After trailing by two after a neck-and-neck first half, the Harrisburg Bulldogs took the lead for good early in the second half, outscoring Salisbury 25-10 in the third quarter to qualify for their four straight district championship game.

Harrisburg, seeded first, won the district title a year ago only to fall to rival Salisbury in the state sectional, as the Panthers went on to make their third final-four appearance in four seasons. The two teams were assigned the same district this year, with Salisbury claiming the fourth seed.

The two teams played one another late in the regular season, just five days prior, with Harrisburg winning at home by 13 after leading by 20 at halftime. Bulldogs’ coach Kyle Fisher said that could have made his team overconfident in Wednesday’s semifinal.

“Maybe we thought we were going to come in and roll over them. But Salisbury is not going to let you do that. They’re too good of a program, and they’re too well coached,” Fisher said. “Our kids are too used to winning. We were ready for a four-quarter dog fight, and that’s what they gave us. I thought we were fortunate to come out on top.”

Both teams traded punches in what turned out to be a low-scoring first quarter for two such high-caliber teams. Tied 10-10 after eight minutes, the game remained just as tight in the second quarter, with neither team leading by more than four points. Down by four points late, Harrisburg turned the ball over when a pass missed its mark and went out of bounds. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, they made a defensive stop and scored on a bucket by senior Trace Combs with under a minute left to head into the break down 28-26.

“We just told our guys to stay in character,” Fisher said about halftime adjustments. “In the first half, we played really tight. Almost playing not to lose. And against Salisbury, you can’t do that. I thought we were fortunate to be only down two. The guys came out in the second half and played Harrisburg basketball. They played loose, flew around, and trusted their games.”

On the opening possession of the second half, Harrisburg put the ball in the hands of its senior sharpshooter, Bryce Ott, who buried a 3-point shot from the left wing just 10 into the third quarter to put the Bulldogs back on top. Salisbury regained the lead with a bucket by junior Patrick White on its next possession.

The Bulldogs took the lead for good 14 seconds later when junior Rylee Robinson scored, putting his team on top by one.

Then Harrisburg’s senior scoring leader, Trace Combs, heated up. The all-stater scored five straight points to spark a 20-6 run over the next six minutes to put Harrisburg in front 51-38 after three quarters.

“I thought he was a little off in the first half and didn’t play the way you expect an all-stater to play,” Fisher said. “I thought in the second half he came out and was much more aggressive getting to the rim, getting off the boards, wreaking some havoc on defense. He’s our difference-maker. He’s an all-stater for a reason. He elevates us from a good team to a great team.”

Combs scored 14 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. But despite a 13-point cushion after three quarters, the game was far from won.

Salisbury tightened up in the final stanza, cutting the lead back to single digits with a seven-point run over two minutes midway through the frame to trail by eight. But Ott once again connected from the arc to put Harrisburg out of reach with 2:03 left to play. The Bulldogs moved the ball around and ran down the clock in the final two minutes, sinking four of six free throws to maintain a two-figure margin as the clock ticked down to the final buzzer.

“They went to their press, and I thought we handled their half-court trap really well. Then they threw a full-court press at us that I don’t think we are ready for. We did not handle that super well for the first couple of possessions,” Fisher said about Salisbury’s fourth-quarter surge. “We finally settled down and just ran our stuff and got the ball in the hands of the guys that we needed to. Plus, we got a couple of stops in a row, defensively. That made it a little harder for them to press.”

Harrisburg finished with four players in double figures. Combs led the way with 22. Ott sank five triples for 15 points. Robinson scored 11 points in the second half to total 15 on the night. Junior Caleb Sager added 11 points. Starter Myals Thornhill added two points, and junior Bender Wardrip scored two points off the bench.

Junior Jake Peiffer paced the Panthers with 15 points, followed by 14 from junior Patrick White and 11 from sophomore Austin Cravens. Salisbury ends the season 14-13 overall.

The Bulldogs, now 22-5 overall, will face another longtime former Lewis & Clark Conference rival, Westran, for the district title on Friday. The second-seeded Hornets (23-5) escaped a late surge from third-seeded Glasgow in Wednesday’s nightcap to advance to the championship game.

Fisher expects a knockdown, drag-out fight with the Hornets, who deploy a style similar to Harrisburg, anchored by senior Marshall Kitchen.

“They have the x-factor inside with Kitchen,” Fisher said. “We will have to limit him and not let him dominate the game on both ends and keep their guards out of transition.”

Tipoff on Friday is slated for 6 p.m.