WADSWORTH — They have no choice but to embrace the process at this point.

Wadsworth’s Christian Szalay drives past Barberton’s Keye Thompson during the second quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)

The young and inexperienced Wadsworth boys basketball players showed plenty of resolve Tuesday in a non-league game against Barberton, trimming a double-digit deficit to two possessions with two minutes left. In fact, they played like veterans for most of the fourth quarter.

Alas, bad habits popped up precisely when momentum was at its highest, allowing the Magics to escape with a 57-50 victory.

“As a group, we have talked a lot about not looking at the record, not looking at the standings,” Grizzlies coach Mike Schmeltzer Jr. said. “Every day in practice we’re trying to find a couple things that we need to fix and get better at. That’s going to be our focus for the remainder of the season.

“We’ve got to take little steps here and build on the positives. The fourth-quarter comeback is a positive we’ll come into (today) and say, ‘OK, let’s take that intensity through this practice and into the next practice and see where it leads.”’

Off to its worst start since 1970-71 (1-15), Wadsworth (2-9) entered the fourth quarter down 40-28 but got back into contention behind a man press and hot shooting from sophomore guards Christian Szalay (career-high 15 points, 8 in fourth), Tony Hewitt (9, 7) and Jake Justice (7, 7).

Szalay’s third 3-pointer came with 2:05 left and cut Barberton’s lead to 51-47. Magics guard Austin Rector then kept Grizzlies hopes alive by making just 1-of-4 free throws over the next 1:04.

Unfortunately for Wadsworth, its methodical offense couldn’t get off a good look against Barberton’s suddenly sticky defense. Justice, a recent junior varsity call-up, missed a 3-pointer and contested baseline drive down 51-47, while Hewitt and Szalay committed turnovers in the final 27 seconds.

“Their guards are a little bigger than ours,” Schmeltzer said. “We wanted to try to get to the rim quickly, and they did a nice job of keeping us out of the paint. That’s the bottom line. We didn’t want to shoot a three there. We wanted to work (Szalay) off a ball screen or get him to the rim because he’d been getting into the paint all night.”

Schmeltzer was frustrated not because of the failed opportunities in the final minutes, but because the Grizzlies failed to learn from their mistakes during a loss at Hudson on Friday.

Wadsworth did a nice job containing perimeter threats Buzz Walker and Zane Ries in the first half and would have likely had a lead entering halftime if not for Magics power forward Jeff Woolridge (game-high 18 points, 12 in first half). Consequently, Barberton (8-4) led 23-22 at halftime.

Schmeltzer stressed continued patience on offense — the Grizzlies took 17 first-half shots — but that plea fell on deaf ears and quickly hoisted 3-point bricks allowed Barberton to get transition points. That woke up Walker (16 points) and Rector (10 points, 4 assists), with Walker scoring seven points during an 11-0 run that took only 1:43.

Walker then added a bucket at the 5:33 mark, giving the Magics a 36-22 lead. The Grizzlies’ Mitchell Blackburn finally answered 1:21 later, but Wadsworth didn’t make a significant dent in the Barberton lead until the fourth.

“My biggest concern in the third quarter was at halftime we talked about moving the basketball a little more,” Schmeltzer said. “We felt like were dribbling the ball too much, and we come out and on three straight possessions in the third quarter we took quick shots that led to long rebounds, which led to them getting three easy transition buckets.

“That is a concern of mine. That little run they went on to start the third, that hurt us big time.”

Note
Brendan Merhar had 19 points, including five 3-pointers, as Wadsworth’s junior varsity won 52-37.

Barberton 57, Wadsworth 50
BARBERTON 10 13 17 17 — 57
WADSWORTH 10 12 6 22 — 50
Barberton — Buzz Walker 5-5-16, Jeff Woolridge 5-7-18, Khalil Looney 1-0-2, Zane Ries 1-1-3, Austin Rector 3-4-10, Luke Metzger 2-0-4, Ian Moore 0-0-0, Brandyn Miller 0-1-1, Keye Thompson 0-3-3, Garrett Turnbaugh 0-0-0, Max Littlejohn 0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-21-57.
Wadsworth — Alec Booth 0-0-0, Graham Blind 1-0-2, Reid Black 1-2-4, Tony Hewitt 4-0-9, Christian Szalay 6-0-15, Lucas Mills 1-0-2, Ryan Storad 2-2-7, David Griffin 0-0-0, Mitchell Blackburn 1-0-2, Kyle Larj 0-0-0, Daniel Weinerman 1-0-2, Jake Justice 2-2-7, Connor Montgomery 0-0-0, Sean Corp 0-0-0. TOTALS: 19-6-50.
3-point goals — Walker, Woolridge, Szalay 3, Hewitt, Storad, Justice. Rebounds — Barberton 31 (Woolridge 8), Wadsworth 22 (Mills, Hewitt, Szalay, Blind 3). Assists — Barberton 9 (Rector 4), Wadsworth 10 (Szalay 3). Records — Barberton (8-4), Wadsworth (2-9). Junior varsity — Wadsworth 52, Barberton 37.

WESTFIELD TWP. — The most entertaining girls basketball offense in Medina County outdid itself.
Run-and-gun Cloverleaf matched a season high for points in a quarter Wednesday to open its Portage Trail Conference Metro Division game against Coventry. The Colts then broke that barely marinated mark in the fourth quarter.

The 78-53 final was misleading, as Cloverleaf scored 27 points in the first quarter to grab a 15-point lead and 28 in the fourth to put away the athletic but offensively challenged Comets.

Cloverleaf’s Lexi Civittolo scores past Coventry’s Karli Morisak during the first quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)

That’s 55 points in 16 minutes, for those counting at home with a Cup O’ Joe in their hand.

“We all share the ball really well, and every person on the starting five and even on the bench, we all can hit shots if we need to,” All-Ohioan Lexi Civittolo said. “We have that trust in each other, and if someone needs to take a shot, we know we have people out there who can do it.”

The Colts (11-3, 7-1), who stayed one game behind Ravenna (12-3, 8-0) in the Metro race, shot a combined 24-for-40 from the floor, 4-for-8 from 3-point range and 3-for-3 at the foul line in the first and fourth quarters. They led 27-12 after one and 50-38 after three.

Transition offense was a huge factor, as Cloverleaf got wide-open layups in the first half. The Comets (6-7, 3-5) helped matters by trying to press the Colts, who have plenty of practice against the scheme after playing Division I superpower Wadsworth eight times in their last three years in the Suburban League.

The fourth quarter came down to attitude, as Cloverleaf got fed up with undisciplined mistakes on defense that allowed Coventry to get into contention. Rushed 3-point bricks by the Comets then fueled the fire, as Cloverleaf went on a 17-5 run over the first 4:14 of the period.

“When we started looking up the floor, we saw we had open people,” center Taylor Barnum said. “We moved the ball and got easy layups. It was really easy for us to score points.”

Coming off a win over Streetsboro on Saturday in which she took 25 shots without an assist, Civittolo moved the ball excellently and finished with team highs of 22 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, while Barnum made transition layups and grabbed key offensive rebounds en route to a career-high 14 points.

They were hardly the only standouts, as Jillian Miglich (15 points, 6 assists) had five assists in the first quarter, Ava Illig (11 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals) had another stat-stuffing game and Kassandra Kemp kicked off the fourth-quarter bonanza with two unanswered buckets.

Coventry, which lost the first meeting 45-40 on Dec. 2, got 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting from small forward Megan Murray, eight points, 11 rebounds, five assists and eight turnovers from aggressive point guard Karli Morisak and nine points and a game-high 14 rebounds from center Takaylyn Hudson.

What the Comets couldn’t match was Cloverleaf attacking the rim like rabid wolves going after a piece of raw meat.

But unlike wolves, the Colts shared the bacon.

“It’s fun when we move the ball well,” a smiling Civittolo said.

Note
Lisa Wangler had 13 points as Cloverleaf’s junior varsity won 28-25.

Cloverleaf 78, Coventry 53
COVENTRY 12 15 11 15 — 53
CLOVERLEAF 27 11 12 28 — 78
Coventry — Megan Murray 4-0-11, April Mashburn 2-0-4, Takaylyn Hudson 3-3-9, Kia Greene 3-0-8, Karli Morisak 4-0-8, Zoe Sheppard 1-1-3, Ja’Nayah Keys 2-0-4, Antinya McCants 2-0-4, Isabella Pieri 1-0-2. TOTALS: 22-4-53.
Cloverleaf — Lexi Civittolo 9-2-22, Kassandra Kemp 2-1-6, Taylor Barnum 6-2-14, Jillian Miglich 6-0-15, Ava Illig 4-2-11, Mckenna Jordan 2-2-6, Erian Hamilton 1-0-2, Kayla Wilson 1-0-2, Anna Winnicki 0-0-0, Lisa Wangler 0-0-0. TOTALS: 31-9-78.
3-point goals — Murray 3, Greene 2, Miglich 3, Civittolo 2, Illig, Kemp. Rebounds — Coventry 46 (Hudson 14), Cloverleaf 41 (Civittolo 12). Assists — Coventry 14 (Morisak 5), Cloverleaf 21 (Civittolo 7). Records — Cloverleaf (11-3, 7-1), Coventry (6-7, 3-5). Junior varsity — Cloverleaf 28, Coventry 25.

Eastern Holmes County will be rockin’ this weekend.

