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Harding boys feeling at home
Girls hoops: Freshman shines for Lakeview
Warren Harding’s inauguration into the All-American Conference last Friday was accentuated with a 20-point boys basketball win over Boardman. While a victory was ideal, the remainder of the evening was particularly enjoyable for Raiders’ head coach Andy Vlajkovich.
“It was nice to be home at 9 p.m. and not 1 o’clock in the morning, like was the case with so many of our games in Canton and Cleveland in past years,” Vlajkovich said. “We feel like we’re a West Coast team playing on the East Coast all of the sudden.”
The current group of Raiders are adjusting to life outside the Lake Erie League for the first time and can already see the benefits. Vlajkovich said he felt his kids weren’t a part of the Valley and were often left out of the local conversation because of it.
“Local rivalries need this,” the third-year coach said. “At one point on Friday, I looked up and realized how much of our student body was at the away game and that couldn’t be done before.
“Local rivalries are supposed to be fun.”
Harding is experiencing that first-hand early this season. The Raiders (1-0) begin with former Steel Valley Conference rivals Boardman and Austintown Fitch, which is where they’ll travel to tonight. The Raiders and Falcons (1-0) met only once last season in Warren, but Fitch was without second team All-Ohio guard Jesse Driver. The Raiders pulled away for a 71-44 victory.
They’ll again be without Driver tonight, but this time because of graduation.
“Brian [Beany]’s got them back on track and they’ve been doing good things over there,” Vlajkovich said. “They’re going to give us fits. It’ll be some of that good old fashioned Steel Valley flavor.”
NEW TOP ’DOG?
Who needs Alli Pavlik?
Lakeview’s all-time leading scorer in girls basketball has been replaced.
Freshman Annie Pavlansky has been an impressive scorer to start her varsity career with the Bulldogs.
“Annie’s been a program player for us,” said head coach Adam Lewis. “Since the fourth grade she’s played on elementary teams, been to camps and has put a lot of time and effort to getting where she is.”
She scored a career-high 32 points in just her second game — a 68-35 win over Jefferson on Dec. 4.
She followed that up with 33 points over her next three games.
Pavlansky isn’t the only reason Lakeview’s off to a 5-0 start this season. Abby Pavlik is the lone senior on the team, and Lewis says she’s done a great job becoming the leader this year’s group needs.
“Abby was sort of playing in the shadows of her sister for a couple years, but now she shoulders the burdens a lot of times herself,” he said. “They’re two different players. Abby was great support for Alli and always got her the ball in a position to score.
“Now [Abby]’s just continuing to do that with her other teammates.”
WEEKEND’S BEST
It’s tournament weekend for a lot of area teams, as the United Way Classic and the Hope Classic both take place Saturday. However there are plenty of intriguing matchups elsewhere around the Valley.
As mentioned earlier, Fitch hosts Harding on Friday night in a game that should give us a pretty good indication of each team’s potential.
On Saturday, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary travels to Youngstown to take on Ursuline. Expect high-level play from both teams. Also that day, Warren JFK opens league play at Cleveland Central Catholic. The Eagles have an early opportunity to make a statement in the Northeastern Buckeye Conference.
The Howland girls will look to stay unbeaten when they host East on Saturday.