Harding closes out Euclid in fourth quarter

March 5, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

WARREN

A slow-starting, but potently balanced Warren Harding team pulled away from visiting Euclid, 82-61, with a strong second-half performance in a Division I sectional Wednesday night.

Sophomore point guard Gabe Simpson scored 21 points and facilitated the Raiders’ fast-paced offense, allowing forwards Derek Culver and Shakem Johnson to post double-doubles and Shondell Jackson to record 19 points.

The Panthers, the 21st seed in the Solon district, got a game-high 22 points from guard Devin West and stayed with a much taller Harding team into the fourth quarter.

A West basket and another from Donald McCain brought the Panthers to 55-51 at the end of the third quarter.

They got no closer.

The Raiders opened the fourth quarter with an 11-2 run and outscored Euclid 27-10 in the final eight minutes, proving their No. 4 seeding in the district tournament.

“We have that spurt-ability,” said Harding coach and basketball wordsmith Andy Vlajkovich. “I know it’s coming. You don’t always know when. We’ve started games on that spurt. We’ve ended games on that spurt. It’s coming at some point and if we ever kind of bottle it up and focus for 32 [minutes], it can be kind of scary how good offensively we can be.”

Harding out-rebounded Euclid 42-33 and made 22 of 36 free throws, compared to Euclid’s 10 of 18.

Vlajkovich saw his team’s intensity and aggression drive Harding to victory.

“It starts with our defense and rebounding,” he said. “You can’t play like that and be giving up buckets.

“I just felt like we wore them down a little bit. They missed some shots in the fourth that started our transition for us. Something has to start our transition for us. You can’t do it on makes. You just can’t.”

West scored 16 of his 22 in the first half, but constant pressure in his face — before the 6-foot-1 shooter could face-up — limited his chances. Without another scoring presence in the Panthers’ lineup, Harding controlled the tempo to its liking.

Culver pulled down 17 rebounds in three quarters — after sitting out the first — often starting the break in Simpson’s able hands. The one-man fast break was quick to find both Johnson and Jackson streaking to the basket or he simply drove it inside himself.

Simpson knocked down two free throws on Harding’s opening fourth-quarter possession then stole an errant inbounds pass and raced for a layup to give Harding a 61-53 lead with 6:00 to play.

Simpson found Marlin Richardson for a fast-break layup following a miss on Euclid’s next possession.

Euclid, which led 18-17 after one quarter, finally faltered under Harding’s break-neck pace.

“That 82 we put up was more a reflection of us guarding and rebounding than our offensive execution,” Vlajkovich said.

Johnson stole an inbounds pass and took it in for an easy basket for a 74-59 lead with 2:20 left and finished a Simpson lob pass with an emphatic dunk with 1:30 left.

“It’s no surprise about [Harding’s] size,” said Euclid coach Gary Hicks. “We’re gonna throw our best punch. Our best punch is to get out and run and take shots that we feel like we can make and leave it out there on the court. We cut it down to single digits a couple times, but the size played a factor.”

The Panthers’ bus arrived late at Harding and delayed the start of the game 30 minutes.

Harding hosts Ashtabula Lakeside on Saturday in a sectional final.