Staff photo / Brian Yauger Harding senior Chaz Coleman throws down a dunk during the first half of Friday’s game against Sharon. Coleman finished with 22 points.

WARREN — After last year’s two-point defeat at the hands of the Sharon Tigers, Harding wanted its “get back” moment.

A 22-point performance from Chaz Coleman, including multiple thunderous dunks, helped give the Raiders the revenge they wanted, dispatching Sharon, 67-50.

Last year’s 65-63 defeat at the hands of the Tigers was fresh in the Raiders’ minds on Friday.

“We were (hungry for this one),” Harding coach Keelyn Franklin said. “(Sharon coach) Lou (Brown) does a great job. His kids play hard, he runs some good stuff. I’ve got a lot of respect for Lou and what he’s done over there in a short period of time. Sharon, they have two really good guards, in Levi Hailstock and Derek Douglas, who can cause you a lot of problems, along with (Owen Schenker). We knew it was going to be a challenge, but this was one that we kind of wanted to get our get back, get our revenge from last year.”

The Raiders steadily piled on the points throughout the game, but started pulling away in the third quarter after a 20-point third frame.

In years past, Harding would sit back and rest on its laurels after establishing a lead.

Not this Raiders team.

Harding kept the pressure up until the final buzzer, stifling the Tigers on defense and adding to its lead when the opportunity presented itself.

There’s been a mindset change so far with the Raiders, and it’s encouraging for Franklin.

“That’s kind of our mindset,” Franklin said. “In the past, we’ve struggled. We’ll get up 12 or 13, and then we’ll kind of let our foot off the gas against teams and now it’s a 5-point game, 6-point game. That’s been kind of us, really, my whole head coaching career. This is the first year when we get it to 12 or 13, and we’re pushing it to 20.

“I think we’re hungry. I think they understand how good they can be, and that we haven’t really reached our ceiling yet. We have more size, we have more athleticism and we also have more experience at the guard spot. A lot of those times last year when they pressed us like that, and it would have turned into turnovers and layups for them and then they get back in the game. Now we’re able to kind of control the ball, control the pace, not have those turnovers that lead to runs for the other team. I think experience, along with size, athleticism and they’re a good group. They enjoy playing together so that makes it easy.”

Harding moves to 9-2 on the season.

After an offseason which saw the Raiders scrimmage some of the top teams in Northeast Ohio, like GlenOak and reigning Division I state champion St. Ignatius, Harding knows it still has more to accomplish.

“Things are going well,” Franklin said of the season. “We’ve got a very, very good group, a talented group, that I’m able to coach very hard, and they respond to it. That makes it, I don’t want to say easy, because you still got to go out and win games, but it makes coaching fun. When you have a talented group that also works hard and you can get on them, and they don’t give you attitude or anything, it makes it very fun. We’ve been winning some games, we just need to continue to get better.”

The Raiders travel to Willoughby South tonight for a contest against the Rebels.