Harding survives and advances

By JOE SCALZO

scalzo@vindy.com

SOLON

Photo

William D.Lewis| The Vindicator Hardings Oneal Brown keeps the ball from Garfield'sMike Davis, left and Tony Farmer.

Before Thursday’s Division I district semifinal against Garfield Heights, Warren Harding High boys basketball coach Steve Arnold gathered his team in the locker room and told them about Buster Douglas’ 1990 upset victory over Mike Tyson.

It was an unlikely reference — none of the Raiders were born yet and Harding was, after all, the tournament’s top seed — but it made sense considering Heights’ height (the Bulldogs have six guys 6-foot-4 or taller) and talent.

“Those guys are the bullies, the big guys,” Arnold said of Garfield Heights. “I told our kids, ‘We’re going to get knocked down, but we’re going to get up.’

“I kept using that analogy. I used it at timeouts, I used it at halftime. We got knocked down, but you know what? The kids believed that. They didn’t give up.”

After falling behind by 10 points in the first half and 12 points midway through the third quarter, Harding dug deep, tied the game just before regulation and held off the Bulldogs for a 60-59 double overtime victory at Solon High School.

It was just the second game for the Raiders since losing standout forward Angel Gonzalez to a season-ending ACL tear. It was the second straight year they lost a key player to an ACL tear — guard Sheldon Brogdon was the victim last year — and it came after senior guard Fred Williams was dismissed from the squad a few weeks ago.

“This is real satisfying,” said Arnold, whose team will play Cleveland St. Ignatius at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday for the district crown. “If we can get [a win] Saturday, it’ll be even more satisfying.”

Harding (18-4) outscored Garfield Heights 17-5 over the final 12 minutes of regulation, getting some huge points from senior guard Kennis White on offense late in the fourth quarter and in the first overtime and some equally big contributions on defense from 6-7 sophomore Shaheed Davis.

But it was sophomore guard Jesse Hardin who made the game’s biggest shot, hitting a 3-pointer — his only points of the game — with 90 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 50. Garfield Heights (15-8) missed two shots in the closing seconds to force overtime.

Then, in the second overtime, Davis hit a jumper to give Harding an early lead, grabbed two key defensive rebounds and had a huge block.

“I just felt like I had to step up for my team,” Davis said. “Angel’s gone and we had talked about all week about me stepping up and playing my role.”

Garfield Heights had a chance to win it on the game’s final possession, but freshman guard Tony Farmer airballed a turnaround jumper and Harding senior Dominique Murray grabbed the rebound at the buzzer.

“This game is all about toughness,” said White, who finished with a team-high 23 points. “We stuck to the game plan and played as hard as we can.”

Harding beat St. Ignatius 66-34 in late January but that was before it lost two starters. Still, the Raiders overcame the loss of Brogdon to advance to last year’s state semifinals and are hoping to do something similar this March.

“Obviously, we’re the No. 1 seed but we’re a different No. 1 seed,” said Arnold. “When we got the No. 1 seed, we had Fred and Angel.

“Still, we’re the defending two-time defending district champs. We played with some pride and some heart tonight.”

Harding defeated St. Ignatius 52-42 in last year’s district championship game.