The undefeated Wadsworth girls basketball team, newly christened as No. 1 in The Associated Press Division I state poll, will get arguably its biggest challenges of the regular season at the Berlin Hiland-hosted Classic in the Country Challenge.

Andrew Booth

First up for the Grizzlies (13-0) at the Perry Reese Center is reigning D-I state semifinalist Newark (11-3) at 4:40 p.m. Saturday. Then Wadsworth will battle Cincinnati-area power Mason (12-2) at 8:20 p.m. Sunday in a rematch of the 1997 D-I state championship game won by the Grizzlies.

This marks the second straight year Wadsworth will play on consecutive days at one of the country’s elite showcases. There will be a noticeable change in the team’s approach.

“Last year we stayed overnight because our games were a little earlier in the afternoon, especially on the second day,” coach Andrew Booth said. “This year we play at 4:40 (Saturday) and 8:20 (Sunday), so we’re going to come home and sleep in our own bed. That’s one adjustment, because if we stay overnight we’re going to be sitting around all day Sunday.

“Last year really hurt us because playing back-to-back, obviously Lakota West blitzed us (62-30). We were out of gas that second day and they had not played the previous day — not that it would have made a big difference — but Mason also plays back-to-back, so hopefully that will be a benefit to us.”

Newark lost star center Kym Royster to Indiana University. The Wildcats then got a shock in the offseason when sweet-dribbling point guard Adrian Crockwell, an ESPN.com three-star recruit with moves on top of moves, transferred to nearby Reynoldsburg.

The Wildcats are still winning, though, because sophomores Carlee Street (9.5 ppg) and Olivia Fox (11.7) and freshmen Katie Shumate (9.3) and Morgan Sharps (9.1) have stepped up. Their losses are to Pickerington Central (No. 2 in D-I poll), Reynoldsburg (14th) and Pickerington North.

Meanwhile, the Comets, ranked fourth in the AP poll, compete in the loaded Greater Miami Conference alongside defending state champion Lakota West.

Mason features Arkansas recruit Jailyn Mason (8.9 ppg, 2.8 apg) and 6-foot-3 Marquette-bound center Lauren Van Kluenen (13.1, 7.2 rpg), but has five other players averaging at least four points.

“They’re excited about it,” Booth said of his players. “It’s one of the premier events in the state, if not the country. They’re ready.

“The main thing for them is Newark is very, very good and certainly Mason will be the same. It will be good experience, and hopefully it will be exactly what we need to get ready for the stretch run.”

Black River (0-14, 0-9)

Junior Frances Radway has found her scoring groove, averaging 10.6 points in five games since returning from injury.

Brunswick (8-7, 3-5)

• A 64-46 loss at Euclid on Saturday was wild, to say the least. The teams combined for 155 shots (52 3-pointers), 48 free throws and 109 rebounds. Farrah Benner pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds for the Blue Devils.
• Benner is averaging 17.8 points over the last four games.
• Four of Brunswick’s next five games are against opponents with winning records.

Buckeye (8-6, 6-4)

• Averaging 48.5 points, the Bucks are on pace for their best effort since 2007-08 (50.9).
• l The Bucks’ rebounding prowess has continued to be a major storyline, as they have won that battle in 12-of-14 games.
• l Buckeye is averaging a sparkling 60.3 points during its three-game winning streak.
• l Elizabeth Whetsone made her varsity debut and scored her first points Saturday against Oberlin.

Cloverleaf (11-3, 7-1)

• Small forward Helaina Limas (concussion) will start Saturday at Ravenna Southeast after missing four games. Senior Kassandra Kemp filled in for Limas and averaged 3.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists.
• l The Colts are 8-0 when All-Ohioan Lexi Civittolo has at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.
• l Coach John Carmigiano needs eight victories to pass Mary Becker (133, Brunswick/Highland, 1992-2006) for seventh on the Medina County leaderboard.

Highland (11-3, 6-1)

• The Hornets found their dancing partner. Shortly before the season began, Highland was approved to play a game at Quicken Loans Arena but didn’t have an opponent. That drama is over, as the Hornets will play Wooster at 4 p.m. Thursday. The Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers face the Los Angeles Clippers later that night.
• l Kat Van Kirk scored her first career points Saturday at Revere.

Medina (10-5, 4-4)

• Since putting up a donut against Mount Blue (Maine) in Florida, center Emma Bobey has been on fire with 52 points over four games.
• Emily McLeod scored her first career points Wednesday against Elyria, while Madison Luthy and Payton Beech made their debuts.

MEDINA — Championship teams win these games. Period. No questions asked.

However, what Medina’s boys basketball squad did to traditional Northeast Ohio power Mentor over the final three quarters Friday was special, especially since losing simply was not an option.

Medina’s Luke Schaefer shoots against Mentor’s Allen Sims during the second quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)

Getting blitzed all over the 3-point arc by Andrew Robinson, the Bees made a key defensive adjustment and rode a matchup 2-3 zone to an extremely impressive 65-49 victory that kept them tied with Brunswick atop the Greater Cleveland Conference standings.

It marked the first time the Cardinals (8-5, 3-3), who entered play averaging 73.4 points, were held to fewer than 50 since leaving the Lake Erie League in 2011, but even that’s not the most impressive statistic.

Mentor had just 23 points over the final three quarters and was outscored 37-12 in the middle periods.

“This is very big. They’re a very good team, and we knew us and Brunswick are going head to head in the conference,” Bees center Jon Teske said. “We knew we wanted to put that Elyria loss (65-60 on Tuesday) behind us, and to come out with the ‘W’ is huge for us.”

Robinson (18 points, 6-of-17 3-pointers) made five 3-pointers as the Cardinals led 26-16 after one. Medina looked lost against Mentor’s five-out offense, leading to second-year coach Chris Hassinger blowing a gasket and making a calculated gamble.

The Bees (11-3, 6-1) then went to the aggressive matchup 2-3, putting the 7-foot-1 Teske (19 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks) in the paint but also flashing him toward any ball screen. Accompanying that with communication up top between Ben Geschke and Jackson Sartain (12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) and yeoman efforts from forwards Luke Schaefer (13 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists), Jimmy Daw (10, 6) and Jimmy Clark (4, 6, 2 steals) caused Mentor’s open looks to dry up.

Medina then realized allowing the Cardinals’ man press to dictate pace was a bad idea and instead intelligently worked its offense through Teske. Five players scored during a 19-2 run over the first 5:04 of the second quarter, and the Bees led 38-33 at halftime and 53-38 after three.

In the middle periods, the Cardinals shot 4-for-26, including 2-for-18 from 3-point range. Their last gasp with hustling junior varsity standouts Manning Trubisky and Austin Koss on the floor cut the spread to nine — bone-headed Medina turnovers helped — but the comeback bid proved futile.

“Our guards did an unbelievable job,” Hassinger said. “And the other thing is — let me say this — it was Jimmy Clark and Jimmy Daw, too, keeping containment. That’s the first game we’ve not let (opposing players) get to the basket and (Teske) has to come and help.”

The Bees did a ton of other things well, too as they shot 60 percent from the floor (27-for-45), won the rebounding battle 29-13 and never were bothered by the press because Teske grabbed lobs and quickly fired to the nearest streaking guard.

Toss in a large crowd, Time Warner Sports Channel televising live and an inadvertent fire alarm at halftime — it led to a four-minute delay — and the night was memorable inside Richard H. Clevidence Gymnasium.

The win couldn’t have come at a better time, either, because the Bees already are salivating at the thought of playing archrival Brunswick with first place potentially on the line.

“It means a lot, especially toward the conference,” Geschke said. “We’re really fighting for that conference championship. We knew Mentor was in the race and especially Elyria — Elyria is coming after us pretty hard. This game meant a lot to us because if Mentor wins this game, they’re right back in the race and where we don’t want them to be.”

Notes

Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.

Medina 65, Mentor 49

MENTOR                                26   7    5   11  —  49

MEDINA                                  16  22  15  12  —  65

Mentor — Andrew Robinson 6-0-18, Allen Sims 1-2-4, Tadas Tatarunas 0-0-0, Jack Korsok 6-0-16, Kyle McIntosh 2-0-4, Caden Kryz 0-2-2, Matt Craven 0-0-0, Max Barich 0-0-0, Xavier Cheek 0-0-0, Manning Trubisky 1-0-2, Austin Koss 1-0-3, Pat Levar 0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-4-49.

Medina — Luke Schaefer 6-0-13, Jimmy Clark 2-0-4, Jon Teske 8-3-19, Jackson Sartain 5-0-12, Ben Geschke 2-2-7, Jimmy Daw 4-2-10, Colin Szumski 0-0-0, Dylan Fultz 0-0-0. TOTALS: 27-7-65.

3-point goals — Robinson 6, Korsok 4, Koss, Sartain 2, Schaefer, Geschke. Rebounds — Mentor 13 (Korsok, Tatarunas 3), Medina 29 (Teske 11). Assists — Mentor 10 (Tatarunas 4), Medina 15 (Schaefer 5). Records — Mentor (8-5, 3-3), Medina (11-3, 6-1). Junior varsity — Medina 52, Mentor 45.

BERLIN TWP. — The black padding underneath the Perry Reese Center baskets have gray lettering that reads “Dictate the tempo (I will).”

The message is intended for hometown Berlin Hiland, but it also was the Wadsworth girls basketball team’s top priority Sunday night when it played big, strong and physical Mason (14-2) at The Classic in the Country Challenge.

Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, they couldn’t run-and-gun until it was too late.

With a rotation featuring six players standing least 6-foot and a 5-9 star point guard headed to Arkansas, the Comets kept tempo slow and imposed their will for three quarters of a 41-30 decision.

Wadsworth, which will fall from No. 1 in The Associated Press Division I state poll this week, cut a 19-point second-half deficit to seven, but that was all she wrote.

“We’re obviously never going to give up,” All-Ohioan Jodi Johnson said. “We were going to keep pushing back as hard as we could until the end, but obviously we’re going to be a little upset about that start.”

Johnson was referring to when she opened the scoring with a 3-pointer but Mason answered with a grueling 19-0 run that finally ended with a Jenna Johnson made free throw with less than a minute remaining before halftime.

Wadsworth (14-1) missed 20 straight shots against Mason’s intelligent and long-armed matchup 2-3 zone. The Grizzlies also were 2-for-23 (1-of-7 threes) in the first half and couldn’t finish at the rim with 6-footers all over the paint.

With the way Mason controlled the ball — it had four turnovers in first half — and handled the Grizzlies’ 2-2-1 press with ease, its 25-6 lead midway through the third quarter felt insurmountable.

Never-quit Wadsworth had cut Mason’s lead to 35-28 with 1:47 left. However, three missed shots and two bricked free throws on the same possession were the last gasps.

“We just have to play basketball and not play the play in the half court,” point guard Sophia Fortner said. “You can’t just have Coach (Andrew Booth) call a play and do exactly what he says. If our look isn’t open, we can’t run that play. We have to try something different.”

Johnson’s patented aerial drives were negated by the trees inside, but she still led Wadsworth with 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Backup post Peyton Banks added 10 points — all in the second half — but the rest of the team had 10 points on 4-of-24 shooting.

Power forward Lauren Van Kluenen, a 6-3 Marquette recruit, led Mason with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Arkansas-bound point guard Jailyn Mason added 12 points and seven assists, while Samari Mowbray (6-2) and 6-footers Samantha Puisis, Mariah Campbell, Anna Brinkmann and Tihanna Fulton were strong defensively.

Wadsworth got a moral victory with the furious comeback against an athletically superior opponent, but the Grizzlies will focus on fine-tuning moving forward.

“We need to play teams in our league like it’s the state championship — like it’s the top-level teams in Ohio — so we’re able to get better and play teams like this (in the tournament) and get the win,” Jodi Johnson said.

Notes
Molly Palecek had 16 points and Meggie Flanigan added nine points and four blocks, including one on three straight possessions, as Wadsworth’s undefeated junior defeated Lakota West 47-28.

Mason 41, Wadsworth 30
WADSWORTH 3 3 7 17 — 30
MASON 8 11 10 12 — 41
Mason — Samantha Puisis 1-0-2, Lauren Van Kluenen 6-4-18, Mariah Campbell 2-0-4, Samari Mowbray 1-1-3, Jailyn Mason 4-2-12, Anna Brinkmann 0-0-0, Tihanna Fulton 1-0-2, Allison Reichert 0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-7-41.
Wadsworth — Jenna Johnson 0-1-1, Laurel Palitto 0-0-0, Lexi Lance 1-0-2, Jodi Johnson 3-3-11, Sophia Fortner 1-0-2, Olivia Chaney 1-0-2, Peyton Banks 4-1-10, McKenna Banks 1-0-2, Maddie Movsesian 0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-5-30.
3-point goals — Van Kluenen 2, Mason 2, Jo. Johnson 2, P. Banks. Rebounds — Mason 26 (Van Kluenen 11), Wadsworth 22 (Jo. Johnson 5). Assists — Mason 12 (Mason 7), Wadsworth 10 (Palitto 4). Records — Mason (14-2), Wadsworth (14-1). Junior varsity — Wadsworth 47, Lakota West 28.

WADSWORTH — Mark it down: At 8:44 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, the Buckeye boys basketball team officially made history.

Buckeye’s Liam Murray shoots around Wadsworth’s Alec Booth during the third quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)

Taking a page from Garrett Beck, Jeff Miller, Chris Vogt, Cory Inman and John Tighe’s playbook — the quintet that powered the Bucks to a school-record 21 wins two years ago — Buckeye strung together stops out of a matchup 2-3 zone, leading to a huge third quarter and 53-46 non-league win at Wadsworth.

The Nathan Polidori-less Bucks (7-4) beat the Grizzlies (3-10), a school twice their size, for the first time in three all-time meetings.

“Any (Division I) win is a big win, and especially on a Tuesday night away game,” power forward Liam Murray said. “Those are the hardest games to get up for, really. Our coaches really got us up. (Coach Tom Harrington) preached all week how it’s going to be a big game and they’re going to be ready for us.

“They came out and they kind of jumped ahead a little bit in the beginning, but we fought back in the second half beautifully. We had a great third quarter — the best of the year.”

Fine-tuning assistant coach and Wadsworth resident Jack Banks’ scouting report, Buckeye used the 2-3 exclusively coming out of the halftime locker room down 24-22. Particular attention was paid to Wadsworth leading scorer Tony Hewitt (game-high 18 points, 15 in first half), and the Bucks did a better job of grabbing rebounds.

Those boards ignited a 2010s program staple, transition offense, and crisp ball movement was paramount in a 15-3 run that took only 3:18. Murray (17 points, 11 rebounds) scored eight points, but Braeden Stauffer (11, 4 assists), Joey Bartinelli (7) and Nick Wills (6, 6 rebounds) also contributed and Mikey Novick had two assists.

Buckeye then scored the initial five points of the fourth quarter to take a 44-28 lead and did just enough to hold off a spirited Wadsworth comeback.

“Our game plan going in was we were going to play our man defense on a miss, our zone on a make,” Stauffer said. “Then at halftime, we just came out all zone the whole time. It kept working, so we just stuck with it.”

The story was hauntingly familiar for the Grizzlies, who for the fifth time this season posted a second-half quarter of five points or fewer. They were outscored 17-4 in the third against the Bucks, often jacking shots early in possessions and ending the period 1-for-12 from the floor.

Going 2-for-10 at the foul line in the second half didn’t help, but Wadsworth regrouped and used a man press and playmaking from point guard Christian Szalay (10 points, 5 assists, 6 steals) to get to 48-44 with 46.3 seconds left. Buckeye then kept the glimmer of hope burning by failing to score, but the Grizzlies missed a 3-pointer and Stauffer and Bartinelli made free throws.

“We started to stand around a little bit offensively and missed some shots,” said eighth-year Wadsworth coach Mike Schmeltzer Jr., who added he’s tired of reading and hearing about his team’s inexperience and youth. “Next thing you know, we’ve got another (four-point) quarter.

“What we come out of this locker room saying is the urgency that we played in the fourth quarter, that’s got to be all four quarters at the varsity level if you’re going to win games, and we’ve seen some of it. We just need to put four together like that. They’ve just got to understand that every possession has to have that type of urgency.”

With Polidori in street clothes after spraining an ankle Friday against Oberlin, Buckeye couldn’t figure out Wadsworth’s unorthodox 2-1-2 press while falling behind 10-2. A timeout by coach Tom Harrington fixed that problem, and Stauffer and Murray kept the Bucks afloat offensively.

Once the third quarter commenced, Buckeye was off to the races.

“I don’t think we were working the hardest we ever have in the first half,” Murray said. “Second half, we came out strong. We were working hard defensively.”

Notes

• Polidori will not be rushed back to action, meaning there is no timetable for his return.
• Carson Rishner had 13 points as Wadsworth’s junior varsity won 54-35. Spencer Imes had 10 points for Buckeye.
• The Grizzlies’ freshman team pulled away 48-43 at the Wadsworth YMCA behind 11 points from Jacob McDermitt. Micky LaRich had 12 for the Bucks.

Buckeye 53, Wadsworth 46
BUCKEYE 11 11 17 14 — 53
WADSWORTH 12 12 4 18 — 46
Buckeye — Joey Bartinelli 2-2-7, Liam Murray 6-3-17, Nick Wills 2-2-6, Braeden Stauffer 3-4-11, Mikey Novick 1-1-4, Justin Canedy 1-0-2, Justin Lowry 1-0-3, Carter Hudak 1-1-3. TOTALS: 17-13-53.
Wadsworth — Alec Booth 0-0-0, Connor Montgomery 1-0-2, Reid Black 1-0-2, Tony Hewitt 7-1-18, Christian Szalay 4-0-10, David Griffin 0-0-0, Ryan Storad 1-2-4, Jake Justice 1-0-3, Mitchell Blackburn 2-0-5, Daniel Weinerman 1-0-2, Graham Blind 0-0-0, Kyle Larj 0-0-0, Lucas Mills 0-0-0, Sean Corp 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-3-46.
3-point goals — Murray 2, Stauffer, Bartinelli, Novick, Lowry, Hewitt 3, Szalay 2, Justice, Blackburn. Rebounds — Buckeye 26 (Murray 11), Wadsworth 19 (Hewitt 5). Assists — Buckeye 11 (Stauffer 4), Wadsworth 11 (Szalay 5). Records — Buckeye (7-4), Wadsworth (3-10). Junior varsity — Wadsworth 54, Buckeye 35.

WADSWORTH — For the first time in 21 years, Wadsworth is on the hunt for a man to lead its tradition-rich football program after coach Greg Dennison, who won a school-record 148 games, resigned Nov. 12.

