Harding snaps district drought with 81-71 win

Sheldon Brogdon’s 28 points led the Raiders into the regional tournament.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS — With Queen’s “We are the Champions” cutting in and out over the loudspeaker, Warren Harding senior Damian Eargle took a step up on the ladder underneath the basket, grabbed a pair of scissors and tried to cut down the nets.

Small problem. Eargle is left-handed. The scissors were for ‘righties.’ So, after 20 seconds, Eargle gave up and handed the scissors to junior Desmar Jackson.

“I can’t cut with the right-handed scissors,” he said, smiling. “I wanted to so bad.”

A few minutes earlier, Harding coach Steve Arnold had to be gently pushed back to the sideline when he tried to start the party at mid-court with 10 seconds left in the game.

Considering it’s been 13 years since the Raiders last won a district basketball title, they can be forgiven if the celebration didn’t go exactly to plan.

If they play like they did Saturday, they’ll have plenty of time to figure it out.

“I’m very emotional right now,” said Arnold, whose top-seeded team defeated third-seeded Cleveland Heights 81-71 in the Division I district final at Warrensville Heights High School. “It’s been a long time coming.”

After rallying down the stretch to beat Bedford in Thursday’s district semifinal, the Raiders jumped on the Tigers in the first quarters, taking a 26-14 lead. Cleveland Heights battled back to within two in the third quarter, but Harding answered with a 10-3 run to regain control.

Junior guard Sheldon Brogdon then scored 10 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter to close out the game for the Raiders (22-1), who will play Mentor in a regional semifinal Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Cleveland State University.

“After last year, when we lost to GlenOak [in the district final], this [title] has been on my mind constantly,” said Eargle, who had 12 points and teamed with Chris Henderson inside to make the Tigers work for every basket. “That loss made me work harder.

“I knew this day was going to come. Now that we have it, it’s a great feeling.”

The Raiders entered the season with the most talented team of Arnold’s seven-year tenure, but he knew talent can breed complacency, particularly against weaker teams. In nearly every interview this year — and every practice — Arnold emphasized the need to play four quarters.

“We had a little lapse in the third quarter,” said Arnold, “but the kids kept going.”

When asked if he expected his team to lead from start to finish, Arnold smiled.

“No, I didn’t,” he said, “but that’s a good thing.”

Jackson added 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists despite battling foul trouble for large stretches of the second half. Henderson had 12 points (six on dunks) and 11 rebounds.

“It’s amazing to have this many guys,” Eargle said. “You need that to beat a team like Cleveland Heights. It can’t be just one guy, you need five or eight.”

Quintus Teer had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland Heights (17-6), Chuck Turnbo had 17 points and Travis Kelce (who also got in foul trouble) added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

“We gave it our best shot,” Tigers coach Barry Egan said. “I’d sure like to have that first half back. We put ourselves in a bad position but Steve’s group had a lot to do with that.

“It’s no accident they’re 22-1.”

scalzo@vindy.com