43
Harding Falls
CLEVELAND
Maybe it was the 26.4 field goal percentage.
It could’ve been the 18 turnovers with only five assists.
Or perhaps it was opposing green uniforms with a head coach named Flannery who just so happened to be sporting a shamrock-infested tie on St. Patrick’s Day.
Whatever factor hurt the Warren Harding boys basketball team the most, they all ended its season in the regional final.
The Raiders fell to Lakewood St. Edward, 66-44 on Saturday in a Division I regional final at Cleveland State’s Wolstein Center.
“They played with more intensity than we did,” Harding coach Steve Arnold bluntly put it.
Turning the ball over five times before they scored their first point put the Raiders in a hole from the start. A brutal half-court defense stifled them right away and the Eagles never let up. Jesse Hardin’s jumper six minutes, 36 seconds into the first quarter was Harding’s only field goal after going 1 of 12 in the first eight minutes.
“We haven’t started that bad in a long time,” Arnold said. “We couldn’t throw it into the ocean. They took us out of everything we wanted to do offensively.”
In their regular season showdown, the Raiders had a six-point advantage after the first quarter. Jumping out early against Harding in the rematch was fresh on the Eagles’ minds since then.
“We didn’t play well against them the last time,” said Eagles guard Myles Hamilton. “We knew that the first three minutes of the game were important and we had to get out strong.”
At the 1:24 mark of the second quarter, St. Ed’s went up by 20 for the first time and its largest lead was 26.
“Once we got down, a couple of our players wanted to do it by themselves,” Arnold said. “You can’t do that against St. Ed’s, they will strive off you trying to do things individually.
“I said, ‘Guys, there’s not a 10-point play.’”
Two 3-pointers and a jumper by Orlanda Ervin cut the deficit to 13, 39-26, midway through the third quarter. But the Eagles used a 6-2 run to take a 45-26 lead into the final quarter.
“We had said we wanted to get it to nine or 10 going into the fourth and we were right on the cusp,” Arnold said. “We were rushing everything offensively. No matter what we call, if we don’t execute it right it doesn’t make any difference what we call. It was frustrating as a coach.”
But St. Ed’s coach Eric Flannery was all smiles from start — to finish.
“I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “To play that hard and that intense on the defensive end is a dream come true for me as coach.”
Hamilton had a game-high 21 points to go with seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. Mark Murray added 13 points.
“We had a ton of momentum,” Hamilton said. “You can never let up when you’re trying to get to Columbus.”
Rashid Gaston led Harding (21-4) with 12 points and 16 rebounds although the Raiders were out-done on the glass, 37-31. Smith finished with 11 points, Hardin had five and DelShawn Bell tallied three assists.
“They made this season a very special season,” Arnold said. “Obviously we fell a game or two short of our goal but we lost to a very good basketball team. Life goes on. You look at the big picture — this is just a small facet of life for eight seniors.”
It’s a life-changing experience for Arnold, himself, coaching in his final basketball game as he assumes head football coaching duties for Harding in the fall.
“It’s sort of a blank feeling in my mind,” he said holding back tears. “As it was dwindling down you start thinking, this is it. You start feeling for the kids, for the fans because they wanted it.
“Right now, it still hasn’t hit me.”