Cleveland Harding-Wilson

Gov. Mifflin rallied to beat rival Wilson 54-52 in their first meeting on December 17th. The Bulldogs were up eight points with five minutes left, but came up short. I asked Wilson guard Cleveland Harding how much that motivated him for the rematch tonight with the Mustangs. He replied, “I was thinking about it the whole time.” Harding finished with a team-high 12 points in a 54-43 victory over Gov. Mifflin at West Lawn. The 5’9 junior had half of his points in the fourth quarter. He sank two free throws with 2:46 remaining to give Wilson a 48-41 advantage. Bulldogs’ head coach Matt Coldren was most pleased with Harding’s defense on Matt Harley. The Mustangs’ leading scorer ended up with ten points and just three in the second half. Harley erupted for 22 against Wilson last month. This one was all even at 41 early in the final period. Keegan Coldren, the coach’s son, drilled a 3-pointer with 5:12 to go. That was part of a 13-2 run by the Bulldogs to close it out. Wilson led 23-18 at halftime and 37-34 after the third quarter. 6’4 senior Foday Sillah chipped in with ten points and eight rebounds. Ofure Odiale, his frontcourt mate, added eight points. Leading scorer Cam Jones returned after missing the previous four games. Coldren told me that Jones wasn’t feeling well in the last quarter so he turned to Seamus Breslin and freshman Madyx Gruber off the bench in crunch time. Harding liked the way they played on the defensive end. He also gave credit to the Bulldogs’ student section. Harding is well aware of the District 3-6A power rankings. Coming into this game, Wilson was #10 and Gov. Mifflin was #13. The top twelve teams qualify. The (10-5, 5-3) Bulldogs have won ten of the last eleven matchups with the Mustangs. Harding talked about that rivalry. He also discussed what Wilson needs to do on Friday when the Bulldogs travel to defending state champion Reading. Delsin McNeil had a game-high 16 points for Gov. Mifflin including ten in the third quarter. His layup gave the Mustangs a 33-32 advantage with 1:45 left in the third quarter. Aidan Melograna answered moments later with a 3-pointer. Wilson got 13 points from its bench compared to one for Gov. Mifflin. The (7-9, 3-5) Mustangs host Berks Catholic on Friday. The Bulldogs went 9-16 from the free throw line, while Gov. Mifflin was 9-14. The Mustangs only connected twice from beyond the arc. They made ten triples vs. Wilson a month ago.