Harding’s ‘other guys’ step up

March 7, 2010 at 12:06a.m.

By JOHN BASSETTI

SOLON

Warren Harding didn’t have to dig too deep to find a fix for the loss of Angel Gonzalez, who tore an ACL in his left knee in Thursday’s practice.

Gonzalez had been providing a team-leading 275 points and second-best 145 rebounds.

Although senior Kennis White had a game-high 22 points, sophomore Jesse Hardin came through in the point-guard role with 21 points in Saturday’s 76-61 win over Maple Heights that propelled the Raiders (17-4) into the Division I district semifinals.

Without Gonzalez and starter Fred Williams, who was dismissed from the team a few weeks ago, coach Steve Arnold didn’t know what to expect.

“When two guys who went to the state final four last year are not with us at tournament time, that’s reason for concern,” Arnold said, especially the injury to Gonzales, which happened 15 minutes into practice on Thursday.

“Angel is multi-faceted,” Arnold said. “He rebounds and defends and plays on the post or perimeter and scores. So, we try to make it up in different areas with a multitude of guys.”

Arnold told the players that panic was not an option.

“This is what Warren basketball is about. When guys leave, other guys step in. You do it by committee. I think O’Neal [Brown] and Dominique [Murray] did that today. Murray came in and gave us some energy off the bench. Rashid [Gaston] used his big body and obviously Jesse stepped up his game and Kennis was his steady self again.”

Although Harding had the upper hand and was never tied or trailed, Maple Heights (16-6) pulled to within 12 early in the fourth quarter.

“If a team makes a run on you, you worry about whether the youth on your team has the experience,” said Arnold. “Sometimes, when you don’t know any better, you just go out and play.”

Along the way, Harding was able to rattle the Mustangs into 21 turnovers.

White was hot early in the third quarter when his three consecutive 3-point goals extended the Raiders’ lead from 39-30 to 48-30. It helped Harding open up a 19-point lead at 50-31.

Entering the game, Hardin was 1 of 5 from 3-point range, but had four in the first 10 minutes on Saturday.

“When my number’s called, you’ve got to step up,” Hardin said. “We were talking about taking open shots and they were going in, so I didn’t stop.”

For Maple Heights, Remond Houston and Dawan Cline had 11 and 10 points, respectively.