Wojciechowski reaches 300

Harvey coach on victory milestone: Team led by two seniors, freshmen is ‘a special group of young guys’

The past three seasons have tested the Harvey boys basketball team. After winning seasons the past two years, it’s been one thing or another that has challenged coach Dave Wojciechowski this season.

COVID-19 and a lack of experience for some players have been obstacles for Wojciechowski and the Red Raiders. But after a pair of wins over Orange (55-53) and Andrews Osborne (55-44), Wojciechowski sat at 299 career victories.

It was three close defeats to Perry, Geneva and Lakeside that followed and one tough quarter against North allowed that one to slip away. That four-game skid came to a halt on Feb. 16 when Kirtland came to Red Raiders Gymnasium.

The Red Raiders earned a 6049 victory that gave their coach career victory No. 300. After the win, Wojciechowski didn’t think of reaching the mark until later. Rather, he was happy to see his team get back to the win column.

“The initial thought was that

I was glad that we won for our guys,” Wojciechowski said. “They put in a lot of effort into seeing results on the scoreboard. And while that’s been a challenge at times this year, they keep coming to practice, showing up for games and are really good kids so I was really glad to see their hard work pay off. Having time to reflect on it, it was also a nice win on a personal level.”

This year’s team is younger with two seniors in Dez Thomas and Spencer Webber. They also have freshmen Deontae Ware and Armani Hall playing key roles.

The freshmen have answered the challenge, as they are the Red Raiders’ leading scorer and second-leading rebounder.

PAUL DICICCO — FOR THE NEWS-HERALD Harvey coach Dave Wojciechowski talks to his team during a timeout against Andrews Osborne earlier this season.