02/15/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
HARRISBURG - For the Harrisburg Bulldogs and assistant coach Richard Dwyer it was an interesting night to say the least.

With Dwyer in charge because of head coach Randy Smithpeters' game ejection in the teams' previous contest (a 77-33 loss to Murphysboro) they needed to overcome some foul trouble in their game against rival Massac County on Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early advantage but some foul trouble in the second half forced Dwyer to resort to one of his offensive sets that has served this coach well over the years.

As the JV coach, Dwyer had coached all of these kids previously and they knew what to do when he commanded the Bulldogs to run their “Galesburg” offense.

Spreading the ball and running off some clock while still trying to score to keep the Patriots honest on defense, the strategy eventually worked.

Harrisburg picked up a 47-43 Ohio Division win by making just enough free throws in the final minutes and answering back when Massac County took a brief lead in the fourth quarter.

Six-nine senior Chris Allen ended up icing the game with the second of two free throws with just :04.4 left.

It was Allen's only point of the game but it prove to be the difference maker.

A desperation shot from beyond half-court at the horn by Massac County wouldn't have mattered had it went in as Harrisburg improved to 10-16 overall, 4-5 in the River-to-River Ohio.

For Coach Joe Hosman and his young club it was another learning experience as the Patriots have now lost four-consecutive games to drop to 18-11 overall, 3-6 in the Ohio.

Falling behind by as many as 12-points in the first half, Massac County rallied to take a very brief 43-42 lead with 2:11 left.

However Harrisburg responded by scoring the game's final five-points to secure the win in front of a large crowd at Davenport Gym.

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by 6-3 junior Nathan Lawrence with 18-points while junior guard Myles Crank added 11.

To Harrisburg's credit they had offensive contributions in points from seven different players in the victory.

Sophomore guard Camron Ande and senior guard Michael Godsey added eight and six-points respectively while Allen, junior Ross Rider and Karmello Downey combined to add 4-of-6 free throws in the fourth quarter.

“I've been here 15 years and his teams get better everyday towards the end of the season. He got them ready. He prepared the meal and all I did was serve it up,” said Coach Dwyer talking about Coach Smithpeters getting his team ready. “Galesburg is something I have to use at the JV level. Those boys that played for me before they have run that offense. Coach (Smithpeters) ran that a little bit against Benton so they (the kids) were familiar with it. We were in foul trouble and we couldn't battle with them 'bucket for bucket' so I pulled it out and we went with Galesburg.”

Massac County was led in scoring by 6-4 junior Brady Cissell with 14-points while junior guard Brody Smallman pitched in eight.

Sophomore guard Isaac Hosman was held to just seven-points, far below his 17 points per game average.

However five of those points came in the fourth quarter as the Patriots mounted a rally that eventually led to them getting the lead.

Sophomore Will Harmon and junior Ian Higgerson added six-points each for Coach Hosman.

The way the game started couldn't have been much worse for the visiting team as Harrisburg hit their first four field goal attempts in the early minutes.

Lawrence scored five-points and Crank started the game with a 3-point bomb from the left corner and his driving lay up pushed the lead to 14-2 with 4:04 left in the opening stanza.

Massac did respond with nine-consecutive points with Cissell scoring twice.

He had a chance for an “And-One” on a score in the lane. He missed the free throw but grabbed his own rebound for a stick back.

A Hosman drive and a 3-pointer from Smallman cut the score to 14-11.

Godsey drove the lane to finish the first quarter scoring with a lay in and a 16-11 lead.

Neither team put together any second quarter runs as Lawrence and Cissell both got more points inside for each team.

Harrisburg's Downey drove the lane for what looked like would be a half ending score but the basket was waved off on an offensive goal-tending call as the two teams went to the break with the Bulldogs up 27-21.

In the third quarter things got a bit difficult for the hosts.

Godsey, on consecutive plays, picked up his third and fourth fouls and went to the bench with 2:53 remaining.

With Lawrence already saddled with three fouls, Coach Dwyer went to his spread.

It paid off with the final basket of the quarter, a lay in from Lawrence off an assist from Ande as the two teams went to the fourth quarter at 35-31 Bulldogs.

After a Lawrence score in the paint and a pair of free throws by Rider, the Bulldogs appeared ready to put the game away, up 39-33 at the 6:01 mark.

But Massac made a move.

Hosman canned his only 3-pointer of the game from the right corner to get things going for the Patriots.

Backcourt mate Smallman also connected from the arc, this time from the right wing.

Following 3-of-4 free throws on different trips to the line by Ande and Downey, Massac struck again with Cissell scoring inside on an assist by Hosman and then the sophomore guard drove the lane for a basket for the Patriots first and only lead at 43-42.

However Massac committed consecutive turnovers, one on an offensive foul on an inbounds play, and missed their final three 3-point attempts.

Although Ande missed a pair of free throws in the sequence, Lawrence finally 'stuck the fork' in the victory with his final toss.

The Patriots can point to one specific stat line in the game for their eventual demise.

Massac County hit just 3-of-16 from the 3-point arc, leading to just 17-of-49 from the floor overall.

Although they ended up with a slight rebounding edge (28-26) they committed 11-turnovers compared to just seven for Harrisburg.

Coach Dwyer saw his club hit a better percentage from the floor that the Patriots.

The Bulldogs connected on 17-of-39, with just 2-of-5 from the arc as they preferred to do their damage inside.

Both teams have a game remaining before things 'get real' this coming Saturday.

Harrisburg hosts Herrin on Thursday night and will travel to Vienna to take on the host Eagles in the first round of the Eldorado 2A Regional.

Massac County will host West Frankfort on Friday night before their part of the postseason begins on Wednesday. February 23rd when they will play the winner of the Carmi-White County/Eldorado game that is also played on Saturday in the new tournament format this season by the IHSA.

If Harrisburg wins, they would face Hamilton County on Wednesday night at Eldorado which will certainly be a packed house at Duff/Kingston Gymnasium.

“They wanted it for coach and I'm so proud of the way they battled,” said Coach Dwyer. “The kids have battled through adversity. I've been out sick, Coach Smithpeters and Coach Griffin has been out sick,” said Coach Dwyer. “That adversity came into play tonight as these kids competed and battled. It was all them.”

Massac County (43) - Harmon 2 0 2-2 6, McCuan 0 0 0-0 0, Smallman 0 2 2-2 8, Hosman 2 1 0-0 7, Higgerson 2 0 2-2 6, Bremer 1 0 0-0 2, Cissell 7 0 0-1 14.
2FG-14, 3FG-3, FT-6-7, PF-19.
Harrisburg (47) - Godsey 3 0 0-1 6, Ande 3 0 2-4 8, Crank 1 2 3-4 11, Allen 0 0 1-2 1, Lawrence 8 0 2-6 18, Downey 0 0 1-2 1, Rider 0 0 2-2 2.
2FG-15, 3FG-2, FT-11-21, PF-16.
Fouled Out – Cissell - Massac County.
Technical Fouls – None.