The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Harvey boys win first league title in 12 years
Contests between Harvey and Perry’s basketball teams in recent seasons have become marquee games on the Chagrin Valley Conference schedule.
When the Pirates visited the Red Raiders on Feb. 7, coach Dave Wojciechowski’s team had the chance to make history. A victory over Perry would secure Harvey’s first conference title since 2008.
Bishop Thomas led all scorers with 29 points, Roderick Coffee III added 20 and the Red Raiders defeated the Pirates, 60-51, then cut down the nets on their home floor as the CVC Lake champions.
“It’s something that you never know when it’s going to happen again,” Wojciechowski said. “It hadn’t happened in 12 years and I liken it to this is a special group, and they created some lifelong memories for themselves. To be able to cut down the nets and do it at home, have a wonderful crowd and community behind them,
I just thought it was a special experience Friday.”
Perry claimed the conference championship a year ago, when Harvey and Perry were members of the CVC Chagrin prior to the league’s expansion. The Pirates and Red Raiders finished the 2018-19 with the same conference record but Perry swept its meetings against Harvey to win the league via tiebreaker.
Harvey improved to 9-2 in CVC play after defeating Perry on Feb. 7.
Following a loss to Solon on Feb. 8, the Red Raiders are 13-5 with four games remaining against Lakeside, Benedictine, Edgewood and Riverside.
Two days after the Red Raiders claimed the league title, they received the No.
3 seed at the Division I Euclid District behind Mentor and Brush. Harvey opens the postseason against the winner between Madison and Eastlake North Feb. 29.
Wojciechowski likes the team’s trajectory headed into the state tournament. In recent games against Geneva, Orange and Edgewood, the Red Raiders limited their opposition to single-digit
scoring quarters.
As the state’s smallest D-I programs, Wojciechowski is proud of Harvey’s season so far.
“I like where we’re at,” Wojciechowski said. “Our guys seem to be pretty connected to each other, they have a passion to play with each other and for each other. That’s really the foundation for success, there.”