Harding's Eargle shares the wealth in big victory

The Raiders defeated Columbus Brookhaven in Canton's holiday tournament.
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CANTON -- Warren G. Harding basketball player Damian Eargle wasn't about to get caught up in a one-on-one matchup against Columbus Brookhaven standout Chris Johnson Thursday night in the opening game of the Canton McKinley Holiday Classic at the Canton Memorial Field House.
Eargle and Johnson, both juniors, are considered two of the best players in Ohio from the Class of 2008. It would have been tempting for Eargle to try to overshadow Johnson and put on a one-man show.
But instead, he took a different approach -- get his teammates involved.
Eargle's unselfishness had its rewards, as the Raiders improved to 6-1 with a 68-59 victory over Brookhaven, the 2002 Division I state champion, and advanced to the championship game tonight at 8 against Canton McKinley, an 80-66 winner over Akron Buchtel.
"I try to play with that team concept every night," said Eargle, who still managed to score a team-high 22 points. "I know that if I play defense, rebound the ball and get the ball to my teammates, my points will still come.
"We're kind of a young team this year, but I think if we play hard and focus every game, we can go real far this year. We just have to play well each game."
Johnson nets 35
Eargle lost the individual battle against Johnson, who poured in a game-high 35 points before fouling out with seven seconds remaining. Despite the monumental effort, he didn't get much help from his teammates, while the Raiders had three players score in double figures.
"We knew he [Johnson] was a good player for them and that he has to score for them to win," Harding coach Steve Arnold said. "We wanted to make someone else elevate their game for them. In our six wins, we've had balanced scoring offensively and we did again tonight.
"I don't think our effort was that good tonight in the first half, but the important thing is that we came out with a win. But we definitely need to come out with more emotion tomorrow night."
Terrence Hudson (17 points) and Sheldon Brogdon (13) provided scoring balance for the Raiders.
Brookhaven owned a 9-8 lead late in the first quarter, before Warren Harding switched to a 2-3 zone defense that disrupted the Bearcats' offense.
The Raiders parlayed the defense into a solid offensive stretch, going on a 10-2 jaunt to build a 19-10 advantage with 6:12 left in the second quarter.
Early lead tightened
Harding led by as many as 11 in the second quarter, but settled for a 32-25 cushion at the intermission.
Brogdon gave the Raiders their largest lead of the contest (42-29) with a 3-pointer at the 3:45 mark of the third period. Johnson and Brookhaven whittled the deficit to seven entering the final quarter, as Johnson drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer from near half-court to get his team within 46-39.
But the Bearcats couldn't get any closer in the final eight minutes. Eargle's 3-pointer with 2:30 left gave Harding a 61-49 lead and put the finishing touch on the win.
"Damian is a team player," Arnold said. "He trusts his teammates and he knows it's imperative that he trust the system. Our guys don't get into that one-on-one stuff. They know if they play together, we have a chance to do well."