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Warren Harding beat Youngstown Wilson 58-24
Raiders adjust on fly in second half By JOE SIMON
Tribune Chronicle
YOUNGSTOWN - Wilson coach Mark Cherol had to come up with some type of plan against a Warren G. Harding team that he said had "superior size and talent.''
So he decided to try to slow down the high-flying Raiders by keeping it a half-court game.
And the plan worked - in the first half, that is.
Harding's defense adjusted by swarming the Redmen with a half-court press and forced 18 second-half turnovers to rout Wilson, 58-24.
"We needed to do something to change the tempo,'' Harding coach Steve Arnold said of the second-half adjustment. "We tried to use our length on the trap, and obviously it caused some problems (for Wilson).''
Twelve problems altogether. Of the 18 Wilson turnovers in the second half, 12 were from the trap, and Harding (2-0) scored 14 points off them.
The Redmen finished with 28 turnovers.
"I knew we couldn't run up and down the court with them,'' Cherol said. "So we needed to try and change our style for this game. And it worked for a while.
"(Harding) went to that half-court trap, and our kids didn't adjust to it real well. We got real panicky and threw the ball away.''
The Raiders led 25-15 at the half but held Wilson to just nine second-half points while scoring 33 of their own.
O'dell Eargle led all scorers with 20 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds and provided the crowd at the Chevrolet Centre with some extra entertainment with a few high-flying dunks.
"We're working on a state-championship team,'' the 6-foot-7 senior said. "I believe we have that potential.''
After coming off the bench in the Raiders first game against Chaney and posting a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, Eargle said it was an "honor'' to be a starter.
"They might need me to come off the bench again and be a role player,'' he said. "Whatever they need me to do. It's just an honor to be a starter on this team, it really is.''
Younger brother Damion Eargle, a sophomore, earned a double-double with 10 rebounds and 12 boards, while senior Roddy Fuller scored 10 points and had five rebounds.
For the second time in as many games at least four players scored in double figures. Arnold said it's nice to have that type of offense.
"We have a lot of balance,'' he said, "which helps because when another team wants to scout us they can't really say, 'We want to stop this guy or this guy.' ''
While Arnold said he was happy with the win, he added the Raiders still need to improve on defense.
"We were getting beat off the dribble,'' Arnold said. "I just told the guys, 'To get where we want to get, we need to play better defense.'
We will definitely work on that on Monday in practice.'' The Raiders play at home on Tuesday against Beaver Local.
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