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Warrensville Heights, Ohio – The Warrensville Heights Tigers had big postseason hopes during 2020 OHSAA tournament. Those hopes were dashed when all winter sports were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was a crushing blow for a Warrensville Heights team that was preparing to play in the regional finals. The Tigers then had their 2020-2021 season delayed for about two-and-a-half weeks due to a temporary pause. It was a move made for precautionary measures due to a spike in numbers after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Now that the pause has been lifted Warrensville Heights (3-0) is ready to make up for lost time. The Tigers showed little signs of rust as they knocked off University School Preppers 81-73 on Dec. 19 in an overtime thriller.
“Last year we played at University School. It was a great game last year so we knew,” said Tigers’ Head Coach Brian Swift, “Well-coached team. Coach does a great job with his guys. They run their stuff. They buy into the system so we knew it would be a great game. We knew they had a disciplined team. It’s why we went to overtime.”
Warrensville Heights held a 64-62 lead in the final minute of regulation. Preppers’ (5-1) senior Faris Dahman was sent to the foul line after getting fouled on a three-point attempt. He converted two of three free throws to tie the score. The Tigers had a chance to win it but senior forward Ramelle Arnold’s potential game-winning shot was no good. In overtime Arnold and senior guard Jaden Hameed combined for 13 points to hand University School its first loss of the season.
The Tigers’ offense was clicking to start the game. The five-foot-eleven Hameed led the charge as he scored 11 points in the first quarter to stake Warrensville Heights to a 22-11 edge. It was a welcome sight for the Tigers to see their star guard play well early as he had struggled in the first two games.
“I was pretty fired up coming up and getting defensive stops to get the team going. We got a lot of players that can play so we once we can get the defense going we’re gonna play good,” said Hameed.
It was a completely different story in the second quarter. University School entered the season with a team filled with seniors including five upperclassmen in the starting five. The team’s poise and maturity showed as the Preppers got hot from long-distance and went on a 16-3 run to turn a seven-point deficit into a six-point lead at the half.
“I don’t think our full-court pressure defense was helping us. It was better for Warrensville so we stopped pressing partway through the first quarter and started to play better defense in the half-court. I think we settled our nerves,” said University School Head Coach Sean McDonnell.
Hameed only managed two points in the second quarter. The senior guard came out in the second half with some fire in the belly as he scored the first five points for Warrensville Heights in the quarter. The five-foot-eleven guard was a one-man wrecking crew but the Preppers kept moving the ball to keep pace with the Tigers and hold a seven-point edge entering the final quarter.
The five-foot-eleven Arnold had been held mostly in check throughout the game but caught fire in the fourth quarter. The Tigers’ offense was already pretty difficult to stop with Hameed driving into the heart of the lane at ease but with Arnold also heating up University School was trying to stop a freight train of offense.
“We’re tough to guard. Having Ramelle and Jaden is definitely a bonus for us,” said Coach Swift, “To have two high-caliber guards like that it’s an advantage. It’s a luxury to have two guys like that and it showed tonight.”
Hameed led Warrensville Heights with 34 points, four rebounds and three assists and Arnold tallied 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. Dahman led the Preppers with 17 points, three assists and four rebounds and a blocked shot followed by senior big man Ricky Radtke with 15 points, ten rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots. Warrensville Heights will gear up to face Brush High School on Dec. 22 while University School will host Shaw the same evening.
Warrensville Heights Player of the Game:
Jaden Hameed: 34 points, four rebounds and three assists
University School Player of the Game
Faris Dahman: 17 points, four rebounds, three assists and one blocked shot
