The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Harvey wins Painesville bragging rights
Sophomore Coffee scores 19 points in victory over Riverside
Defense was the name of the game in the Battle of Painesville on Feb. 22.
In front a packed and energetic crowd, both Harvey and visiting Riverside stayed in a zone at the defensive end in an effort to limit the other’s offensive capabilities.
The Red Raiders’ superior length and quickness made their 2-3 zone just a little more effective. Harvey’s dominant second quarter defensively helped it overcome a slow start offensively, and 44077 bragging rights for 2020 belong to the Red Raiders after a 48-35 victory. Sophomore Rod Coffee racked up a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds for Harvey, and senior Bishop Thomas added 13 points and seven boards.
Senior Tyrelle Early finished with seven points, two assists and a steal. His triple in the first quarter helped the Red Raiders overcome a 13-5 deficit and got their offense in gear.
“We watched the older guys win in this game, and when it was our turn we wanted to do what they did,” Early said. “It means everything to us.”
In addition to earning Painesville bragging rights, the win capped a successful weekend for Harvey (157) after a win over Edgewood on Feb. 21. “They came in ready to play, I just think both groups laid it on the line tonight,” Harvey coach Dave Wojciechowski said. “At this time of year you have a lot of cross-town rivalries being played, and I think ours lived up to it. The community came out for both groups.
“It was just a great high school environment and I was really proud to be a part of it.”
After Thomas scored the game’s first basket for Harvey, Riverside (8-14) ran off a 7-0 run, capped by a Mason Stephens trey. Senior Ethan Hach hit a 3 for Harvey, but Stephens, Josh Hannan and Brett Fulton all scored to put the Beavers up, 13-5.
Early’s 3 stemmed the tide, and a Coffee layup cut the deficit to 13-10 after one quarter.
Harvey’s defense was near-airtight in the second frame, as Riverside only managed six shot attempts, missing all but one, a layup by Caden Geiger with 2:11 left in the half.
“Their size, their length, and their speed affected us,” Riverside coach Matt Grendel said.
“I would have liked to have seen us be more aggressive in attacking their zone. When we did get ball reversals, good things happened for us, but we weren’t consistent with that. Give
credit to them, they caused us trouble.”
Riverside’s own extended 3-2 zone kept Harvey in check early on. But Coffee and Thomas combined for 10 points in the second quarter, as defense helped fuel transition baskets.
Harvey began the third quarter with a 20-15 lead, and began to build on it with more effective offense. Coffee passed to Thomas for a one-handed dunk to make it 26-19, and a steal by Early and pass to Coffee made it a nine-point game.
Coffee drilled a 3 off a pass from Hasan Jones later in the frame to make it 3523.
Riverside could not get closer than 7 points in the fourth, and Harvey ended the game on an 8-2 run. “Our defense was solid tonight, I thought we identified shooters,” Wojciechowski said.
“I think it’s just such a long season, and the brain and the body wear down. I think we’ve had some mental lapses in the last week or two, and I thought we were in tune tonight and
connected again. I thought we were solid on the boards and that was key for us.”
Harvey held a 22-16 rebounding edge, and connected on 20 of 36 shots from the field and 4 of 5 from the line. Hach’s lucky number was seven, as the senior scored 7 points and grabbed 7 rebounds on senior night.
“After four years in this program, we don’t want (this season) to end in one game,” Hach said.
“We are hoping to keep going forward in the tournament.”
Hannan led Riverside with 11 points, and Geiger added 10 points and four assists.
Fulton had five rebounds and three assists. The Beavers were 16 of 36 on shots from the field and 0 for 4 from the free throw line. Riverside had won three straight games coming into the Battle of Painesville.
“There were low points in the season where the guys could have crumbled and packed it in,” Grendel said.
“But they never stopped working to get better, and that tells a lot about our kids. Over our last 11 games were were 6-5 (after a 2-9 start).”
Both teams will participate in the Division I Euclid District in the postseason, but where and when and at what seed is pending a Feb. 23 re-vote of the district’s coaches. Cleveland Heights, which had been been banned by the OHSAA, is seeking to be reinstated. A Cuyahoga Commons Please Court judge is scheduled to hear evidence and decide Feb. 24.