Welcome to our new web site!

To give our readers a chance to experience all that our new website has to offer, we have made all content freely avaiable, through October 1, 2018.

During this time, print and digital subscribers will not need to log in to view our stories or e-editions.

Harrisburg Tournament

Shorthanded Harrisburg girls escape with first-round win over Mexico

Justin Addison, Editor/Publisher
Posted 1/24/23

The Harrisburg girls were without three starters for its game against Mexico in the opening round of their own tournament Monday night. But that didn’t stop a handful of underclassmen from …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in
Harrisburg Tournament

Shorthanded Harrisburg girls escape with first-round win over Mexico

Posted

The Harrisburg girls were without three starters for its game against Mexico in the opening round of their own tournament Monday night. But that didn’t stop a handful of underclassmen from getting the job done against Class 4 Mexico. The Lady Bulldogs were able to score from outside to pull away with a gutsy 48-45 win to advance to the championship side of the bracket.

“The future is bright in Harrisburg. I think we showed that tonight,” said Harrisburg coach Ryan Richardson. “We had girls with a lot of nerves, starting for the first time. Once we got them settled in, they knew what they were doing. Anytime you can knock off a Class 4 team with a bunch of freshmen and a sophomore who hasn’t seen a lot of minutes, that’s special.”

Harrisburg’s youth was evident to start the game as the Lady Bulldogs finished the first quarter with just points on a pair of made free throws by freshman Jaidyn Stephenson. With senior Carli Ellis sidelined, Harrisburg’s inside game suffered, resulting in turnovers.

But luckily for the Lady Bulldogs, Mexico struggled early as well, scoring just six points in the first quarter.

Harrisburg struck first in the second quarter on a field goal by junior Emma Fischer to cut the deficit to two points. But Mexico responded with a quick five-point run to go up 11-4.

The Lady Bulldogs made some adjustments midway through the quarter and rattled off seven points over two minutes to tie the game at 11 apiece. That’s when things started to heat up from the outside for both teams. Harrisburg made five 3-points shots, and Mexico sank two over the last 2:23 of the first half. Senior Brecca Thornhill knocked down two from beyond the arc for Harrisburg as the Lady Bulldogs pulled ahead. But Mexico sophomore Claire Hudson responded with a pair of threes in the final 45 seconds to put her team in front 19-17 at halftime.

The two teams would trade blows throughout the second half. Harrisburg took the lead on a 13-5 run over the first half of the third quarter to lead 30-24. That’s when Thornhill left the game with four fouls, and Harrisburg suddenly became an even younger team.

Coach Richardson said he didn’t have time to panic but applauded his younger players for answering the call. “When she went out, I didn’t feel like we missed a beat. That’s a compliment to our younger girls. That’s a girl I’ve been able to rely on for four years.”

Mexico took full advantage, and throughout the remainder of the third quarter, outscored Harrisburg 8-4 to cut the lead 34-32 heading into the final period.

But Harrisburg came out firing in the fourth. Sophomore Charlotte Canote sank two of her three total 3-pointers in the opening 1:48 to put her team in front by eight. Mexico rallied with a 9-2 run over nearly three minutes to cut the lead to one point, 42-41.

Harrisburg was able to convert on four of six free throws in the final two and a half minutes while running the clock to hold a six-point lead with under a minute to play. Hudson sank a late 3-point shot in the final seconds to bring Mexico within three points as the buzzer sounded.

“I’m really excited for our girls. Especially our young girls to show what it feels like to play at a high level and win high-level games,” Richardson said.

Harrisburg converted eight of its 12 free-throw attempts and sank eight shots from both sides of the arc. Twenty-four of the Lady Bulldogs’ 48 points came from 3-point range. Thornhill led the team with three of those long shots to go along with a pair of free throws for 11 total points on the night. Canote finished with nine points, all from behind the arc. Maci Ellis finished with nine.

Harrisburg, seeded third, will now move on to face second-seeded Hallsville in the championship semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the high school gym. The Lady Indians fended off an early rally from seventh-seeded Fayette to move onto the championship bracket.

Lexie Willer and Hudson each finished with a game-high 12 points for a Mexico team that finished with six 3-pointers on the night and shot 11-for-12 from the free-throw line.

Sixth-seeded Mexico will take on seventh-seeded Fayette on Wednesday for a chance to play for the consolation trophy. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the middle school gym.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here