High school principal Steve Moore knew from the start Wadsworth was going to be thorough and patient during the process.

Momentum will begin next week, when interviews with the final nine will take place. Approximately 50 coaches applied.

“Our goal is to have it completed by the March (7) board meeting,” Moore said. “It’s not a steadfast goal, but that’s our goal.”

Internal candidates are defensive coordinator Rob Karovic, freshman coach Chris Beery and former assistant Jason Knapp.

Interviewing from outside the district are head coaches Justin Todd (Mount Vernon), Mike Passerrello (Firelands), Pete Thompson (Crestwood), Thomas “T.J.” Buckley (Fremont St. Joseph Catholic) and Mike Bohley (Chippewa). Former St. Vincent-St. Mary assistant Jeff Dallas also is in the running.

Here are closer looks at the candidates:

• Beery: The Wadsworth High language arts teacher has been in the football program since 1997 and owns an 85-15-1 combined record as junior varsity (1997-2011) and freshman coach (2011-present). Beery, who was an assistant at small-school power Mogadore before coming to Wadsworth, also is the boys track and field coach.
• Karovic: Karovic took over the program on an interim basis when Dennison had kidney removal surgery in 2014 and was the architect of Wadsworth’s hard-hitting defenses in 2013 and ’14. Karovic is a science teacher in the district.
• Knapp: A social studies teacher at Wadsworth High, Knapp began coaching at the school in 1999. He moved to Kenmore in 2010, where he was defensive coordinator under Wadsworth resident Ed Peltz before going 3-7 as head coach in 2013. A three-time national champion player at Mount Union and Wadsworth graduate, Knapp also has coached various levels of boys and girls basketball.
• Todd: Another former Mount Union player, Todd posted a 6-4 record at Mount Vernon last fall. He’s best known for a quick rebuild at Loudonville, where he went 30-6 over three seasons. The 2014 Redbirds went 12-1 and averaged 46.9 points per game behind dual-threat quarterback Kolton Edmondson, who was playing the position for the first time. Todd was named Ohio Division VI co-Coach of the Year.
• Passerrello: A middle school health teacher at Amherst, Passerrello has put long-time Lorain County doormat Firelands on the map, and his 27-25 record is a little deceiving. Passerrello took over a 2-8 program and in 2011 recorded the school’s first 10-0 season since 1973. He then went with a youth movement while going 0-10 in 2013, but Firelands has gone 6-4 and 8-3 since.
• Thompson: Thompson has led Crestwood to back-to-back D-IV playoff appearances, highlighted by the school’s first trip to the regional finals last fall. The 2014 team posted the program’s best record in 25 years (9-1), and the Red Devils have averaged north of 40 points in each of the last two seasons. Thompson was a coach in the Ohio North/South Game in 2013 and ’15.
• Buckley: Buckley is the only non-Northeast Ohio coach in the running, as he has led D-VII Fremont St. Joseph Central Catholic for the last three seasons, compiling a 9-22 record but making the playoffs in 2013. He previously was an assistant at Genoa, Fremont Ross and Perrysburg and also has coached track and field and wrestling. Buckley has teaching certification in heath and physical education.
• Bohley: Wayne County fans are well aware of Chippewa’s rags-to-riches story under Bohley. The Chipps had 16 wins from 2003-12 but are 28-8 in three seasons under Bohley. Chippewa reached the D-V regional finals last fall and won the Wayne County Athletic League championship in 2014. Bohley, the two-time defending Northeast Inland District D-V Coach of the Year, also was head coach at Waterloo (16-34 record, 2008-12) when Andrew Hill, now at Wadsworth, was superintendent.
• Dallas: Dallas served as co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach when St. Vincent-St. Mary won D-III state championships in 2012 and ’13 under former Copley head coach Dan Boarman. Dallas previously was an assistant at Revere from 1995-2009. He also was the baseball coach at St. Vincent-St. Mary (1990-94) and Revere (1998-2004), winning 160 games between the schools and reaching the state semifinals with the Fighting Irish in 1992.

CLEVELAND — The question was asked jokingly and Sam Catron ran with it.

Highland’s Kathleen Kirchner goes for a shot against Wooster’s Halle Kotulock (10), Sydney Clapp (12) and Carla Stoll during the second quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)

After surprisingly dismantling Wooster 70-33 Thursday, should Highland’s girls basketball team petition the OHSAA to play all its home games at Quicken Loans Arena?

“That’d be nice,” the point guard said with a chuckle. “That’d be nice.”

The Hornets had a lifetime of memories to revisit after playing their best game of the season.

The bright lights, 94-foot court and cavernous shooting backgrounds at the 20,562-seat home of LeBron James and the Cavaliers never fazed undersized-but-gritty Highland (13-3), which ran the Generals (7-9) out of the arena with noticeable advantages in speed and overall athleticism.

Going on an 18-0 run to seize control in the first half, the Marlee Profitt-less Hornets kept running, running and running, ultimately forcing Wooster into 24 turnovers and 48 missed shots that led to leak-outs, unselfish passing and layups at the other end.

Catron made her first six shots in a career-best performance of 18 points, six rebounds and six steals. Sophomore backup Emily Lyon also was strong with nine points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, while forward Madison Less added 14 points and a game-high five assists and fellow senior Lauren Zuro pumped in a career-high six points.

Not known as a great shooting team, Highland went 14-for-30 from the floor, 8-for-9 at the foul line and 3-for-10 from 3-point range while building a 39-16 halftime lead. The Hornets also had a season-high 19 assists on 27 field goals and reached 70 points for the first time in nearly three years.

“We’re so fortunate to be able to come here and play against Wooster, and they played a great game and we played a great game,” Catron said. “It’s just an incredible honor to get to come to this. (At first) it was a little overwhelming, but I knew we had a game to play and we needed to focus.

“People were talking about how it’s a lot different from a regular game, which it is because (the court) is so big, but once we got on the court, I felt comfortable.”

The rest of the day involved little details that made the overall experience unforgettable.

No one could top the story of guard Alaina Monroe (4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists), who was the last player to exit the halftime locker room. The senior quickly got lost in the hallway before being pointed in the right direction by none other than 7-foot-1, 276-pound Cavaliers center Timofey Mozgov.

“I was so surprised,” Monroe said.

That wasn’t the only highlight, as Highland announcer Joe Jastrzemski was behind the mic, sophomore Abigail Catron sang the national anthem and Profitt got to be apart of the fun from 35 miles away.

Profitt was not at The Q but instead at her Sharon Township home recuperating after having ACL reconstruction surgery Tuesday. Assistant coach Mandy Simmons fired up the iPhone application FaceTime, allowing the team’s star to see most of the action as well as interact with her teammates.

“I could hear her laughing through the phone. It was awesome,” said senior Alli Esker, Profitt’s replacement as starting center. “I knew she wanted to be here, but it worked out.”

Toss in a team dinner and tickets to the Cavaliers’ game against the Clippers that night and there were no shortages of smiles.

“It never settled in that ‘I’m at The Q right now. This is where LeBron stepped and this is where LeBron sat,’” said Esker, a Cavaliers/Kevin Love fanatic who was wearing a team jersey and knit hat afterward. “It never settled in until after the fact, but walking in was surreal and being down there by the locker room and seeing the arena from the court was awesome. I’m so happy and blessed for the opportunity.”

Notes

• National television station TNT tested equipment throughout the game.
• Wooster sophomore Ny Brown entered play averaging 18.6 points and was coming off a 28-point showing against Massillon. Brown had only four points on 2-for-6 shooting in the first half and finished with 10 points and game-high 11 rebounds.
• The Generals had a whopping 21 players see action, which is legal until rosters are limited to 15 in the tournament. Highland did not dress anyone who hadn’t already appeared in a varsity game this season (11 players).
• Take out a 7-for-17 third quarter and Wooster shot 7-for-45.

Highland 70, Wooster 33
WOOSTER 10 6 14 3 — 33
HIGHLAND 18 21 18 13 — 70
Wooster — Ny Brown 5-0-10, Skylar Clapp 2-0-4, Carla Stoll 3-0-6, Alexis Sigler 0-0-0, Izzy Rico 0-0-0, Halle Kotulock 0-2-2, Sydney Clapp 0-2-2, Stephanie Smith 2-0-4, Alisha Berry 0-0-0, Bri Koller 0-0-0, Hanna Morgan 2-0-5, Adrian Evans 0-0-0, Alana Koller 0-0-0, Kristen Machado 0-0-0, Lindsey Kastner 0-0-0, Jalyssa Turner 0-0-0, Jada McCloud 0-0-0, Macie Meade 0-0-0, Emma Anderson 0-0-0, Ness Bouchin 0-0-0, Gina VanLieu 0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-4-33.
Highland — Madison Less 5-4-14, Kathleen Kirchner 1-2-5, Alli Esker 2-0-4, Veronica Peterlin 2-3-7, Sam Catron 8-0-18, Emily Lyon 4-0-9, Alaina Monroe 1-2-4, Lauren Zuro 3-0-6, Cameron Angus 1-0-3, Hannah Zuro 0-0-0, Kat Van Kirk 0-0-0. TOTALS: 27-11-70.
3-point goals — Morgan, Catron 2, Kirchner, Lyon, Angus. Rebounds — Wooster 41 (Brown 11), Highland 38 (Lyon 9). Assists — Wooster 7 (Brown 3), Highland 19 (Less 4). Records — Wooster (7-9), Highland (13-3).

