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Harding survives late surges in win
Special to the Vindicator
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(34) Tre' Brown of Harding slams home two points Wednesday night in Warren.
GAME TIME
Next: Harding vs. Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
By Jon moffett
WARREN
Warren Harding High boys basketball coach Steve Arnold has one thing come to mind when he looks at his team’s brutal remaining schedule: Bring it.
Arnold expounded upon that notion after his team eked out a 66-62 win over Canton Timken on Wednesday night.
“I just told our kids just now, this is the type of schedule that our coaches, and they as players should want,” he said. “You have to meet the challenge game after game. You do it at game time, and you do it in practice.
“And it doesn’t get any easier for us,” he added.
The Raiders (4-1) saw first-hand what it’s like to play themselves. The Trojans (3-1) are a fast, athletic team that can score at will, Arnold said. It’s almost like looking in a mirror.
“Timken is a very good basketball team,” Arnold said. “They’re quick, athletic and it’s an understatement to say there were good athletes out there. It was up and down, there were blocked shots and dunks.”
The Raiders led for a majority of the game, and by double digits for several minutes. But Timken used a strong fourth quarter to make a game of it.
The Trojans trailed 43-27 at the half, and 49-38 after three quarters. But the offense exploded for 24 points in the game’s final quarter, and gave the Raiders a bit of a scare.
“They put it into gear and against their pressure our inexperience showed,” Arnold said. “We got careless with the basketball to put it simply.”
He added, “When you couple the sense of urgency on their part with the complacency on our part, there you go.”
Timken coach Rich Hairston said he was happy with his team’s effort and lauded the coaching and play of the Raiders. He said Harding is in of the “top five” best programs in the sate.
“We knew coming in here that we were going to be in a dogfight,” Hairston said. “Harding, with all of their tradition, great athletes and the way they’re coached, you know that you have to come in and match their intensity and physicality. And you have to be able to execute. We didn’t do a very good job of that in the first half.
On a night the track team was awarded its state championship rings — the first time in school history — Arnold laughed when asked if he envisioned a similar ceremony for his team in a few months.
“One game at a time,” he said. “We’re taking it one game at a time. We’re not even thinking about March right now, trust me.”