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WEST LAFAYETTE – The true sign of a great team is not the number of losses, but how they respond to those losses.
The Harrison Raiders opened the season with an 11-game winning streak.
They were ranked 10th in a Class 4A Associated Press poll this week.
And after giving them a pat on the back about how great the season has been, they faced another outstanding team in Kokomo on Friday night, who had a packed arena behind them.
1 loss could be 2 this weekend if Harrison gets sulky after getting banged by the Wildcats.
Instead, the Raiders recovered in time for Saturday’s rivalry game with West Lafayette at May Gymnasium.
Shortly after the game flipped, it looked like it was over.
The Raiders scored the first 17 points of the game, led 25-5 by the end of the first quarter, and delivered an amazing 73-36 performance against a team that sent Harrison into overtime last month.
“At the end of the day, the biggest test is whether or not you can react,” said senior Alex Mithofer, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds against the West Side. “Failure is how we are. We knew it would happen sooner or later.
“We recognize that being undefeated sets your expectations unrealistic. That is a high standard we all wanted, but today it was a boost. A loss doesn’t change how we play.”
Harrison’s 73 points on Saturday were a season-high, but perhaps the most impressive was on the other side of the floor.
Against Kokomo, the Raiders struggled defensively.
One night, they held West Lafayette shooting to 26.2% and forced 16 turnovers.
“I knew I wasn’t guarding the ball well[against Kokomo],” said veteran Ben Henderson, who scored 22 points and rebounded 11 against the Red Devils on Saturday. Toph (Christopher Lucas), Cal (Gick) and Alex (Mithofer) were very tenacious on the ball. They were ball getters and played great on-ball defense.
Harrison’s 11-0 start had the ability to win close matches.
The Raiders were 4-0 in games that ended within five points, but their 60-53 overtime victory over West Lafayette in the Hoops Classic earlier in the season doesn’t count.
At the Memorial gymnasium on Friday, Harrison couldn’t get it close against the Wildcats.
Returning home on Saturday, Harrison made sure his opponents weren’t in his immediate vicinity.
Harrison manager Mark Reinhart said, “Of course I would have liked to have played better, but now I have to regroup and try another run.” It’s that you have to go out and play on Friday nights and Saturday nights, sometimes you don’t and you have to own it and go back to work.”
And it was a short celebration after returning to the victory line so that there was no time to prolong a single defeat.
Another tough weekend awaits with games in Anderson and Merrillville.
Despite a 37-point win against West Lafayette, there were some mistakes.
“No matter how good you think you are, you’re not,” Henderson said. “You have to keep getting better all the time.”
Sam King covers sports in the Journal & Courier. Email [email protected] and follow @samueltking on Twitter and Instagram.
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