GRANGER TWP. — The shot heard ’round Granger Township couldn’t have been more wide open, and Collin Rittman coolly drilled the biggest bucket of his young career.

Highland’s Collin Rittman shoots between Avon’s Ryan Maloy, left, and Damantle Thorton during the second quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)

With the Highland boys basketball team shortly removed from blowing a seven-point lead in the final minute Tuesday, Rittman took a pass from Isaac Matejin and hit nothing but net on a corner 3-pointer with one second left, giving the Hornets a hair-raising 48-45 non-league win over Avon.

The post-shot mob extended to center court before Highland (9-6) finally settled down for the postgame handshakes.

“This is crazy,” Rittman said. “I’m just so happy. This was a great shot.”

Rittman’s theatrics came 20 seconds after the Eagles’ Damantie Thornton (12 points) grabbed a missed free throw by teammate Delshawn Orr (19, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) and connected on a corner 3-pointer. The sequence capped a 7-0 run by Avon (10-6) over a 28.3-second span, helped by Hornets missing both ends of a double bonus.

The Eagles called timeout immediately after Thornton’s three, giving Highland 21.3 seconds to work with. Point guard Collin Levandowski took his time, initiated the play at 10 seconds and went right around screens from 6-foot-7 Joe Wiencek (16 points, 22 rebounds) and the 6-3 Matejin. Matejin then flared left and got the pass from Levandowski.

Rittman (17 points) was squared up in the corner, and his defender left to double Matejin, who initially wanted to hoist an elbow-extended three. The left-handed senior calmly pulled back the ball, however, and split the defenders’ arms while passing to Rittman.

Rittman caught and fired in stride, swishing with less than a second left. Avon neither called timeout nor had time to inbound.

“I knew I was going to knock it down. I was wide open,” said Rittman, who added Levandowski called the play during the timeout. “I was feeling it the whole game.”

Highland gave itself a 45-38 lead with 1:16 left behind the yeoman work of Wiencek.

The team’s only returning starter, the aggressive right-hander dominated the paint against an Eagles roster that didn’t boast anyone taller than 6-3. Wiencek was especially beastly in Highland winning the third quarter 12-4, scoring six points and grabbing a whopping 11 rebounds.

Of Wiencek’s Medina County season-high 22 rebounds, 11 were offensive and 14 came in the second half. He also harassed drive-first scorers Thornton and Orr, blocking only one shot but redirecting others.

Coupled with sound perimeter defense, the Hornets lowered their season defensive scoring average to 50.7, putting them on pace for the second-lowest figure in school history (46.6, 2009-10).

“They kind of put me on the guy who couldn’t shoot so I could just kind of clog up the middle,” Wiencek said. “We put our two best defenders on the two athletic guys (Orr and Thornton) — Jake (Mall), Rittman, Brandon (Sauer), Isaac (Matejin) — and they all did a great job defending.”

Getting a win over the second-place squad in the 10-team Southwestern Conference was just what Highland needed coming off a 54-50 loss to Revere on Friday. The Hornets need three victories to clinch their fourth straight winning season, something the school has never done since being founded in 1952.

If Highland reaches that milestone, it will look back at Rittman’s shot and Mall’s overtime buzzer-beater against Aurora on Dec. 18 and smile from ear to ear.

“We’ve been there before, so I knew we could do it,” Wiencek said. “I never doubt this team in any game.”

Notes

• The Hornets did not commit their first foul until 4:06 was left in the second quarter. They finished with only eight.
• A frantic comeback fell short as Highland’s junior varsity lost 60-57. Matthew Fry had nine points for the Hornets, who trailed 51-32 after three quarters.
• Cole Tessena had 29 points, including nine 3-pointers, as Highland’s freshman team won 56-43.

Highland 48, Avon 45
AVON 11 14 4 16 — 45
HIGHLAND 14 10 12 12 — 48
Avon — Damantie Thornton 5-0-12, Michael Nose 0-0-0, Justin Ladegaard 3-0-7, Delshawn Orr 8-1-19, Ryan Maly 0-0-0, Jason Santora 0-0-0, Jacob Chasteen 1-1-4, Ben Yurkovich 1-0-3, Eli Atzenhoffer 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-2-45.
Highland — Brandon Sauer 0-2-2, Isaac Matejin 3-0-6, Joe Wiencek 6-4-16, Collin Rittman 6-3-17, Collin Levandowski 2-0-4, Jake Mall 1-1-3, Tyler Frederick 0-0-0, Ryan Frederick 0-0-0, Devin Myers 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-10-48.
3-point goals — Thornton 2, Orr 2, Yurkovich, Ladegaard, Chasteen. Rebounds — Avon 25 (Orr 6), Highland 35 (Wiencek 22). Assists — Avon 8 (Orr 4), Highland 6 (Matejin, Sauer 2). Records — Avon (10-6), Highland (9-6). Junior varsity — Avon 60, Highland 57.

WADSWORTH — Never, ever question the toughness of Jodi Johnson.

Wadsworth’s Jodi Johnson shoots over Twinsburg’s Tori Thomas during the first quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)

The first-team All-Ohioan and the Wadsworth girls basketball team got all they could handle Wednesday from tough-as-nails Twinsburg. The emotional Suburban League National Division game teetered on the brink of an upset for large portions of the second half.

When the pressure increased, Johnson took over.

Completely carrying the Grizzlies’ offense at times, the 5-foot-11 senior was a beast when it mattered most as Wadsworth survived a physical, tournament-like 49-40 victory.

Make that 86 straight SL wins. The Grizzlies (17-1, 11-0) can clinch a share of the crown Saturday against Brecksville (4-14, 2-9), which stunned North Royalton 45-41.

“I was just like, ‘Let’s go,” Johnson said. “I mean, I’m not losing this game. I’m not losing a Suburban League game. We knew this game could definitely be a big one for us winding down the Suburban League, and we needed to win this game, obviously, to get where we want to get.”

Johnson scored 18 of her game-high 24 points in the second half, including 12 straight for her team in the second half. The Ashland recruit also came out of a scare unscathed when she tripped going to the rim, glass-balled a layup and jammed her elbow into her side when she slammed into the wall padding.

The Tigers (11-7, 4-6), who lost the first meeting 59-29 on Dec. 12, cut a 44-31 deficit at the 2:07 mark to 45-40, but the Grizzlies got a gigantic transition layup from Jenna Johnson with 50 seconds left — her only points of the night. The bucket off a pass from Sophia Fortner (6 assists) came mere seconds after Twinsburg center Jasmine Bishop (13 points) scored on a nifty left-handed drop step.

The Grizzlies, who also got seven second-half points from center Peyton Banks, helped make the game close by shooting a pedestrian 10-of-18 at the foul line in the second half — they entered play as one of the best free throw shooting teams in the state — but a win is a win, especially against a Julie Solis-coached team.

“Very, very physical — at times borderline ugly and at times a grind,” Wadsworth coach Andrew Booth said. “That was very grind-it-out type of game, to steal from (Ohio State football coach) Urban Meyer.

“Obviously Twinsburg, they hang their hat on the defensive end. They’re very athletic, they play extremely hard and they were very physical tonight. At times, I thought we handled it OK. At times, I thought we didn’t handle it at all, and at other times late in the game we got some buckets because we handled it very well, which was key to keep them at bay.”

A meaningful fourth quarter seemed unrealistic early on, as the Grizzlies held Twinsburg to 1-of-9 shooting while going up 13-2. The Tigers tried to spread the floor with a wide-as-possible five-out offense but came up empty as Wadsworth’s help defense was on point.

Solis scratched that idea after the Grizzlies took a 20-4 lead with 5:06 left in the half on a three-point play by Banks. Twinsburg slapped on a man press that Wadsworth made more effective by trying to bully their way to the rim.

In the second quarter, Wadsworth committed eight turnovers and attempted only five shots. From Banks’ bucket to a three-point play by Jodi Johnson, the Grizzlies went 7:05 without a field goal.

When it was time to get down the nitty gritty, however, they had the best player on the court.

“When you’ve got a kid who’s willing to put you on the back like that and make some pretty tough shots — really, it wasn’t like they were a bunch of open looks — that’s a pretty nice luxury to have as a coaching staff,” Booth said.

Notes

• The Grizzlies finished a sparkling 18-for-34 (.529) from the floor, including 9-for-16 in the second half.
• Wadsworth scored 36 of the final 50 points to win the junior varsity game 60-37. Maria Busson had 21 points.

Wadsworth 49, Twinsburg 40
TWINSBURG 2 11 15 12 — 40
WADSWORTH 13 7 16 13 — 49
Twinsburg — Tori Thomas 1-1-3, Dasja Anderson 2-0-5, Jasmine Bishop 5-1-13, Nya Bussey 2-4-8, Jailyn Reid 2-4-8, Shaundrea Butler 1-1-3, Mya Gardenhire 0-0-0, Dahrienne Tyler 0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-11-40.
Wadsworth — Laurel Palitto 0-1-1, Jenna Johnson 1-0-2, Lexi Lance 1-1-3, Jodi Johnson 8-7-24, Sophia Fortner 2-0-5, Peyton Banks 4-2-10, Olivia Chaney 0-0-0, McKenna Banks 2-0-4, Maddie Movsesian 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-11-49.
3-point goals — Bishop 2, Anderson, Jo. Johnson, Fortner. Rebounds — Twinsburg 15 (Bishop 5), Wadsworth 18 (Jo. Johnson 6). Assists — Twinsburg 4 (Bishop 2), Wadsworth 10 (Fortner 6). Records — Twinsburg (11-7, 4-6), Wadsworth (17-1, 11-0). Junior varsity — Wadsworth 60, Twinsburg 37.

