The New Franklin boys won a pre-district showdown against area rival Harrisburg at home last Wednesday night, 51-40.

The victory extended New Franklin’s win streak to three games after losing three in a row, including two at the Bulldogs’ own tournament in early January.

“For us to come out like that after going on a little skid, to have that type of performance is a really big deal. I’m proud of our guys in the way we executed our game plan,” New Franklin coach Cory Nicholson said.

Harrisburg has dealt with poor shooting so far this season and scored just four points in a slow start to trail 10-4 after one quarter. But despite its scoring woes, the Bulldogs are a team that can stay in games with their aggressive defense, keeping the scoring at a premium for both teams.

But New Franklin seemed to shrug off the defense in the first half, jumping out to a 29-17 lead midway through the game.

“The two worst halves of basketball we’ve played this year were the first half against Glasgow and the first half tonight,” said Harrisburg coach Kyle Fisher. “I was really proud of how we responded in the second half. We could’ve laid down and quit, and it could have gotten really ugly. The guys fought back, and kind of made it a game.”

Harrisburg was no doubt fatigued after winning on the road the night before, 57-49, at South Callaway. Coach Fisher said that, despite the quick turnaround, his team must be prepared. “We have to find a way that when we’re a little tired from a big, hard-fought game the night before, to be mentally tough and not just rely on our physicality and athleticism. We play a physically demanding style. So whenever our legs and bodies aren’t quite there, we have to rely on our minds.”

Harrisburg inched back by two points in the third quarter, led by senior Caleb Nichols with six of the team’s 12 points. The visiting Bulldogs mounted an 8-0 run through the bottom half of the quarter to cut the lead to seven. But New Franklin had the final say. Sophomore Jonah Bishop sank a 3-pointer one second before the expiration of the third period to put the home team in front by 10 with one quarter left to play.

“That took a little bit of life out of us,” Fisher said about Bishop’s last-second three. “But I thought we battled in the fourth quarter as well. You can’t get down 15 in the second half to a team like New Franklin, especially on their home court. It’s too much of an uphill battle.

“We changed up how we were playing a little bit. We went smaller. When we trap all over the floor every possession, it’s hard to keep Bender [Wardrip] and Chase [Gray] in the ball game. We went smaller, and that seemed to work for a little bit.”

New Franklin went on a 5-0 run over the first half of the fourth quarter, and sank five of eight free throws in the final 63 seconds to hang on for an 11-point win.

“We returned the ball over quite a bit at the end. They’re extremely handsy. They play extremely hard. It’s tough to go against. It’s not something you see every day,” Nicholson said. “I was proud of our guys for holding our composure and for withholding that pressure.”

New Franklin senior Caden Schlotzhauer led seven players in the scorebook with 11 points, shooting 5-for-11 from the field with five assists and three steals.

“He came out ready to go,” Nicholson said. “Talking with him, we thought we had a really good game plan where he could get downhill quite a bit. He’s a big, strong kid who can match some of their physicality. And we have some shooters around him that really help out.”

Senior Lane Hackman posted 10 points and nine rebounds, finishing just short of the double-double. He also dished out four assists. Sophomore Noah Hackman also scored 10, with a team-high six steals and sank two of four 3-point attempts. Bishop shot 3-for-4 from the arc to finish with nine points.

Senior Rylee Robinson and sophomore Eric Freeman led three double-digit Harrisburg scorers with 11 points each. Freeman added five rebounds and three steals. Nichols scored 10 points with a team-high eight rebounds and three assists.

New Franklin owned the defensive glass, pulling down 20 rebounds and scoring 13 points off of Harrisburg turnovers.

“I thought we were excellent on defense,” Nicholson said. “Robinson is a heck of a player. He’s really strong. We were able to limit him and make them shoot a little bit and take some tough looks. We were able to get a few steals.

“Offensively, we did a good job of spreading the floor, getting our drivers downhill, and then kicking out to our shooters.”

Both teams play in their final regular-season tournaments this week. New Franklin, seeded third, was set to face the sixth-seeded home team at the Sturgeon on Tuesday night after the Advertiser went to press. Westran nabbed the top seeding with Salisbury earning the two seed.

New Franklin kicks off the final six-game stretch against Fatima on Feb. 3. The Bulldogs play four of their six final regular-season games at home.

Harrisburg fell to defending Class 2 state champion Eugene on Friday. The Bulldogs were seeded sixth in their own tournament this week and were scheduled to tip off against Marshall Tuesday night after this newspaper had gone to press.

“It’s a good tournament. We are seated where we should be,” Fisher said about this week’s tournament, which boasts some of the area’s strongest teams. “The two teams at the top, Blair Oaks and Hallsville, are really, really good. And there’s a bunch of teams in the middle, us being one of them, that have played a lot of really good teams close.”

Harrisburg opens the final stretch of the regular season on Feb. 3 against CS8 opponent Tipton on Coach Combs Court.