‘A true team’: Balanced lineup carries Harvest Prep to state semifinals in DIII
Something about a Tuesday teleconference stood out to Harvest Prep’s David Dennis. He and 15 other boys basketball coaches whose teams advanced to the state tournament spoke with media from across Ohio.
“You had (media) asking a lot of the coaches about their players, and no one asked me about our players,” Dennis said. “We don’t have a stud. We don’t have the big names. We don’t have that. But while we don’t have stars, we have a lot of balance.
“We have a true team. One night it might be Nyelle (Shaheed) or Zyaun (Hutson) or Adonus (Abrams). We have fit together really well as one. We aren’t looking for the headlines. We just want to win.”
That’s been the mantra all season for the Warriors (21-6), who ride an 11game winning streak into a Division III semifinal against Cleveland Heights Lutheran East (20-5) at 2 p.m. Saturday at University of Dayton Arena.
Two teams to which Harvest Prep lost — defending Division IV champion Richmond Heights and Division II semifinalist Dayton Chaminade Julienne — are in the field, and two more setbacks came against 2022 Division III state champion Cincinnati Taft and Division I regional semifinalist Westerville South.
Despite the rigorous schedule, the Warriors — who are at state for the eighth time and first since defeating Lutheran East for the 2019 Division III championship — were voted only the fifth seed in the Central District tournament, something players acknowledged bothered them.
“We’ve been the underdogs all year, and with that role comes less pressure,” Hutson said. “That’s made us hungrier. We want to prove people wrong. I felt like we got way more respect the past few years than we have this year, but we’ve kind of thrived off that.”
Hutson, a senior guard, averages 12.4 points, 2.6 steals, 2.4 assists and 1.4 rebounds. Shaheed, a senior guard/forward and the team’s only four-year starter, leads the way with 15.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.6 assists.
Sophomore guard Brandon Roddy adds 11.8 points, 4.5 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 2.6 steals. Abrams, a junior guard, averages 9.7 points, 3.8 steals, 3.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists, and freshman wing Ephraim Campbell rounds out the starting lineup.
“A lot of guys on our team can score,” Roddy said. “A lot of guys on our team can pass and a lot of guys can rebound. If we all play our different roles and do what we need to do, we’ll be fine.”
Even with that balance on display, Harvest Prep is most proud of a defense that allows 46.9 points per game and which Hutson called “nasty.” The Warriors have given up more than 50 points only once in the last two months.
“We’re fast and physical,” Hutson said. “If five people have the mindset of ‘my man can’t score,’ then we’ll make it really hard for who we’re playing.”
Saturday’s winner plays Africentric (23-5) or Ottawa-glandorf (24-3) in the state final at 5:15 p.m. Sunday. The Warriors plan to attend the other semifinal, as well as Ready’s Division II semifinal Friday, to get used to the arena and atmosphere.
At least among the group, there won’t be a question of whether the team belongs.
“No one seems to have given us a chance at all, but they don’t know what we’ve been through,” Dennis said. “They haven’t seen what we’ve been through and how we’ve tested ourselves, but we’ll be ready. We’ve been battle-tested, and it’s paid off.” dpurpura@dispatch.com @dp_dispatch