The second-seeded Harrisburg girls swept the Glasgow Tournament last week, culminating with a 53-49 win over fifth-seeded Marceline for the title. The championship was the first at Glasgow for the Lady Bulldogs since 2014.

It was an exciting week for the Harrisburg girls. They defeated longtime rival Fayette, the seventh seed, 50-37 on Tuesday, then dispatched sixth-seeded New Franklin 60-43 in the semifinals on Friday in a game in which two seniors, Lorelai Hunziker and Audrey Arnold, both reached the 1,000-career point milestone. With no rest, Harrisburg returned to the court Saturday night to win a hard-fought game against a team coach Jaryt Hunziker said could easily have been the one seed.

“They are not your typical five-seed. They could’ve easily been the one seed in this tournament, and no one would’ve blinked an eye. They’re going to win a lot of games.

“Back-to-back nights takes it out of you mentally. But I’m proud of them,” Hunziker added. “To get down at the beginning and then get a nice lead and put it away at the end, I couldn’t be prouder of that group. They deserve every bit of it.”

The wear and tear from winning two games in the three days prior was evident at the start of Saturday’s championship. Harrisburg made only one of four free-throw chances in the first quarter and scored eight points while allowing Marceline to jump out to a 17-8 lead after one period.

The Bulldogs dialed up the pressure in the second quarter, which fed the offense. The effort turned into a 16-point swing for Harrisburg, which outscored the Lady Tigers 19-3 in the second quarter to take a 27-20 lead into halftime.

“You could tell, after playing back-to-back nights, we were just very passive,” coach Hunziker said. “We were a step or two slow. Once we started getting some steals and knocking down some layups and some threes, the defense got more aggressive, leading to the offense getting more aggressive, which is what we need. It kind of woke us up a little bit.”

Arnold scored six of her 11 total points during the second quarter. Hunziker sank a pair of threes and posted eight of her 16 points in the second to propel the team to a healthy lead by the mid-game break.

Harrisburg maintained its seven-point lead throughout the third quarter and led by as much as 12 points early in the fourth. But instead of rolling over, Marceline went on a 14-3 run to cut the deficit to one point with 25 seconds left in the game.

Harrisburg senior Jaidyn Stephenson kept Harrisburg in front, sinking three of four free-throw chances in the final 20 seconds, bookending a steal and layup by Hunziker to put the Bulldogs ahead by six with 4.1 seconds left. A final bucket in the closing second by Marceline was moot as Harrisburg claimed the four-point victory and the championship trophy.

Hunziker led three Bulldogs in double figures with 16 points. Twelve of those points came from behind the arc. Arnold added 11 and Stephens 10 points in the second half with two 3-pointers and clutch 4-for-6 shooting from the line.

While Hunziker and Arnold soak up a lot of the defensive attention, the Bulldogs have a strong supporting cast of shooters who made the win possible. Brette Ackman sank a three on the way to a seven-point night, followed by Ava Grindstaff with five points and Isabelle DeMuth with two.

“There were a lot of girls around them who played well, Coach Hunziker said. “Jaidyn knocked down some free throws and hit some threes that we needed her to. It was a full team effort, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Marceline also posted a well-rounded scoring threat, led by Ella Moseley with 12 points and Whitney Pennington with 10. Emerald Bloss added nine points, followed by Gentry Burns with eight.

“They have length. They’re aggressive on defense. They caused us trouble at scoring at times,” Coach Hunziker said about his championship opponent.

Harrisburg has a few days’ rest before opening the home campaign against two Class 4 teams. On Friday, the Bulldogs host Southern Boone (2-3). On Dec. 19, they host area rival Hallsville for a 6 p.m. tipoff.

“I’m glad people came out to watch us play,” Hunziker said about the Harrisburg faithful in the stands at last week’s tournament. “It was a great environment and a great game. In the end, we’ll learn from that. Having close games will benefit you down the road.”

Harrisburg travels to Mexico on Dec. 22 and finishes off 2025 against South Shelby at the Peak Sport & Spine Shootout at Moberly Area Community College on Dec. 29.