Fulton boys basketball beats Harrisburg in double OT, reaches third tournament championship of season

Fulton's Rowdy Gohring goes for a layup against Harrisburg in the championship bracket semifinals of the Harrisburg Tournament Thursday evening at Harrisburg High School. (Fulton Sun/Robby Campbell)
Fulton's Rowdy Gohring goes for a layup against Harrisburg in the championship bracket semifinals of the Harrisburg Tournament Thursday evening at Harrisburg High School. (Fulton Sun/Robby Campbell)

Walker Gohring scored a career-high 38 points, Donovan Weigel made some key blocks and Fulton boys basketball made its free throws when it mattered most.

Those three factors (and more) were why Class 4 No.7, No. 1 seed Fulton topped tournament host, No. 4 seed Harrisburg 83-71 in double overtime in the championship bracket semifinals of the Harrisburg Tournament Thursday evening at Harrisburg High School.

Down by as much as 10 points, the Hornets struggled as a team early, but one of the consistencies even in that time was Walker. Fulton's star point guard had one of the best games -- if not the best -- of his career and picked up the win in a contest the Hornets could've just as likely lost.

While there were others for Fulton, Walker knocked down some key shots and free throws late in regulation and overtime. Walker scored 19 points (half his total) in the fourth quarter and overtime.

"Walker is a special player," Fulton coach Justin Gilmore said. "He's a special guy for us. He does so much for our group, whether it's on the court (or) off the court. He's a leader for this group vocally and by example. He made some tough shots down the stretch to keep us in the game. We wouldn't be where we are without him."

Starting late in regulation, Harrisburg tied the contest at 57-57 after Braden Wyatt made 1-of-2 free throws. Wyatt went 1-for-2 each of the six times he had two attempts at the charity stripe, which helped and hurt the Bulldogs depending on the circumstance.

For that instance, it helped, but not for long as the Hornets' Walker outdid Wyatt and hit both his free throw attempts. After Walker made his second attempt from the line, Fulton was up 59-57.

Harrisburg attempted to tie it on its next drive when the Bulldogs' Trace Combs ran to the hoop for a layup but Weigel came out of nowhere and denied him.

"He altered so many possessions," Gilmore said. "Especially late, put his body on the line, flying around trying to grab every rebound. ...The effort he gave tonight was tremendous."

With Fulton in possession, a timeout was called after the potential game-deciding play. It ended up not being the decider, as the Hornets' Rowdy Gohring was called for a travel following the timeout. Right after the call, Harrisburg used its final timeout with five seconds left.

Whatever the Bulldogs talked about in the timeout worked, as Wyatt found an open lane and scored a layup to tie the game at 59-59 with a second left. It ended up being the final play of regulation, as the contest went to overtime.

The Hornets have played in some close games, but Thursday was the first time one of their games went to overtime this season. That showed early, as Fulton struggled to get anything going early -- the Hornets didn't score on their first four possessions of overtime.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs' Wyatt who went, as previously mentioned, went 1-for-2 every time he had two attempts at the line, and he did so twice before the Hornets scored.

That ended up hurting Harrisburg, as they could've gone up by four points. Instead, Fulton's Weigel hit a putback and tied the game at 61-61.

Breaking the tie, Wyatt gave the Bulldogs the lead for the sixth and final time after making a layup, which made it 63-61 Harrisburg.

Walker made sure Harrisburg didn't take the lead again, landing three straight jumpers, including a smooth step-back shot. The last of those three put Fulton up 67-65 early in double overtime.

However, the Bulldogs' Brayden Ott tied the game after making two free throws. It was the only instance Harrisburg made both attempts at the line in overtime, and it was the last of eight ties in the game.

While Walker did the bulk of the Hornets' scoring in overtime, it was younger brother Rowdy who made the eventual game-sealing shot that gave Fulton its 10th lead of the game. Taking a pass from older brother Walker, Rowdy drained a step-back 3 from the top left of the key, making it 70-67.

"Rowdy gives us the outside shooting presence that we definitely need," Gilmore said. "He's a threat to score the ball from the free throw line basically as soon as he steps over half-court. ...He's matured a little bit this year, taking care of the ball and making better decisions. He's understanding his role a little bit more, and understanding what he needs to do to make our team successful."

Walker took over from there, scoring seven points while Harrisburg only scored four after Rowdy's 3.

Most of Walker's points in that period came from the line. He went 7-of-8, while the Hornets as a team made 11-of-12 free throws in overtime; the Bulldogs went 5-of-8, with Wyatt accounting for all of Harrisburg's misses.

"Making free throws late is a recipe for high school basketball wins," Gilmore said.

Fulton's free throw shooting in overtime (along with the fourth quarter) was made to be more impressive, since the Hornets only converted 4-of-9 attempts from the line in the first three quarters. Walker made three of Fulton's free throws in that time.

Just like he did throughout, Walker provided a majority of Fulton's offense in the first half, scoring 17 of the team's 31 points. Even in Walker's lowest-scoring quarter -- the third quarter when he scored three points -- he made his most impressive play of the game.

For that play, Walker stole the ball out of a rugby-like scrum on Harrisburg's end, then drained a one-footed top-of-the-arc 3.

"I'll take No. 4 on our team over anybody in Missouri," Gilmore said. "He's got nerves of steal. He wants to win. He cares so much. He's got the ability to make tough shots because he puts so much work in in the offseason. It's not luck for him; it's all hard work."

On the other side, Harrisburg's Hayven Samuels made some impressive plays defensively. Samuels five steals and two defensive rebounds made him a thorn in the side for Fulton, and a kick-starter for a lethal Bulldogs transition offense, which was led by Ott with 26 points and Wyatt with 25.

"They had a great game plan for us to cause some confusion and mishap especially early," Gilmore said. "I think our guys kind of settled in and took a deep breath, became more patient there in the first half and onto the second half. They're a super good team. I know they're a smaller class than us and I expect them to make a run in their class this year. It's good to play teams of this quality."

Harrisburg (13-5) may have had solid performances, but it obviously wasn't enough. Fulton's victory sends them to the championship game for the third time in as many tournaments this season.

"I think it's really cool for the guys," Gilmore said. "We're very senior-heavy. Our top six or seven guys are all juniors or seniors. For those guys to see the fruits of their labor they've put in since freshman year to back to their middle school years. To be able to compete at a high level at all these pretty dang good tournaments this year is pretty special for this group."

In the championship game, No. 1 seed Fulton (14-3) will face district opponent, No. 2 seed Blair Oaks (12-5) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Harrisburg High School. It'll be the first time the Hornets will take on a district opponent that's been state-ranked at some point this season; the Falcons are currently out of the rankings but were in it previously.

"Blair Oaks beat Mexico earlier in the year," Gilmore said. "...It's not going to be easy for us. It's the only way I like it; they like it."