Dude, f’real. Did Tuesday seriously just happen?

Strongsville basketball players celebrate after Jimmy Pesarchik hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to beat Medina on Tuesday. AARON JOSEFCZYK/GAZETTE

One of the wildest nights of Medina County boys basketball in years had a little bit of everything. There were three overtime games that included game-tying buckets in the final 4 seconds of regulation, three games that ultimately ended on buzzer-beaters, three first-place teams losing — yet staying in first — Black River’s Allan Benson scoring his 1,000th point and, let’s not forget, Buckeye upsetting Clearview.

Pfew!

Trying to explain how everything went down was an adrenaline rush that sports writers are addicted to. How do you recap a heart-palpitating game in 750 words while having approximately one hour to write about it?

That’s why they pay us the big bucks, folks (well, not really).

Let’s start with the county’s biggest schools, Medina and Brunswick, who both lost but maintained footing atop the topsy-turvy Greater Cleveland Conference, which also featured Euclid’s Quintin Dove dropping a you’ve-gotta-be-kidding-me 50 points in a four-point loss at Mentor.

The previously thought-to-be-invincible Bees, who are 6-5 since taking an undefeated record to Florida over Christmas break, had no business losing to improved-but-not-great Strongsville, especially after beating the Mustangs by 29 points in December. Alas, Jimmy Pesarchick called bank on a 3-pointer at the horn for a 62-59 upset, the biggest of the evening.

The Blue Devils played their 10th — TENTH — game decided by six points or fewer and/or overtime and had Elyria beat until Antonio Blanton made an excuse-me 24-foot rainbow to force overtime. The Pioneers then held on when Brunswick couldn’t match Blanton’s feat at the OT horn.

The win was Elyria’s ninth game decided by seven points or fewer, putting them in a first-place deadlock with the Blue Devils and Bees. Five GCC games remain.

Along the line of surprise teams — whoever predicted Elyria would be in first on Jan. 28 was a liar, liar pants on fire — Highland saw some young buck named Cole Tessena make nine 3-pointers in the freshman game. Three hours later, its varsity tried all it could to clench defeat from the jaws of victory.

Luckily, Collin Rittman hit the biggest shot of his career.

Locked in a back-and-forth battle with Avon, the Hornets blew a seven-point lead in a 28.3-second span and were on the verge of spoiling an unbelievable effort from their 6-foot-7 resident oak tree, Joe Wiencek, who had 11 of his 22 rebounds in … drum roll … one quarter. Teamwork saved the evening, as Collin Levandowski called the game-winning play and got screens from Wiencek and Isaac Matejin, and a double-teamed Matejin eventually got the rock and realized Rittman was so wide open for a corner 3-pointer he could have blown a kiss to his girlfriend sitting in the opposite bleachers before firing.

A play like that is why Highland is 9-6 despite losing not one, but two 1,000-point scorers to graduation.

Speaking of 1,000-point scorers — and embarrassingly tacky transitions — Mr. Benson joined an elite club while almost leading a big upset.

While Black River lost in overtime to drastically improved Oberlin, Benson, a quiet, tireless, selfless and humble star, made a free throw for his 1,000th point. The timing was perfect, as it allowed the game to be stopped and athletic director Josh Calame, who has done an extremely admirable job since he was forced by people above his pay grade to fire his boys basketball coach and take over two years ago, to present a commemorative ball.

As for the rest of the game, the Pirates got a thrilling tip-in from Zach Hawley with 3.3 seconds left to get to overtime. They then had two chances to tie in the final minute of OT but came up empty.

Wadsworth had a similar feeling of “What if?” after again getting down double digits, clawing into contention and losing. The rebuilding Grizzlies have had a lost season, but whoever can’t see the progress being made is nothing more than a hater.

Against Cuyahoga Falls, rapidly improving point guard Christian Szalay went nutty — on his birthday, no less — and powered the Grizzlies into overtime by making a double-pump left-handed drive with 1.1 seconds left. Then the teams traded long possessions of OT nothingness before a turnover allowed the Black Tigers to take possession.

Finally, Cuyahoga Falls’ Ka’Von Gainer corralled a triple-teamed pass from his brother Kevin and connected on a NBA-range bomb with — get this — 1.1 seconds on the clock to break the Grizzlies’ hearts.

Last but certainly not least, Buckeye would have been a lead story on most nights after beating high-octane Clearview, the first-place team in the Patriot Athletic Conference Stripes Division that was averaging 72 points per game. The 63-55 score helped keep the Bucks’ slim PAC Stars Division championship hopes alive.

Alas, this was not most nights.

Behind a career-high 20 points from emerging junior Joey Bartinelli — all in the second half! — the Bucks came out on top in an ugly game that had 35 first-half turnovers and 80 missed shots overall but also 80 percent foul shooting (figure that one out).

Slowly but surely, Buckeye is overcoming the loss of its best player, hard-nosed All-Gazette guard Nathan Polidori (sprained ankles), and jelling in first-year coach Tom Harrington’s detail-oriented scheme. Resiliency like that is impossible to ignore.

Neither is a night like Tuesday, which may not be replicated for decades.

Albert Grindle
The Gazette
Logically speaking, the fact that Black River star basketball player Allan Benson is so quiet and unassuming doesn’t make a lot a sense. His younger sister, Erica, is a spitfire who’s pretty much fearless in social situations, while their parents, Eric and Elaine, aren’t exactly shy, either.
So, could Erica explain why big bro is the way he is?
“Probably because I do most of the talking and he just listens,” she said with a grin. “That’s how it’s always been growing up, because, I don’t know, he’s just laid back. He just doesn’t talk that much.
“Allan’s just never been the one to be the outgoing person.”
Allan, the 5-foot-10, 160-pound newly minted 1,000-point scorer, readily agreed in, ironically enough, the chattiest interview of his four-year career.
“I have no explanation for that. I have no idea,” he said. “I get that every year from a teacher that I’m the quiet one in the class, because when they get Erica two years later they’re completely shocked.’”
Benson’s the type of kid who lives by actions speaking louder than words. Watch him play at 110 mph and it is impossible not to notice his passion. Give him a ball, gym or even his snow-covered driveway with dad’s old backboard and he’ll be happy for hours on end.
That extends to off the court as well — at least on the rare occasions when he isn’t ballin’ — from cooking for his girlfriend while singing a favorite tune to gobbling down Swiss rolls like they’re going out of style. Just don’t expect him to dominate a conversation. He’s not wired that way.
With a never-quit attitude, unbelievable work ethic and willingness to be coached, Benson is without question the heart and soul of a Black River program that is slowly but surely changing its culture two years after snapping a 49-game losing streak.
“He’s been a crucial part of getting this thing turned around and headed in the right direction,” coach Josh Calame said, accentuating the word crucial. “Players like him don’t come around very often, as we all know, and for Black River to be lucky enough to have a kid like him at this point in the program really helped the cause.”
In a lot of ways, Benson’s game is built around a prototypical score-first point guard. The right-hander’s handles are among the best in the 12-team Patriot Athletic Conference, his pull-up jumper is smooth and his twitchy first step allows him to get to the rim and finish acrobatically.
Another irony is Benson idolizes Kevin Durant, a long-armed 6-9 NBA small forward. Dig a little deeper, though, and Benson has a quick, high-arcing jumper like Durant and uses some of his moves to get open, mainly the hop stop, crossover and dribble pull-up. When Durant was hurt last year, Benson analyzed Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder teammate, Russell Westbrook.
Like Westbrook, Benson plays like his buzzed, dark blonde hair is on fire. Whether he’s leading the break or flying all over the gym atop the Pirates’ 1-2-2 press, Benson is the key to everything Black River wants to accomplish on both ends of the floor. The most amazing thing is he never appears tired.
The statistics are gaudy: 20.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.7 steals. Don’t confuse Benson with a volume shooter, either, as he connects at 48 percent from the floor and 38 percent from 3-point range.
“You see a lot of kids who have a great offensive game and score a lot of points, they’re usually not the team’s best defender,” Calame said. “He goes just as hard on defense as on offense, and I think that’s what has made him the player that he is. A lot of people don’t realize not only is he scoring all the points for us, every night he’s guarding the other team’s best player.”
Benson joined Richard Jackson (1,330; 1994-98) and Kyle Clark (1,180; 2000-04) as Black River 1,000-point scorers — Bud Halada scored 747 of his 1,256 points at Sullivan before playing one star-studded season at Black River in 1958-59 — on Tuesday in a gutsy overtime loss to Oberlin. Going back to the unassuming trait, Benson was one of the few people in the gym unaware of the accomplishment when he made a free throw in the second quarter.
The near-capacity crowd cheered in approval and all 6-3, 245 pounds of center Curtis Roupe gave Benson a hug at the foul line. It wasn’t until Calame presented a commemorative ball that Benson realized what in the world was going on.
“I had no idea,” said Benson, who talks as fast as he plays. “Curtis came up and gave me a hug and I was like, ‘You usually don’t give me a hug. After a free throw you usually just give me a handshake.’ So, I was pretty shocked. I turned around and saw a basketball, and Coach Calame gave me the basketball and I was like, ‘Ya, I know what this is about.’ ”
What haven’t complemented Benson’s personal successes are victories, as the Pirates are 13-53 with him as starting point guard. To his credit and maturity, Benson, who has had three coaches, looks at the big picture.
Some day soon, he genuinely hopes with all his heart Black River basketball becomes something to be proud of. If the Pirates do reach that status, they’ll look back at the dude who steered everything in the right direction.
His name: Allan Benson.
“People are starting to think of this school not as much of a football school anymore,” said Benson, an All-Ohio wide receiver. “We’re trying to get rid of that where we want people to start playing basketball.
“I try myself to get these young guys to start loving the game of basketball, which they are. They’re starting to look up to me, and I hear them starting to like basketball and saying, ‘Ya, I want to be the next Allan Benson, blah, blah blah.’ I like it. It doesn’t bother me at all.”
Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.

