A regrouped Harding ready for N. Ridgeville

By Joe Scalzo

With Sheldon Brogden sidelined with an ACL injury, his Raider teammates have stepped up their games, physically and mentally.

Warren Harding senior Desmar Jackson can seem both blessed and cursed by his athleticism.

At 6-foot-5 with an enormous wingspan and athleticism oozing, Jackson seems capable of doing anything on the basketball court.

But his eye-popping ability creates outsized expectations.

“Sometimes I’m really hard on Des and he’ll tell you that,” said Raiders coach Steve Arnold. “Des can tease you sometimes.

“You always want more.”

With senior Sheldon Brogdon sidelined with an ACL injury, Jackson has had to take on a larger role over the past two months. The University of Wyoming recruit stepped up in a big way on Wednesday night, scoring 26 points — all after halftime —to rally the Raiders past Lakewood St. Edward in a Division I regional semifinal.

“What he did in the second half, that’s what he’s capable of doing,” said Arnold, whose team will meet North Ridgeville in tonight’s regional final at Cleveland State University. “That’s what big-time players do.”

Two months ago, the Raiders seemed destined to be playing this weekend. They started 11-0 and were ranked No. 1 in the state before Brogdon injured his knee against Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary on Feb. 3.

Harding lost that game, dropped a one-point game to Zanesville two weeks later and seemed vulnerable as it entered a very difficult district tournament at Warrensville Heights.

Brogdon, a YSU recruit, was averaging 20 points per game and hadn’t missed so much as a practice in three years. His season-ending injury would have decimated some teams. But the Raiders regrouped and have shown mental toughness over the past few weeks.

“The kids bought into one another,” said Arnold. “They believe in the coaching staff, the coaches believe in the kids and their abilities and the staff has done a great job helping the kids define their role.

“I think that’s imperative, that each kid knows his role on the court.”

Offensively, Harding relies heavily on the trio of Jackson, junior guard Fred Williams and junior forward Angel Gonzalez. Defense, however, is a team effort and a huge emphasis from Arnold.

The Raiders aren’t big, but they use their athleticism to overcome a lack of size. Six-foot-7 junior Oneal Brown and Gonzalez (6-4) are the only real post threats, with Jackson (6-5) and senior Isiaha Henderson (6-5) preferring to stay on the wing.

Harding has beaten bigger teams in its last three games and will be challenged inside again tonight against North Ridgeville’s 6-11 senior Drew McGhee, a Miami (Ohio) recruit who averages 18 points per game. The Rangers won their first district title since 1957 last week and are in the regional final for the first time.

“They’re a very good basketball team,” said Arnold. “You put somebody in the middle who’s 6-11 and he’s a Division I recruit, he’s gonna cause some problems for you.”

North Ridgeville, which rallied to beat Mentor in the regional semifinal, will look to control the tempo and play half-court basketball. Harding wants to do the opposite.

“We’ve got to be cautious because if we double down too hard on [McGhee], he does a great job kicking it back out,” said Arnold. “Hopefully we can apply pressure, get the ball out of the hands of the big kid and play baseline-to-baseline for four quarters.”

Harding fell behind by 13 points in the regional semifinal before rallying to beat Lakewood St. Edward in overtime. Many observers consider North Ridgeville a less talented team than St. Edward, but the Rangers are a senior-led squad that won’t beat itself.

The Raiders, who made their only trip to Columbus in 1966, probably enter as a slight favorite. If they play well, they have a good chance of winning.

“You can say that about any team,” said Arnold, dismissing such talk. “We’re concerned about ourselves. [Wednesday] night we didn’t get off to a good start and we played a lackadaisical first half.

“We can’t afford to do that [tonight].”

scalzo@vindy.com