Euclid, Ohio- Euclid is where Villa Angela St. Joseph (2-2) squared off against Warren G. Harding (2-1). Harding handed Joes their first home loss of the season winning 62-55.
Harding came out strong with a 7-0 run. Jeremy Sampson knocked down a three, Nau’Jeat Jones and Chaz Coleman scored as well.
Villa Angela answered back with buckets from Jeremiah Martin and Quandell Wright. Harding led 7-4 with five minutes left.
A few possessions later a fast break layup from Martin gave Villa Angela St. Joe's first lead. It was instantly answered with an one from Jones for Harding. Harding led 9-8 with three minutes to go in the quarter.
Thorsten Hart and Martin ended the quarter trading baskets. Harding led 14-10 going into the second.
In the second quarter Harding started out strong. Sampson and Coleman scored before Tyler Smith forced a timeout with a three. Harding led 23-13 with five minutes to go.
Villa Angela continued to cut into the lead with free throws from Wright and a layup from Sean Shenker. Villa Angela St. Joe's found themselves down 25-17 with three minutes to go.
Both teams scored a couple more baskets and the half ended with Harding up 29-22.
Sean Shenker came out aggressive in the second half to help Joes stay in the game scoring ten of his nineteen in the third. He followed up Quandell Wright with a made three cutting the lead to 27-29.
He stayed on track out of a timeout scoring a step back three and step back mid range. Antonio Brown followed up with a put back and Shenker scored another layup forcing Harding into a timeout.
Joes trailed 36-31 with three minutes left in the quarter.
Gummy Hart tied it at 36-36 with a three point shot around two minutes left. Harding never looked back, finishing the quarter with an 8-0 run from that point. Chaz Coleman and Jeremy Sampson got buckets in transition, Ny Coleman and Gummy Hart scored as well.
The quarter ended with Harding up 44-36.
After another fast break bucket from Nau’Jeat Jones, Joes came out hard fighting, going on an 8-0 run. Jeremiah Martin scored a few baskets including an and one layup, Wright and Brown scored as well. Harding led 46-44 going into a timeout with around seven minutes left.
Harding responded with a 10-0 run that changed the entire course of the game. Ny and Chaz Coleman made plays during the run including a steal and dunk from Chaz, an assist from Chaz on a Smith layup and another dunk from Ny. Harding led 56-44 with two minutes to go.
Joes kept fighting hard as Shenker knocked down a pair of free throws and Wright hit a three to cut it to 56-49 with 1:40 to go. Ultimately it wasn’t enough to come all the way back as Harding ended the game on top 62-55.
NY Coleman led Harding with 14 points while Chaz Coleman added Ten points of his own.
Sean Shenker led all scorers finishing with 19 points with 3 three point makes. Quandell Wright added 16 and Jeremiah Martin was right behind them with 12.
I got to speak with Warren G. Harding’s Head Coach Keelyn Franklin after the win. I asked him what he thought of the late 10-0 run.
“I think it was defense," said Franklin. "Even if we don’t get a steal when we get rebounds we want to get our guys out and running the wings and look to push with the pass.”
Harding will be back in action against Alliance December 20th 2023 at 7 PM.
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