BRUNSWICK — The “#15as1” warm-up T-shirts are more than a catchphrase. They’re a way of life for the Brunswick boys basketball team.

Getting contributions from everyone Friday, the Blue Devils overcame a slow start against shorthanded Solon in Greater Cleveland Conference play. A new hero arose every few minutes as Brunswick kept the aggressive, hard-nosed Comets at bay.

Brunswick’s Kevin Simmons scores against Solon’s Ryan Bergen, left, and Dylan Perry during the second quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)

When the dust settled, coach Joe Mackey’s squad emerged with a 63-58 victory to maintain a three-way tie with Medina and Elyria atop the GCC.

“We just gathered around each other and believed in each other,” senior wing Kevin Simmons said. “We knew we’d hit shots, and we tried to lock up (defensively), get rebounds and attack the press.

“Coach has been preaching a lot in practice that we need to get a contribution from everyone, and our guys just stepped up. Everyone stepped up and did their thing when they needed to.”

Simmons took over the point when Michael Quiring (12 points, 11 in second half) got into early foul trouble and scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the second quarter. Pseudo center Aaron Badowski added nine points, 10 rebounds, two assists and three blocks, while freshman Kyle Goessler (11 points) and sixth man Austin Mick (6, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) made 3-pointers that kept Brunswick afloat early.

Solon (6-9, 3-7) was without touted sophomore guard Sincere Carry (14.5 ppg, concussion) and was 0-for-3 at the foul line, but got 18 points, seven boards and three assists from small forward Reid Thompson and frustrated the Blue Devils (14-4, 8-2) with a man press while taking a 15-10 lead after one quarter.

Ultimately, the Comets couldn’t keep pace with the unselfish Blue Devils, who over the final three periods shot 17-for-30 from the floor, 8-for-17 from 3-point range and 11-for-14 from the line.

“We didn’t even know (Carry wasn’t playing) until we came out and they were announcing names,” Badowski said. “I think mentally it might have got to us, and I think we might have let up, which is not a good sign for our team. But we came back in the second quarter and went on a little run and rebounded from it.”

Brunswick played long stretches without Quiring in the first half and had a hard time stopping Solon’s guards from bulldozing to the rim, but a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer by Mick ignited the offense.

Simmons then went nuts in the second, hitting 4-of-4 free throws and finishing beautifully in traffic with two euro-steps and a spin move, while Goessler nailed two 3-pointers and Badowski had five rebounds and three blocks.

Leading 31-23 at halftime, the Blue Devils were threatened at times but never withered, allowing Quiring to get going on both ends and Badowski to find his scoring stroke.

The final score was misleading, as Solon scored five unanswered points in the final 10 seconds.

“What I like most about it is that was our fourth game in seven days, and we don’t use the bench a whole lot,” Mackey said. “Now we can really get rested up for the stretch run. This is a big one for us because we don’t play Tuesday, so we can take (today) off, Sunday off and go light from time to time this week to really make sure that our guys who are playing all those minutes are fresh for the stretch run.”

Note
Jason Becka had 21 points as Brunswick’s junior varsity won 66-41. The Blue Devils led 41-11 at halftime.

Brunswick 63, Solon 58
SOLON 15 8 12 23 — 58
BRUNSWICK 10 21 13 19 — 63
Solon — Reid Thompson 8-0-18, Dylan Perry 4-0-10, Daryl Johnson Jr. 3-0-6, Mikey Bekelja 3-0-7, David Gulley 3-0-9, Nate Leskovec 1-0-2, Ryan Bergan 0-0-0, Jason Steele 3-0-6, Trent Williams 0-0-0, Justin Lumpkin 0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-0-58.
Brunswick — Kevin Simmons 7-4-19, Zach Cebula 2-0-5, Aaron Badowski 3-1-9, Kyle Goessler 4-0-11, Michael Quiring 3-5-12, Austin Mick 2-0-6, Zak Zografos 0-0-0, Tyler Williams 0-1-1. TOTALS: 21-11-63.
3-point goals — Gulley 3, Thompson 2, Perry 2, Bekelja, Goessler 3, Badowski 2, Mick 2, Quiring, Cebula, Simmons. Rebounds — Solon 28 (Thompson, Perry 7), Brunswick 27 (Badowski 10). Assists — Solon 12 (Steele 5), Brunswick 13 (Simmons 4). Records — Solon (6-9, 3-7), Brunswick (14-4, 8-2). Junior varsity — Brunswick 66, Solon 41.

SHREVE TWP. — Cassie Schrock and Tanya Ross have company.

Lexi Civittolo

Anyone associated with the Cloverleaf girls basketball program knew what Lexi Civittolo accomplished Saturday wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. The versatile senior took over a non-league game at Triway, pumping in points at an absurd rate in the second half.

When Civittolo hit the back end of a one-and-one with 4.6 seconds left, she had 39 points and the Colts had a come-from-behind 63-58 victory.

Civittolo joined Wadsworth’s Schrock (Feb. 7, 2007 vs. Buckeye) and Buckeye’s Ross (March 10, 1999 vs. Lakeview in the regional semifinals) — two area legends — as Medina County single-game scoring leaders.

“When one of my teammates told me after the game, I didn’t believe her,” said a still-giddy Civittolo, who ranks 11th in county history with 1,291 career points. “I didn’t realize it was that much. I was really focused on getting the win. We got that done, so it was a nice surprise after the game.”

Making the record extra special was the 5-foot-11 senior powered the Colts (14-5) back from a 35-22 third-quarter deficit. The Seton Hill recruit scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and 29 in the second half on 9-of-12 shooting.

Civittolo also had 12 rebounds, eight steals and, illustrating she played within the flow of the game, could have had 10 assists if teammates weren’t 0-for-10 after getting a pass.

“She definitely does a lot of things for us, including rebounding the ball, stealing the ball and being key in defensive concepts in addition to what she can do offensively,” coach John Carmigiano said. “She’s willing to share the ball when needed, and she really stepped up when we didn’t have a lot of scoring going on.”

Playing point guard most of the game, Civittolo entered the fourth quarter with 22 points and Cloverleaf (14-5) trailing the Titans (6-12) 42-38. She then got a transition layup and step-back 3-pointer in the first 61 seconds before going scoreless for the next 2:56.

Due to the intensity in “The Pit,” Civittolo had no idea how many points she had when she broke the personal lull with an NBA-range 3-pointer at the 4:03 mark and a runner just to the right of the rim that put Cloverleaf up 56-50 with 2:02 left. Sandwiched between was Taylor Barnum scoring off a Civittolo missed three, leading to a jump and clap of excitement from Civittolo near midcourt.

Triway didn’t go down easily, scoring the next five points to set up Civittolo’s highlight of the game.

Taking the ball up the floor and to the 3-point line, Civittolo got a screen to her left from freshman center Mckenna Jordan. Civittolo decided not to use it, dribbling right and then crossing over as Jordan rolled down the key.

The four-year starter then jab-snapped and hopped backward — her patented move — but was a little off-balance. Even so, she fired and fell to the floor when the defender tried to box out as the ball caught the left-inside edge of the rim and spun in.

That put Cloverleaf up 59-55 with 1:10 to go, and Civittolo made four straight free throws in one-and-one situations to seal the game. She matched the record when Carmigiano unintentionally tried to ice her with a timeout between free throws.

“(Jordan) and I have this really cool thing where we always seem to have everything work out,” Civittolo said. “I knew (Jordan’s) defender was coming up (to hedge) on the left side, so I had to cross over and get it up. I guess I was feeling it. It went in, Carm called a timeout and at that point we were in defense mode. We had to guard to lead.”

The ironic part was Civittolo wasn’t comfortable scoring in the first half and looked to facilitate. She still had 10 points at halftime but air-balled her first shot, a 3-pointer, and went 2-for-4 from the foul line.

“Carm knows I get upset with myself when I miss shots and always tells me to forget about it,” Civittolo said. “We had a good talk at halftime and we were ready to fight in the second half.”

No one symbolized that more than Civittolo, as she went 4-for-5 from the floor in the third quarter until another odd cold streak at the foul line, missing 3-of-4. She later air-balled another 3-pointer at the start of the fourth before making 5-of-6 shots and 4-of-4 free throws.

“It was definitely a crazy game,” she said. “We got the team win, and that’s the most important part. In the last couple games, we’ve had to come back and win, and we always have a chance in the second half.

“As a team we really leaned on each other in the second half. Triway’s a great team, and I give them a lot of respect.”

