Harding's block party

Raiders survive, beat Bearcats in district semifinals

By LOU CALI JR. Tribune Chronicle correspondent
WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS — Steve Arnold paced around the locker room, beads of sweat covering a good portion of his shaved head, before asking no one in particular, ‘‘Do we have any aspirin in here?’’

Thursday night’s Division I district semifinal had taken its toll on the Warren G. Harding coach.

With 3 minutes, 40 seconds remaining in the contest, it looked like the Raiders’ magical season was going to end — as far as their goals are concerned — prematurely. Bedford had a 59-52 lead and, more importantly, all the momentum the undersized Warrensville Heights High School gymnasium could hold, thanks to a 7-0 run.

At that point, Arnold called time.

‘‘I told them to just have the heart of a champion; don’t quit,’’ Arnold said. ‘‘There was a lot of time left. There is no seven-point play so we had to be patient.’’

It would be hard to find a team that listened better than Harding did right then. The Raiders scored the final 13 points and sent a young, game Bearcat team home, 65-59, with a 16-7 final record. Harding will meet Cleveland Heights for the district title at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Harding’s game-winning spurt began with Sheldon Brogdon’s fourth 3-pointer of the game. The Raiders seemed to get re-energized after that bucket, especially defensively. Chris Henderson and Desmar Jackson had key steals in the run and Bedford struggled to get a clean look at the basket.

Trailing 62-59, the shell-shocked Bearcats had one final possession with a chance to tie, but Reggie Lewis’ 3-point attempt clanked off the rim. Jackson concluded the scoring by splitting two foul shots and sending the large Harding crowd into a frenzy with a two-handed dunk at the buzzer.

‘‘We came out and Sheldon hit a big 3-pointer,’’ said Jackson, who finished with 22 points and six rebounds. ‘‘That pumped us up. We got back in it after that.’’

The top-seeded Raiders (21-1) beat Bedford by 10 in the regular season. This game was supposed to be easier after word got out that Randal Holt, the Bearcats starting point guard and leading scorer, would not play because of an altercation at school.

‘‘Anytime you don’t have 20 points, four steals and four assists per game, of course it’s going to hurt,’’ said Bedford coach Everett Heard. ‘‘Our kids sucked it up and played hard.’’

The biggest elevation might have come from 6-foot-7 Robert Johnson, one of five juniors who regularly start. With Holt out, Johnson was forced to run the point a good portion of the game and responded admirably, finishing with 10 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots.

‘‘Johnson is good,’’ said Arnold, elongating the vowels in good. ‘‘He’s a high major, Division I (college) player.’’

Jackson and Bedford center Reggie Keely each had eight points in an opening quarter which ended with the Raiders in front 18-14. Harding led 32-26 at the half and pushed that to eight points twice in the third quarter. Thanks to a steady dose of fast-break points, the Bearcats methodically clawed their way back into the contest. When Lewis hit a jumper at the buzzer, Bedford had its first lead, 48-46.

‘‘They were leaking two guys out on our shot and it was working for them,’’ Arnold said. ‘‘They didn’t do that the first time we played.’’

Brogdon had 18 points for the winners while Chris Henderson added 11 and Damian Eargle 10. For the second straight game the Raiders had no points from their bench. Keely had 22 points and Lewis 14 for Bedford.

‘‘I’m very proud of our kids but we expected to win that game,’’ Heard said. ‘‘I don’t get happy with good losses.’’

Heard, a Cleveland Heights graduate, said his allegiance for Saturday’s game was with his alma mater, but that it will be a tough matchup for the Tigers.

‘‘They’re going to have to play really well and try to handle Harding’s size,’’ Heard said.

sports@tribune-chronicle.com