Doubters are rejected: Harding gets rematch

By Tom Williams

The Raiders’ second-straight district championship earned a Cleveland trip.

WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS — A few minutes after the Warren Harding High boys basketball team had secured its second straight district title, Coach Steve Arnold admitted he felt relief.

“This win is a little more gratifying than last year because of the controversy we had this year,” said Arnold after the Raiders defeated Cleveland St. Ignatius, 52-42, in Saturday’s Division I district final at Warrensville Heights High School. “People doubted us from Day One.”

Last year’s team, which missed a state trip when Lakewood St. Edward made a controversial last-second basket in their regional final game at Cleveland State University, featured strong play from then-seniors Damian Eargle and Chris Henderson.

“They said you can’t win without Damian and Chris,” said Arnold of the skepticism he heard after 2008’s heartbreaking finish. “And they said you can’t win it when Sheldon [Brogdon] went out [with a torn ACL].”

Brogdon, a 6-foot senior guard who has committed to play for Youngstown State, had surgery performed on his injured knee last week in Cleveland.

Minus Brogdon’s scoring, the Raiders turned up their defensive pressure against St. Ignatius to turn a 20-18 halftime deficit into a 10-point win.

Junior guard Fred Williams was the catalyst, scoring 10 points in the third quarter when the Raiders outscored the Wildcats 20-7. Williams finished with a game-high 19 points.

Next up for the Raiders (22-2) is a rematch with Lakewood St. Edward (16-6) in the regional semifinal. That game will tip off Wednesday at 8 p.m. at CSU’s Wolstein Center.

The memory of last year’s finish haunts and motivates the Raiders.

“Last summer, we talked about finishing a game,” Arnold said. “In the St. Ed’s game in the regionals last year, we didn’t finish.

“So it’s about finishing and persevering and just believing you can be a champion,” Arnold said. The kids did a great job of believing.”

Williams said he spoke with Brogdon on Friday, a day after he returned home the hospital.

“He told me to take control, to be the leader,” Williams said.

Williams said it was “real difficult” for Brogdon to not be at the district final.

“He was in a real pain,” Williams said. “He told me to tell the team to keep their composure, to keep playing like we did all through the season.”

According to Arnold, Williams has provided inspiration for the Raiders from the beginning of the season. After an early season game, Williams was quoted “we’re going to get back [to the regional].”

“I’ve always reminded our players of what Fred said,” Arnold said. “The mindset is that it’s unfinished business.”

At long last, the Raiders can focus on their second-straight regional appearance, something Arnold said hasn’t happened in Warren in at least 20 years.

Senior guard Desmar Jackson, who has committed to play for the University of Wyoming, said the pain of last year’s final loss has not faded.

“I think about it every day,” Jackson said.

The Raiders most likely can’t afford another slow start like they had against St. Ignatius, which controlled the tempo in the first two quarters.

Junior Angel Gonzalez, who finished with 10 rebounds and 15 points, said a key was that the Raiders kept their composure after being limited to 18 points in two quarters.

“Coach told us not to worry about what happened, we still have another half,” Gonzalez said. “We just came through playing hard on defense.”

Jackson agreed.

“In the third quarter, we just played like we wanted to play,” Jackson said.

Arnold expects a boost from the recovering Brogdon’s presence.

“He’s fine, I’ve got a medal for him,” Arnold said. “He’s a big part of what we’re doing. He’ll probably be back to school on Tuesday. He’ll be at the game on Wednesday.”

williams@vindy.com