13-0 run to buzzer salvages Harding

Trailing by 59-52, the Raiders regrouped to capsize Bedford,
65-59, in a district semifinal.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS — Steve Arnold was sweating, he was worried and from his court-side seat it looked like it was all unraveling in front of him. The lead. The game. The season.

Top-seeded Warren Harding was down seven points to fourth-seeded Bedford with just more than three minutes left, and any momentum the Raiders had in the first half went ‘poof’ somewhere around the middle of the third quarter. With the score 59-52, Arnold decided he’d seen enough.

He called timeout.

“I told them, ‘Let’s have the heart of champions,’” the Raiders coach said. “I said, ‘Don’t quit. There’s lots of time left.’

“There are no seven-point plays. You have to chip away at it.”

Seconds later, junior guard Sheldon Brogdon drilled a 3 (although “drilled” isn’t quite the word for Brogdon’s shots, which seem to fall through the hoop without hitting the net, much less the rim) and the Raiders’ defense stiffened on the other end, forcing a turnover.

“That 3 got us back in the game,” junior Desmar Jackson said. “We played hard from then on.”

After two straight Harding misses on the other end —and two straight offensive rebounds — Raiders senior center Damian Eargle banked in a shot to make it 59-57.

The momentum had officially swung, the Raiders forced two more turnovers, regained the lead and never lost it, outscoring Bedford 13-0 over the last three-plus minutes en route to a 65-59 victory in a Division I district semifinal Thursday at Warrensville Heights High School.

Jackson punctuated the victory at the buzzer, slamming home a rebound that set off a wild celebration under the basket.

“I’m drained,” said Arnold, whose team will meet second-seeded Garfield Heights for the district crown Saturday at 1 p.m. “The only thing I can say is the kids didn’t quit.”

Neither did the Bearcats, who were missing standout point guard Randall Holt, who was suspended for the game after getting in a fight earlier in the day. Holt was averaging 18 points, four assists and four steals, meaning Bedford (16-7) was missing a big part of its team.

“Anytime you don’t have [that production], it’s hard,” said Bedford coach Everett Heard, whose team lost to Harding by 10 points in December. “But the kids sucked it up and played hard.”

Arnold found out about the suspension Thursday at 3 p.m., but decided not to tell his players. He didn’t want them to get overconfident.

“Sometimes when teams don’t have one of their best players other guys step up,” he said.

That role fell to junior Robert Johnson, an athletic 6-foot-7 guard who scored 10 points to go with 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Junior post player Reggie Keely (6-8) added 22 points and Reggie Lewis had 14.

“I’m very proud, but on the other hand I expected to win the game,” Heard said. “I don’t get happy about good losses. I want to win.”

Jackson finished with 22 points and five rebounds for Harding (21-1), which lost to Canton GlenOak by four points in last year’s district final in Canton.

Brogdon added 18 points, five rebounds and four assists, senior Chris Henderson (who played the last 11 minutes with four fouls) had 11 points and six rebounds, and Eargle had 10 points and six rebounds.

“Give Bedford credit — they played their hearts out,” Arnold said. “It was a big win.”

scalzo@vindy.com