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Paris Bruner embraces his stopper role
Warren Harding vs Ridgeville
Gallery
By Joe Scalzo
Bruner embraces his stopper role
WARREN — If Warren Harding senior Desmar Jackson is a BMW and junior Angel Gonzalez is a Hummer, then senior Paris Bruner is more like a Honda Civic — low-maintenance, dependable and easily overlooked.
Bruner isn’t flashy. He doesn’t draw attention to himself. He willing plays the role of the Raiders’ defense stopper, scoring an occasional bucket while playing hard all the time.
“He’s taken the challenge of being our defensive stopper,” said Raiders coach Steve Arnold, whose team will meet Columbus Northland in Friday’s Division I state semifinal. “He takes pride in that and when you take pride in something, that’s where you see some success.”
On the Ohio High School Athletic Association Web site, the 5-foot-10 Bruner is listed as averaging 6.0 points per game, which is fairly generous considering he’s only scored 57 points in 25 games, according the Raiders’ stat sheet. He’s averaging about 1.5 steals per game and a little more than a rebound per game.
“Paris is not a scorer,” Arnold said. “He may get a couple free throws here and there. He may get a fast break layup. Every blue moon he might get a 3. And that’s every blue moon, trust me.”
But Bruner gives maximum effort on defense — he’ll hold up a fist to Arnold when he needs a breather — and he’s a big reason why Harding is giving up just 58 points a game this season despite playing some of the region’s best teams.
“Playing defense is a role I’m very comfortable with,” said Bruner. “I leave the shooting to the other players on the team.
“I’ll play whatever role I have to play to help the team win.”
It should be noted that Bruner is not some middling athlete who gets by with hustle and savvy. He’s an all-conference long jumper and a tremendous football player who got looks from several Division I colleges before earning a full scholarship to Mercyhurst.
A two-year starter in football, Bruner’s teams went 9-11 over the past years as the Raiders had consecutive non-winning seasons for the first time in a decade.
“It was a bad two years,” Bruner said. “Football is the sport I love, but to make it this far in basketball, I never felt anything like this before.
“This is the best experience I’ve ever had.”
Bruner came off the bench for much of his varsity basketball career but has taken on a larger role since starting guard Sheldon Brogdon suffered a season-ending ACL injury in early February.
“We have a saying here that there are no weak links,” said Bruner. “After Sheldon left, we all had to become a stronger link. Everyone had to step up and do that much more to help this team win.
“That’s how we got this far. Playing through adversity is something we had to do all season.”
The Raiders are in the state tournament for the second time in school history, having lost in the state semifinals in 1966. Warren Western Reserve advanced in 1989, a year before the two schools consolidated.
The two schools have won three state football titles between them, but a basketball crown has remained elusive.
“Everyone has been really supportive, but we can’t let it get to us until we win the ultimate prize,” said Bruner. We have unfinished business.
“For now, we want to enjoy this experience and get down to Columbus and hopefully we can back with a state championship.”
scalzo@vindy.com