By JOE SCALZO

By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
WARREN -- Just before 7 p.m. on Friday night, Ursuline High boys basketball coach Keith Gunther was standing outside Warren JFK High School, surrounded by his team, clamoring to get inside the building.
"Sold Out!" signs were posted on the windows and dozens of fans were being turned away, whether they had tickets or not.
Inside, two radio stations and a TV station sat near the entryways, while 75-100 people lined the walls awaiting one of the biggest basketball games in the area this season.
For one half, they saw one of the best.
The oversized Eagles managed to keep pace with Warren Harding through the first two quarters, mainly through the offensive efforts of senior J.J. Townsend and sophomore Desmar Jackson, and the Eagles trailed by just three (30-27) going into halftime.
"I told the guys that the first 30 seconds of the third quarter are gonna be huge," said JFK coach Shawn Pompelia. "We really needed to keep the momentum we had in the first half."
They didn't. Harding picked up the pace in the third quarter and used its huge height advantage to outscore the Eagles 24-12. Once the Raiders had the momentum, they didn't let go, cruising the rest of the way for a 76-47 win in a Steel Valley Conference game.
Big game
"Obviously, we wanted to win this game because it gives us bragging rights for another year," said Harding coach Steve Arnold. "But our focus was on taking care of business. I told the guys, 'Don't overhype this.' We didn't want to make it bigger than it was."
Things got a little chippy in the second half -- the student sections traded taunts and one fan was even ejected early in the fourth quarter -- but the emotion didn't spill out on the court. (The teams combined to shoot just 11 free throws.)
And while the Raiders' size was the biggest difference (Harding had a 51-26 edge on the boards), it was sophomore guard Sheldon Brogdon who played the biggest role offensively, scoring 21 points. His perimeter shooting opened things up inside for Harding's frontcourt standouts Damian Eargle (10 points, 12 rebounds, one dunk) and Chris Henderson (12 points, eight rebounds, four dunks).
"We just tried to trap them [in the second half] and we knew as long as the game went on, they'd get tired," said Brogdon, who scored 14 points in the second half. "We took advantage of that."
Not enough
Jackson finished with 17 points and nine rebounds for JFK (9-3, 3-1), but he had just two points in the second half. Townsend added 16 points -- 10 in the first half -- and five rebounds.
"There's no substitute for size," said Pompelia. "You can't teach it and their [Harding's] inside game was impressive."
JFK shot well from the outside in the first half -- Jackson made back-to-back 3-pointers to open the second quarter and both were a few feet behind the line -- but as the Eagles tired, the shots fell short. JFK finished 9 of 31 from the 3-point line and were outscored 47-12 in the paint.
"Give them credit -- they knocked down some 3s," said Arnold. "But we knew with the pace we played, some of those weren't going to fall."
Junior forward Elijah Jordan had 11 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for Harding (8-3, 2-0) in what Arnold called his best game of the season. If the Raiders can keep getting contributions like that, they'll be dangerous in the postseason.
"We talked about putting a string of wins together," said Arnold, whose team plays at Cleveland St. Ignatius today. "Hopefully we can cap off the week with another win."
scalzo@vindy.com