Friday, December 23, 2011
By jim Flick
warren
The Warren Harding High boys basketball team was not in a gift-giving mood Thursday night as it defeated Cleveland St. Ignatius 39-36.
The Raiders (4-1) stormed out to a big early lead over the visiting Wildcats (1-1), leading 16-5 early in the second quarter, but the “merry gentlemen” of St. Ignatius refused to rest.
St. Ignatius briefly held the lead in the fourth quarter, and with only 44 second remaining in the game, trailed by only a point, 37-36.
But senior Jesse Hardin sank a pair of free throws to give Harding its final margin of victory.
Rasaun Smith, a senior, led the Raiders with 13 points, while senior Shaheed David scored seven points. Hardin tallied five points, while seniors Rashid Gaston and Delshawn Bell contributed four points each.
Harding coach Steve Arnold said the Raiders’ point total on Thursday was the lowest he’s seen in his 10 years with the team.
“We’re having a hard time putting the ball in the basket,” he said. “Simply put, we have to improve on our offensive continuity, and just get better.”
Arnold said that in the locker room after the game, he told his player to “push the basketball, quit walking the ball up the court, and let’s put some points on the board.
“Our defense has been solid, but our offense has been struggling. We’re holding the ball too much offensively.”
“We’ll get tougher,” Arnold added. “Hopefully when we get it clicking, we’re going to be a lot better basketball team.”
St. Ignatius junior Alec Papesch scored 15 points, while Wildcats junior Derek Sloan tallied 14 points.
The Wildcats out-rebounded the Raiders 25-20, with Sloan grabbing nine rebounds and Papesch snagging seven.
Davis led Harding with four rebounds, while Smith, Bell, and senior Orland Irwin each snagged three rebounds.
“I think we left a lot of points on the floor early,” said St. Ignatius coach Sean O’Toole. “Against a team like this, you got to get points when you can get them.”
O’Toole added that his team needs more scorers. Only four players scored for St. Ignatius, and Papesch and Sloan together account for all but seven of the team’s total points.
“We got to get some perimeter scoring, some transition scoring,” he said.
Bell scored the first points of the night, while Gaston added a field goal to give Harding a 4-0 lead in the game’s opening minutes. The Warriors’ led 12-5 at the end of the first quarter, as their defense held St. Ignatius in check.
Harding’s lead peaked at 16-5 in the second quarter.