Harding grinds out SVC win

The Raiders responded to consecutive losses by beating Mooney.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
WARREN -- This Warren Harding High boys basketball win comes certified and stamped with flashy labels.
Junior Mario Manningham: "A bounce-back game."
Coach Steve Arnold: "A game to test your will."
Having lost back-to-back games, the Raiders -- in Arnold's words -- "were a little fragile."
Yet, in a physical confrontation Friday with visiting Cardinal Mooney, Harding held firm for a 54-48 Steel Valley Conference victory.
"We had to grind this game out," Arnold said, "and we were able to do that."
Slumping
Harding (11-4, 2-0) was coming off back-to-back losses to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary and George Junior Republic -- two good teams -- before welcoming state-ranked Mooney (10-4, 0-1), 15th in Division III.
"It was the first time we had lost two in a row in a long time," Arnold said. "We didn't know how the kids were going to respond."
The game -- and the tempo -- unfolded in Mooney's favor as the teams were tied 27-27 at halftime.
"They were slowly able to dictate their tempo, something we didn't want to happen," Arnold said.
Mooney senior David Zidian held a big part in the Cardinals establishing themselves in the first half. The 6-foot-5, big-bodied Zidian muscled his way to 12 first-half points.
"We're a pretty deep team and we have the capability of wearing teams down," Arnold said. "Some of the shots that Zidian was making in the first 2 1/2 quarters were a little short in the fourth.
"Hopefully, we can attribute that to our depth."
Zidian was slowed in the second half, when he scored just four points to finish with a team-high 16.
"He got a little tired," Mooney coach Nick Bellino admitted. "He was short on some [of his shots], and that's very typical when you're tired."
Mooney perseveres
Still, Mooney fought back from a seven-point deficit (42-35) to begin the fourth quarter and force ties at 44 and 46.
That's when Harding senior Tyson Rowland stepped up and hit arguably the biggest shot of the game.
His 3-pointer, which bounced off the rim and in, gave Harding a 49-46 lead with just over three minutes remaining, and the Raiders never trailed again.
"He bruised his hip in practice and he reaggravated it again today. He fought through it," Arnold said of Rowland, who took a hard fall earlier in the game. "That was a huge bucket for us."
Bellino thought the game was lost in the closing minutes when the Cardinals couldn't execute following timeouts.
"We were not getting what we wanted," he said. "We were not as strong as we wanted to be at the end."
Seniors Ron Stoops and Jeff Hehr each scored 10 points for the Cardinals, who had the 13th-ranked team in Div. I on its heels.
"We had opportunities up here. That's all you can ask for," Bellino said. "We'll take a look at it and see what we can do."
Leaders
Junior Bruce Allen and Manningham each scored 13 points and junior Terrin Brown added 10 more as the Raiders proved they could win a slower-paced game.
"We just had to get those hustle points and change everything we did in the first half," Manningham said. "We were a little rusty, so we had to pick it up."
Manningham was all smiles after the game -- with good reason. He verbally committed this week to play football for the University of Michigan.
"It was a long week; I had to think about what I was doing," said Manningham, a wide receiver. "I wanted to commit early so I could enjoy the rest of high school."
richesson@vindy.com