point play to put his team up by three. From there, the blue-and-white Bulldogs sprinted ahead toward halftime, taking a 45-34 lead into the break.

Schlotzhauer said his team was able to make adjustments and slow things down, which allowed his team to pull ahead in the second quarter. “Before the game, we talked about slowing down and taking what they would give us. I think that’s where Connor [Wilmsmeyer] ended up with a couple of back cuts. We slowed it down enough to use the matchups that we wanted. I thought we had a couple of offensive rebounds and put-backs that were big. We didn’t shoot it terribly well from the outside. So, those put-backs were a really big deal.”

New Franklin opened the second half with a 10-6 run and held its double-digit lead throughout the third quarter. Combs sank a 3-pointer midway through the period to cut the lead to nine points. But by the end of the quarter, he was on the bench again, this time with his third foul of the game.

“He’s so big and athletic that he gets himself in trouble at times,” Fisher said about his leading scorer. “He adjusted in the second half. It makes it a lot harder to win the game when he isn’t in it.”

New Franklin took advantage of Combs’ absence, scoring from the inside. Typically, the Bulldogs can hang their hat on banking at least a dozen points on outside shooting, especially from senior 3-point specialist Tanner Bishop. But New Franklin was held to just one shot from the arc, a timely three by senior Jake Marshall in the second quarter.

“Part of that is their defense,” Schlotzhauer explained. “They do a really good job and get on you. Our big guys did a really good job of getting us that lead and putting the game away for us.”

Combs was back in to start the fourth quarter and led a Harrisburg comeback that cut the deficit to four points on a 3-pointer with 5:29 to play. 

But 57 seconds later, Combs was out of the game again, this time for good. A third charge call sent him to the bench with five fouls.

New Franklin senior Drew Rhorer then sank an and-one free throw that gave his team a seven-point lead with 4:24 left to play. The Bulldogs then passed the ball around to milk the clock, finally forcing Harrisburg to foul. With just over a minute left to play, New Franklin junior Rylan Hundley sank two free throws to a double-digit lead.

New Franklin survived a final onslaught by Harrisburg to finish the game on top by eight and walk away with the tournament title.

“Tonight was a great win for our team,” Schlotzhauer said. “Winning the Glasgow Tournament is a big deal because of the high-quality teams that are in it. I’m really glad these seniors won it for the first time.”

Senior forwards Drake Clark and Connor Wilmsmeyer combined for 44 inside points for New Franklin. Drake finished with 27 and converted three of five free-throw attempts. Wilmsmeyer picked up 17 points.

“A big credit to our guys for making some defensive plays and having great possessions in the second quarter to take control of the game,” said Schlotzhauer.

Marshall also finished in double digits with 11 points, and the team’s only 3-point make. Rhorer added seven points off the bench.

Junior Bryce Ott and Combs led Harrisburg with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Wyatt Lind posted seven points with a 3-pointer in the first quarter.

Neither team shot well from the free-throw line. Harrisburg made just seven of 16 opportunities. New Franklin made 11 of 20 tries.

Despite losing the championship game, Harrisburg was able to make some noise after making a return to the tournament after a nine-year absence. 

“There are definitely things we can take away from this tournament,” Fisher said. “We’re so excited to be back, and it was a really fun week. The big thing we can take away from tonight is learning how to deal with adversity a little bit better and have a little more poise in big-game situations.”

Harrisburg and New Franklin have quite a history. Both teams have met in big games over the years, including five times in the Class 1 State Tournament, three times in district tournaments, and four times in the Glasgow Tournament. Harrisburg holds a 9-3 advantage in meetings that date back to 1989.

They will meet again for a non-conference matchup in New Franklin on December 18.

“The game was an absolute battle,” Schlotzhauer said. “Both teams were competitive the entire 32 minutes. When we meet again in two weeks, I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

In the meantime, Harrisburg will have the opportunity to play on the state’s biggest stage, Mizzou Arena. The Bulldogs will compete against three-time reigning Class 1 state champs South Iron in the Norm Stewart Classic on December 8. Tipoff is at 3 p.m.

“It’s going to be fun,” Fisher said. “They’re going to be good. We always like to test ourselves early in the year. Hallsville, New Franklin, and now South Iron. Those are three really high-quality teams to see what we’re made of early in the season. That’s only going to make us better for February.”

New Franklin is projected to have an easy week coming up. The Bulldogs host two winless teams this week, Fayette and Madison, before traveling to one-win, albeit highly athletic, Slater on December 12.