Harding rolls against rival JFK

Mario Manningham scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Raiders to their 10th win.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
WARREN -- Warren Harding was just too deep and too quick for Warren John F. Kennedy Friday as the Raiders, behind junior Mario Manningham, rolled to an 80-58 victory before a packed house at the Harding gym.
Manningham scored a game-high 22 points in leading the Raiders to their 10th win of the season against just two losses, while JFK fell to 7-6.
The Eagles played with the Raiders for most of the first half, but once Manningham got his team rolling, the Eagles were never in the game after the third period.
"They [Harding] are so deep, they go four and five deep down the bench and never miss a step," said JFK coach John Condoleon.
"We stayed with them early, but their depth just took its toll tonight, especially in the second half."
Weapons arsenal
Manningham wasn't the only weapon the Raiders had as Joe Phinisee added 14 points, while Tyson Rowland chipped in with 11 and Josh Johnson added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Harding outrebounded the Eagles 37-25.
The Eagles, who led 13-10 after one quarter, were led by Chris Shaker with 16 points, while Jimmy Kokrak added 14, John DiFiore had 12 and Colin Clemente chipped in with 11. Kokrak also had 13 rebounds and Clemente eight assists.
"Give Kennedy credit, they came to play tonight," said Harding coach Steve Arnold. "We played in spurts again tonight, like we have all season long. We still haven't put four good quarters together yet.
"I was concerned about this game," Arnold added. "It's a big rivalry for one, and then we have a game at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary's [today]. Then we started so slowly, I thought this was going to be a game that would go to the wire."
Lead changes
After Harding took a 4-0 lead to start the game, the Eagles battled back to tie the contest 6-6 and then took the lead on Shaker's bucket with just over three minutes remaining. JFK led the rest of the period, holding a 13-10 advantage.
Manningham took over in the second quarter. His first steal tied the game at 13-13 and his second moments later put the Raiders ahead 15-13.
JFK led one more time on freshman Marc Rossi's 3-point goal, 16-15, but Pat White put the Raiders back on top for keeps with 5:35 left in the half. Harding led 33-27 at intermission.
The Raiders came out and scored the first six points in the third quarter to pull ahead 39-27 and led by as many as 13 points, 49-36, before the Eagles cut the margin to 52-45 after three periods on Clemente's 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Raiders built the lead back to 12 points early in the final period and then went on an 8-0 run to pull to a 66-49 edge. They never looked back.
The final four minutes saw both teams empty their benches.
The Raiders forced 17 turnovers while making 10 themselves.
mollica@vindy.com