Harvey boys basketball: Dave Wojciechowski reaches 300 career wins
Feb. 18—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 60-49 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.
Wojciechowski has seen them mature through the season. He knew the process was going to be fast-paced, but the group has a chance to develop into a strong team.
"My wife has said the same thing, we have a special group of young guys," Wojciechowski said. "Our two seniors are two great young men and the rest of our guys are following suit. To be able to get that mark after chasing the past few games is nice and we're all glad we don't have to push it to another year."
Now with the milestone reached and a young group that has gained valuable experience, what are the next steps for the Red Raiders? According to Wojciechowski, they aren't looking too far into the future.
After the regular-season finale against their Painesville neighbors at Riverside, Harvey enters the postseason as the No. 25 seed and heads to No. 23 Streetsboro on Feb. 21.
They are not strangers to playing close games. Six of their games this season have been decided by 10 points or fewer. Add in the momentum they have built with Wojciechowski reaching 300 wins, and he hopes to see them carry that into the postseason.
"They were very engaged in the victory and I'm very happy to have them take part in the milestone," Wojciechowski said. "For these guys with as much youth as we had along with the inexperience. Davon Badley had a year off, the seniors haven't won a playoff game. That success at this time of year can help spurn the want for more. We wanted to be the best team possible and we're starting to hit that stride."
