Ailing Harrell Provides Balm for Cleveland in Semifinal

LAS VEGAS — Warren Harrell felt the stomach pain before he ever left the Valley. The queasy feeling, the grumbles and the groans.

When he left for the Las Vegas Holiday tournament with his Cleveland High teammates earlier this week, he forgot medication that had been prescribed for the stomach pains. And that could have meant bad medicine, indeed, for Cleveland in the semifinal game against Redmond, Wash., at Nevada Las Vegas on Wednesday night.

“I couldn’t believe I did it,” said Harrell, a senior forward. “Then I ate something this morning and had a pretty bad reaction to it.”

Harrell, a 6-foot, 6-inch center, was almost scratched from the starting lineup after missing the team lunch and staying in his suite all afternoon. When it counted most, however, Harrell spelled relief for Cleveland in a 73-72 nail-biter.

For Cleveland Coach Bob Braswell, whose team plays Fairdale, Ky., a 73-62 winner over Lakewood on Wednesday, in the final at 7:30 tonight, the game was enough to cause his own gastronomic problems. Cleveland led by as many as 16 points in the first half, then struggled down the stretch.

But for Harrell, who had 17 points, 11 rebounds and was named the game’s MVP, Cleveland might have been left out of the final. Harrell scored 10 points in the second half and made 7 of 8 free throws in the game.

“Warren Harrell was a one-man show,” Braswell said. “They guy almost didn’t play, and when we needed somebody to step forward and take charge, he’s out there calling for the ball, calling his own number.”

After taking a relatively comfortable 36-26 lead at the half, Redmond--the defending 3-A state champion--made 12 of 12 field-goal attempts in the third quarter to slice the Cleveland lead to 58-55 entering the fourth quarter.

Cleveland (8-2), which has played against stiff competition from across the nation in the 30-team tournament, was pushed to the limit.

“Coach told us at the half that they wouldn’t panic, that they’d just chip away, chip away, until they got back into it,” Harrell said. “They’re the most fundamentally sound team I’ve ever played against.”

Redmond (6-1) virtually shut down the Cleveland fast break, forcing the team into a half-court offense.

Harrell called for the ball inside several times in the third quarter and scored 7 points from close range. Harrell just raised his hand, and his teammates lobbed the ball into the paint.

“They did a good job of getting it to me,” Harrell said. “With that kind of play, I just felt the team needed a lift, a boost. We definitely needed the uplifting, and it helps open up things for the other guys.”

Cleveland forward Lucious Harris, who had a team-high 20 points, scored on a finger roll and again with 1:50 left to give Cleveland a 70-63 lead.

After a free throw by Adonis Jordan with 1:15 remaining appeared to ice it, Redmond scored on a pair of 3-point shots by Gary Patterson to make it 73-69 with 11 seconds left.

After a Cleveland turnover, Redmond added another 3-point basket to cut the deficit to 1 with no time left as Cleveland escaped.

And so did the ailing Harrell.

“I had no energy left at the end,” Harrell admitted. “I just kind of had to stick it out.”

And a championship title would be the ultimate panacea.