Harding overwhelms Mooney, 63-44

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Aaron Elder scored 14 points to lead the Raiders.

By CHUCK HOUSTEAU

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

YOUNGSTOWN — Warren Harding coach Steve Arnold couldn't find many things he didn't like in the Raiders' impressive 63-44 road win over Mooney Tuesday night.

"Tonight we played with some energy, some effort and enthusiasm on the road," Arnold said. "This is our third consecutive road game and that is what we have to do every time out."

The Raiders (3-0) already own a last second victory over Campbell and an overtime win last Saturday against Farrell at the Chevrolet Centre.

Aaron Elder poured in 14 points while sophomore Sheldon Brogdan added 12 to lead the Raiders' win over the Cardinals.

Harding was able to exploit a Mooney team that has several football players on the roster who are still looking to get their legs after a long football campaign.

"We wanted to get transition baskets and push the basketball," Arnold said. "I think we were able to do that and avoid the physical game that we expected Mooney to play."

The Cardinals (1-1) were able to stay with the Raiders in the first quarter but then Warren was able to slowly pull away.

Mooney and Harding were tied at 7-7 late in the first quarter before Warren went on a 7-0 run to close the quarter out at 14-7.

The Raiders then outscored Mooney 15-10 to lead at halftime 29-17.

"We're not making any excuses," said Mooney coach Steve Leslie. "I thought we played them well in the first quarter but then the game got away from us.

"We haven't had a chance to work on a whole lot of stuff so we just need to keep working."

Junior L.J. Sutton led the Cardinals with 14 points and seven rebounds but his effort wasn't enough to overcome a very talented Harding team.

Dan McCarthy chipped in with 10 points and four rebounds.

The Raiders displayed a strong inside game with Chris Henderson and Damian Eargle, who combined to score 13 points and grab 10 rebounds.

The Raiders also have two talented ball handlers with Terrence Hudson and Keelyn Franklin and got great outside shooting from Elder and Brogdan which made Harding a tough team to defense.

"We have alot of different weapons to hurt you," Arnold said. "Tonight we had it all going well."

The Raiders shot nearly 50 percent from the field and did a good job of taking care of the basketball while they forced Mooney into 20 turnovers.

The Raiders opened up a 60-36 lead early in the fourth period before both coaches emptied the benches.

"We didn't do very well defensively," Leslie said. "We're going to be a much better team as we go along but tonight Harding did a great job all-around on us.

"We have a lot of good basketball players on this team. We just have to keep working day by day to get better."

Wednesday, December 13, 2006