Harding rallies for overtime thrill

By Joe Scalzo

The Raiders overcame a lousy start to earn a return to the regional final.

CLEVELAND — After one of the worst first halves of his basketball career, Warren Harding senior Desmar Jackson walked into the halftime locker room with frustration on his face and a seven-point deficit on the scoreboard.

He’d shot 0-for-8 from the field with four turnovers as the normally dynamic Harding offense had just 17 first-half points in Wednesday’s Division I regional final at the Wolstein Center.

“I had to talk to him and calm him down,” Raiders coach Steve Arnold said. “He was really frustrated. There isn’t too many times he’s gonna go 0-for-8 in a half. And they were really physical with him.

“But he showed that he was a warrior in the second half. That’s what big-time players do.”

Jackson took over in the second half, scoring 26 of Harding’s 44 final points as the Raiders rallied from a 13-point deficit to upend Lakewood St. Edward 61-57 in overtime.

By showing far more grit and poise down the stretch than St. Edward, Harding (22-2) avenged last year’s heart-breaking regional final defeat to the Eagles and advanced to meet North Ridgeville Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

“Our kids just battled,” Arnold said. “I can’t even say how we won this basketball game the way we played.

“All I can say is they had the heart of champions.”

Harding’s motto this season is “Unfinished Business,” a reference to falling short last season thanks to a controversial call in the overtime loss to St. Edward. The Eagles made a game-tying 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer in that game. Replays later showed the shot came after the buzzer.

But Harding benefited from some good fortune — some might even say good karma — in the closing seconds of regulation on Wednesday. With the game tied at 49, Eagles senior Jor’gio Lacey just missed a five-footer, but teammate James Price grabbed the rebound and had a putback layup at the buzzer that — somehow — bounced around and rimmed out.

“Did my heart skip a beat?” Arnold said. “It skipped two beats.”

When asked if that was justice, Arnold chuckled and said, “You know what? God has a way. God has a way.”

Harding fell behind 52-49 in the opening seconds of overtime, but quickly gained control thanks to a 3-pointer by Isiaha Henderson and seven points from Jackson, giving the Raiders a 59-55 lead.

Fred Williams closed it out, splitting four free throws over the last 22 seconds.

“Once we went to overtime, I knew we had the game won,” Jackson said.

St. Edward (16-7) played a near-perfect game for 31‚Ñ2 quarters, but its lack of experience played a big role down the stretch. Only one senior — Lacey — sees major minutes for the Eagles and once Harding got the momentum late in the fourth quarter, St. Edward seemed to tighten up.

“That’s part of the learning experience,” Eagles coach Eric Flannery said. “We were worried about our youth.”

Sophomore Delbert Love scored a game-high 23 points for St. Edward — including two huge 3-pointers in the fourth quarter — and Lacey added 13 points and 11 rebounds. Six-foot-10 sophomore James Price had six points and 10 rebounds but was in foul trouble for most of the second half before fouling out in overtime.

Harding will enter Saturday’s game as a big favorite to make its second trip to Columbus and first since 1966. (Warren Western Reserve made it in 1989.)

Considering the Raiders have gone this far without one of their two best players — senior Sheldon Brogdon suffered season-ending ACL injury last month — that’s no small feat.

“They just will not quit,” Arnold said. “At halftime we said, ‘Just keep believing, just keep believing.’

“There’s nothing more to say.”

scalzo@vindy.com