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Prep Girls Hoops: Bulldogs go perfect at own preview tournament

Harrisburg enjoyed its best start since 2013 and capped off an unblemished week at its 31st Preview Tournament with a 66-48 win over Eldorado Saturday night at Davenport Gym.

With the victory, head coach Jake Stewart and company have now won outright titles in two of the past four seasons and have had at least a share of the top spot in three of the previous four Lady Bulldog Preview Tournaments.

Junior Jessica Hopson nailed seven 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 29 points for HHS (5-0).

"We were waiting all week for (Hopson) to break out because she had good looks all week long, but they just haven't went," said Stewart. "All of the coaches knew she was going to bust out, and tonight was the night, and we needed every one of them."

Eldorado (1-4) grabbed an 18-17 edge after the first period, but the Lady Eagles were limited to just a pair of field goals in the second quarter and trailed 39-22 at halftime.

"I was pretty impressed with the kids tonight, the way they came out and brought the fight to the game," said Eldorado coach Scott Artman. "In the first quarter, we had Harrisburg worried and shut down. We had done everything that we were doing in practice the previous two weeks of the season. I'm glad they showed some progress tonight."

The Lady Bulldogs continued with the momentum out of halftime after connecting on two triples within the first minute of the third quarter to extend their lead to 21 points.

"It's a rivalry game, and we knew it was going to be a tough game from the opening tip until the end of the game," said Stewart. "They played us really hard and played us well, but I'm proud of my kids for withstanding the slow start we had and coming out on top."

Matty Hawkins and Lotte Miller were also in double figures for Harrisburg.

Hopson, Hawkins, Miller and Karsyn Davis were All-Tournament Team selections from Harrisburg.

Eldorado's Rachel Stafford, Abby Vaughan and Morgan Combs of Carmi, Elle Basler and Angel Helm of Anna-Jonesboro and Megan Beery, Cali Wright and Morgan Griffith of West Frankfort were also named to the All-Tournament Team.

In Saturday's first game, Anna-Jonesboro beat Carmi, 52-50. A-J finished the week with a 3-1 record. West Frankfort, which was idle Saturday, went 2-2. Eldorado finished 1-3, and Carmi was 0-4.

Eldorado will host Gallatin County Tuesday evening at Duff-Kingston Gym.

West Frankfort 78, Eldorado 36 (Friday)

Takiya Britton had 18 points in Eldorado's 78-36 loss to West Frankfort Friday night at the Harrisburg Invitational.

Rachel Stafford scored seven points for the Eagles, while Paige Munds chipped in with six points. Jade Hise tossed in two points, while Olivia Parker, Zakiya Britton and Bayleigh Barton all had a free throw.

Harrisburg 42, Anna-Jonesboro 21 (Friday)

Harrisburg jumped out to a 13-2 first quarter lead and never looked back in a 42-21 win over Anna-Jonesboro that put them at 4-0 in their own tournament.

The Bulldogs got a team-high 11 points from Lotte Miller, while Toni Crisp just missed double figure scoring with nine points.

Matty Hawkins added eight points for HHS, while Karsyn Davis scored seven points. Howson finished with four points, while Brooke Meylor tacked on three in the win.

Harrisburg 50, Carmi-White County 35 (Wednesday)

Matty Hawkins had a team-high 17 points and was one of three Harrisburg players to finish in double figures as Harrisburg rolled to a 50-35 win over Carmi-White County Wednesday night.

Lotte Miller netted 11 points for the Bulldogs, while Hopson also finished in double digits with 10 points.

Karsyn Davis scored seven points, while Crisp tacked on three and Shianne Barker tossed in two points.

Harrisburg travels to West Frankfort Tuesday before hosting Du Quoin Thursday.

Harrisburg 66 Eldorado 48

Eldorado 18 4 15 11 -48

Harrisburg 17 22 21 6 - 66

Eldorado (48): Munds 4 0-0 8, T. Britton 5 0-0 10, Stafford 1 2-2 5, Hise 2 0-1 4, Newton 4 0-2 8, Parker 2 3-5 7, Corn 2 2-4 6. Totals 20 7-14 48.

Harrisburg (66): Hawkins 4 5-8 13, L. Miller 4 3-5 12, Davis 3 0-0 6, Hopson 8 7-8 29, Crisp 1 2-4 4, Rider 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 17-25 66.

3-pointers: Eldorado 1 (Stafford), Harrisburg 7 (Hopson 6, L. Miller). Team fouls: Eldorado 17, Harrisburg 15. Records: Eldorado is 1-4. Harrisburg is 5-0.