Hartville battled back from an early deficit against Salisbury, but the Panthers used a big fourth-quarter to pull away for a 46-34 win.
Hartville hit the first field goal of the game to take a 3-0 lead on the Panthers. The Eagles answered a Salisbury basket with another field goal to take an early 5-3 lead.
From there, Salisbury took over in the first quarter and much of the second quarter extending its lead out to as many as 12 at 22-10 with 4:30 left until the half.
Hartville chipped away from that point, closing the half on 10-0 run to go into the half trailing 22-20.
Out of the break, Hartville slowed the game down hunting quality shots. The Eagles got a pair of three pointers from Jalon Cryer in the third quarter and held Salisbury to just two field goals in the quarter to tie the game at 26-26 going into the fourth quarter.
CICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
The game was back-and-forth to start the fourth quarter with Hartville extending its lead to as many as three early in the frame before Salisbury found an answer. The Panthers went on a 9-0 run from the 7:19 mark of the fourth quarter to the 5:25 mark to take a 36-29 lead. That lead stood at seven until Cryer hit a field goal with 2:43 left in the game to make it 36-30.
Hartville got as close as four, 36-32, on a fastbreak layup by Bel with 2:27 left in the game, but that is all the closer Hartville would get. The Panthers closed the game out with a 10-4 run to punch their ticket into the Class 2 state championship game.
Cryer led Hartville with 13 points. Salisbury was led by Cooper Francis with 22 points. He was 13-for-13 from the free throw line.
Hartville will face Plattsburg for third place at 10 am on Saturday. Salisbury will face Principia for the Class 2 state championship at 6 pm.
