Harding gets ‘scrappy,’ survives Ursuline scare

With only five wins, the Irish got a much-needed confidence builder against the top Division I team.

Vindicator staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — Desmar Jackson believes the last time he scored 28 points was probably his sophomore year and that was before he transferred to Warren Harding.

The fluid 6-5 senior did it against Ursuline on Friday in a 69-66 victory that, at times, resembled a football game with bodies getting bruised in the paint.

It was no place for Sheldon Brogdon, Harding’s leading scorer who sustained a knee injury in Tuesday’s loss to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary’s.

In place of Brogdon, Jackson and Fred Williams (19 points) were designated to pick up the offensive slack and Angel Gonzalez (13 points) provided the offense, while the rest of the Raider cast gave coach Steve Arnold satisfaction in a supporting role.

“There was a call for others to piece it together elsewhere, such as being scrappy,” Arnold said of his Raiders (12-1, 3-0).

“You try to make up 20 points [that Brogdon was averaging] in other areas, if that means a defensive stop, a key rebound or a steal and a layup. You try to compensate.”

Ursuline (5-8, 1-1) didn’t play like a team that was blown out at Harding last Saturday.

The Irish battled tough until a putback by Gonzalez tied the game, 60-60, with 1:59 remaining.

Jackson followed with two big baskets, while Ursuline missed three of four free throws.

“We fought hard to get the win because we’re trying to get the No. 1 seed,” Jackson said of an outcome at Sunday’s tournament drawing.

In Brogdon’s absence, Jackson got a taste of being a target.

“Sheldon makes a big difference in this team. When we don’t have him, it’s harder out there.”

Arnold cautioned his Raiders against being overconfident, especially since Brogdon was missing.

“I told the kids to forget about last Saturday because we were coming to their place. Also, coming off a loss [to SVSM] you sort of lose that swagger. So we had a lot of things going against us, but we fought and scrapped and came away with a hard-earned victory.”

The coach said he’ll know more about Brogdon’s status on Tuesday.

“When you take 20 points out of the game, you’ve got to play better defense, rebound better and execute better on offense,” Arnold said. “That outside shot that Sheldon gives us was not there.”

The game was a confidence-builder for Ursuline, which got 23 points from Dale Peterman, 18 from Dominique Cole and 11 from Dakota Trosky.

Despite playing the No. 1 team in Div. I, the Irish didn’t roll over and led by nine early at 24-15,

Ursuline coach Keith Gunther noted that three key possession in the last two minutes hurt.

“At crucial points of the game, I don’t think we got stops when we needed to and part of that is that you’ve got a superstar out there [Jackson] who is really tough to guard. We struggled getting stops on him down the stretch. Gonzalez had a big putback and I thought Fred Williams hurt us a little big penetrating down the stretch.”

Gunther sees hope at this point in the season, one which had a rocky start when several standout players fell by the wayside.

“For where we started to where we’re going, we’re definitely headed in the right direction. I told our kids before the game, all I wanted is to give us an opportunity to win. The key was to get rebounds, make stops at crucial points and make free throws. Down the stretch, we missed three or four that could have made that game a lot closer.”

Gunther said the performance sends a message with the Div. III tournament looming.

“The way we played tonight should scare some people. We’ve got five wins; we’ve had some adversity this season, some things have happened, but we’re getting better.”

DeVonte Jenkins played strong on the defensive boards for the Irish, who resorted to a 2-3 zone defense.

“When we found out he wasn’t playing, we knew we were going to pack it in and try to make them shoot it from the perimeter,” Gunther said of Ursuline’s strategy.

“The one thing I didn’t like that killed us in a zone was that Jackson penetrated and they were cutting on us and he was hitting people on back doors and they were getting offensive rebound putbacks. In a zone, that shouldn’t happen. We should have made them shoot from the perimeter and rebounding the ball. We did for a period of time, but not for the whole game.”