Published: Wednesday, February 14, 2007
This one counts for Irish, Raiders
By JOE SCALZO
Ursuline High boys basketball coach Keith Gunther thought his team won its biggest Steel Valley Conference game so far this season.
Then he found out it wasn't an SVC game.
The Irish's 47-46 victory over the Raiders at Harding High on Feb. 3 didn't count in the league standings. This Friday's game at Ursuline High will.
"I don't want to say it's not fair, but from my point of view, if you play a team twice, it should count," Gunther said. "But I can understand Harding's point of view, too."
Because Harding is a Division I school, the Raiders don't want to play every SVC team twice, preferring instead to load up on talented non-league teams such as Massillon and Lakewood St. Edward.
They still schedule Ursuline twice. It only counts once.
"From his [Gunther's] point of view, it's a bad thing," Harding coach Steve Arnold said. "But from my point of view, I'm glad this is the one that counts."
The Irish, who are ranked fifth in Div. III in the latest Associated Press poll, managed to control the tempo in the teams' first meeting, employing a 2-3 matchup zone that clogged the inside and forced the Raiders to try and beat them from the perimeter.
Successful tactic
It worked.
"We were hoping to hold them under 60," Gunther said. "Our zone really worked effectively."
When asked if he expected the Irish to use the same strategy on Friday, Arnold said, "If it's not broke, why try and fix it?"
Countered Gunther, "That's what they're going to assume — that we're going to try and do the same thing.
"But we've got a couple things in mind that we'll do a little differently. I'm sure Coach Arnold broke the [first game] tape down five or six times, so we're going to have to do some different things."
Still, the core philosophy won't change. Harding (13-4, 3-0 SVC) will look to exploit its height advantage, while the Irish will look to win a low-scoring game.
Harding juniors Chris Henderson (6-9) and Damian Eargle (6-8) create matchup nightmares, while Ursuline senior Craig Caputo (6-7) has the height, but lacks the bulk, to dominate down low.
"Our strength is our post play," said Arnold, whose team is ranked 12 in Div. I. "But our biggest problem in the first meeting was that they outhustled us, especially in the first half. That's inexcusable. There are nights when the ball isn't going to go in the basket, but we should never get outhustled."
The leaders
Eargle leads the Raiders with 13 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks per game, while guard Sheldon Brogdon is adding 13 points and making 40 percent from 3-point range.
Ursuline (13-3, 5-0) is led by senior D'Aundray Brown, a Cleveland State recruit who leads the SVC in scoring (22 per game), rebounding (14) and assists (six). He's also second in steals (four) and fourth in blocks (two).
Ursuline's only three losses came when he was out with a back injury earlier in the year.
Ryan Burton (12 points per game) and point guard Nick McCartney (11 points and four assists per game, 39 percent from 3-point range) are the Irish's other main threats.
"It's going to be a super game for us and really for the whole Valley," Gunther said. "We're both undefeated in the SVC and I'm sure it's going to be a standing-room only crowd."
It's also going to be a big test heading into tournament season. Ursuline, the defending district champions, is seeded first in the Salem district, while Harding is unseeded in the annually brutal Canton district that includes Canton GlenOak (ninth in the AP poll), two-time defending state champion Canton McKinley (10th) and North Canton Hoover (11th).
"Our district is probably the toughest in the state," Arnold said. "This is going to be a good challenge heading into the tournament."
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