Cloverleaf 63, Triway 58
CLOVERLEAF 11 11 16 25 — 63
TRIWAY 17 14 11 16 — 58
Cloverleaf — Helaina Limas 2-5-9, Kassandra Kemp 0-0-0, Taylor Barnum 2-1-5, Jillian Miglich 2-0-4, Lexi Civittolo 13-9-39, Mckenna Jordan 2-0-4, Kayla Wilson 1-0-2, Erian Hamilton 0-0-0, Anna Winnicki 0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-15-63.
Triway — Micah Findley 2-7-12, Zoe Carmichael 3-2-8, Tanner Wirth 4-3-12, Macie Wengerd 2-0-4, Olivia Lang 9-2-20, Sarah Shoots 1-0-2. TOTALS: 21-14-58.
3-point goals — Civittolo 4, Findley, Wirth. Rebounds — Cloverleaf 38 (Civittolo 12), Triway 51. Assists — Cloverleaf 8 (Kemp 3), Triway 13. Records — Cloverleaf (14-5), Triway (6-12). Junior varsity — Triway 36, Cloverleaf 13.

GRANGER TWP. — Two games, 32 minutes apiece.

They are what separate the Highland girls basketball team from history.

Highland’s Sam Catron puts up a shot during the first half against Tallmadge. AARON JOSEFCZYK/GAZETTE

Getting a mistake-filled but incredibly resilient performance from their undersized, Marlee Profitt-less eight-player rotation Saturday, the Hornets used second-half scoring brilliance from Emily Lyon and clutch free throws by Sam Catron to defeat Tallmadge 40-38.

Highland (16-3, 9-1) moved into a tie with Revere (11-8, 9-1) atop the Suburban League American Division. SL games against Barberton (9-9, 4-6) and Roosevelt remain (6-12, 2-8), and the Hornets will clinch their first title since 1980 if they win both.

“I can’t even describe it,” said Catron, who had a game-high 14 points. “(A league title) is right within our grasps. We know we’ve got it. We just have such determination to go forward. We’re putting everything out there, doing everything we can to do good for our school and our community.”

On the verge of getting early separation from the third-place Blue Devils (13-5, 6-4), Highland hit a wall and couldn’t make a shot. In the middle quarters, the Hornets’ arms-flying-everywhere press forced 19 turnovers and Tallmadge leading scorer Brin Stralka (11.6 ppg) exited with a knee injury, but Highland was outscored 14-13 after shooting 5-for-25 from the floor and 3-for-10 at the free throw line.

Still, the strong start was enough for a 28-23 lead after three quarters.

“The Emily Lyon Show” temporarily changed everything.

A long-armed perimeter player who can play three positions, the sophomore entered play averaging 3.8 points but scored Highland’s final four points of the third quarter.

She began the fourth by grabbing her own missed free throw and scoring on the left block, corralling a Veronica Peterlin missed 3-pointer and making two free throws and finally banking in a drive to the hole.

That gave Lyon 10 straight Hornets points, a career-high 11 overall and her team a 34-28 advantage with 5:20 left.

“Once I start, I just kept keep getting more hyped up and more energetic, so I kept pushing to the best of my ability,” Lyon said. “The other games I didn’t attack the rim that much, but I think it’s from last year, when I did it a lot (on the junior varsity). It felt good to do it again.”

Despite Lyon’s brilliance, Highland was up just 37-35 with 30.2 seconds to go when Tallmadge’s Jamie McGhee (9 points, 7 rebounds) got fouled on a successful putback but missed the free throw.

Catron stepped up, making both ends of a one-and-one with 26.6 seconds left. The Blue Devils’ Ally Warmenhoven missed the front end of a one-and-one 13 ticks later, and Catron sealed the game by splitting free throws at the 10.1 mark.

Tallmadge’s Rochelle Haught (team-high 12 points) then hit an uncontested 3-pointer at the buzzer, but that did little to dampen the emotional highs of senior day.

“Determination, teamwork and just great coaching,” Catron said. “We have a great coaching staff, and on top of it being senior night, it’s good motivation for us to come out strong.”

Notes

• Tallmadge coach Collin Epstein agreed to a ceremonial opening tip-off for Profitt, who had ACL reconstruction surgery two weeks ago. Kathleen Kirchner took the uncontested jump, and Catron got the ball before dribbling and handing to Profitt, who officially started and stood in front of the scorer’s table on crutches. Profitt then took two dribbles and the referee stopped the game, leading to Profitt getting a hug from awaiting sub and best friend Madison Less.
• The Hornets’ transition offense was limited, but 5-foot-3 Veronica Peterlin blocked the 6-1 Stralka at the rim, which led to Catron firing a softball-style heave to Less for a layup in the waning seconds of the first half. Catron rocketed another dart to Alli Esker with less than 30 seconds to go in the third, and Esker and Less used precision passing to find Lyon for a wide-open layup.
  “They were pretty long, but that’s my favorite pass to throw,” said Catron, a Hillsdale (Mich.) softball recruit. “I always want to run that play because I love throwing it long.”
• Freshman Hannah Zuro made 19-of-22 free throws en route to 27 points as Highland’s junior varsity won 54-47.

Highland 40, Tallmadge 38
TALLMADGE 9 8 6 15 — 38
HIGHLAND 15 5 8 12 — 40
Tallmadge — Brin Stralka 2-0-4, Rochelle Haught 5-1-12, Jamie McGhee 3-3-9, Olivia Ayres 3-0-7, Sara Johnson 3-0-6, Ally Warmenhoven 0-0-0, Jessica Gardella 0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-4-38.
Highland — Kathleen Kirchner 1-0-2, Alli Esker 1-1-3, Marlee Profitt 0-0-0, Lauren Zuro 0-0-0, Sam Catron 4-4-14, Madison Less 2-0-4, Veronica Peterlin 2-1-6, Emily Lyon 4-3-11, Alaina Monroe 0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-9-40.
3-point goals — Ayres, Haught, Catron 2, Peterlin. Rebounds — Tallmadge 29 (McGhee 7), Highland 24 (Catron 8). Assists — Tallmadge 6 (Haught, Johnson, Stralka, Ayres, Warmenhoven, McGhee), Highland 8 (Kirchner, Peterlin, Zuro 2). Records — Tallmadge (13-5, 6-4), Highland (16-3, 9-1). Junior varsity — Highland 54, Tallmadge 47.

For the Wadsworth girls basketball team, playing fellow Northeast Ohio power Solon in the final regular-season game was more important than Guaranteed Win Night in the sectional semifinals.

The unanimously top-seeded Grizzlies (18-1) stuck to their guns Sunday at the annual tournament draws, selecting a bye in the Medina Division I District for the second straight season. They will host the winner of eighth-seeded Brecksville (4-15) and 10th-seeded Copley (6-13) on Feb. 18.

Wadsworth coach Andrew Booth preferred not to force himself into rescheduling or canceling the Feb. 13 non-league game with the Greater Cleveland Conference-leading Comets (12-6). The sectional semis open the same day.

“Moving back to the regular district, in the past I’ve elected not to take a bye,” Booth said. “But with Solon already in place, it works out great because they’re a quality opponent, and you’re keeping on your regular schedule of Saturday and then, in this case, Thursday. It worked out pretty well for us.”

The Grizzlies’ decision highlighted interesting draws involving Medina County teams. Highland (16-3) tied with Berea-Midpark (15-4) as the second seed, but won a revote tiebreaker and was required by rule to pick a line opposite Wadsworth.

Valuing potentially two home sectional games, Hornets coach Mike Moser chose a Feb. 13 sectional semifinal and will play ninth-seeded Cuyahoga Falls (4-15). No. 4 seed North Royalton (11-9) took the bye in front, with Berea-Midpark playing No. 11 Firestone above them.

Moser had no qualms about being denied the opportunity to play on Wadsworth’s side of the bracket.

“It’s how I anticipated it being — people for the most part ran away from Wadsworth,” Moser said. “Us being the two seed, I didn’t have an option and had to play away from Wadsworth because they were the No. 1 seed.

“It’s something we obviously had talked about because, ‘OK, what if we’re the two or what if we’re the three?’ To be honest with you, I was happy either way. You assume the two, three and four were probably going to be together, and eventually you’re going to have to go through Wadsworth.”

Brunswick (10-9) got the sixth seed behind fellow GCC team Strongsville (10-9). The Blue Devils elected the Feb. 18 bye in front of the Mustangs, who will host seventh-seeded Wooster (9-10) on Feb. 13.

Brunswick is on the same side of the bracket as Wadsworth, setting up a potential county district semifinal at Medina on Feb. 22.

Since it is not permitted to compete at its own gym for district play, Medina (11-8) was placed in the nine-team Valley Forge District and got respect as the No. 3 seed behind Magnificat (16-4) and St. Joseph Academy (11-7).

The draw was head-scratching on the surface, as the middle seeds chose Magnificat’s side of the bracket. The Bees will host No. 7 Parma (8-11) and St. Joseph Academy will play bottom feeder John Marshall in Feb. 18 sectional finals, making both teams favorites to move on.

“I’m happy with (the bracket) and very happy to have the No. 3 seed,” Medina coach Karen Kase said. “We play a tough schedule, so hopefully that is going to pay off as well. St. Joe’s is up there with us — they’re a trough team — but all the other teams chose the bottom.

“Anything goes in the tournament, but I like our path. It’s exciting to think about.”

Cloverleaf and Buckeye will play in the 12-team Elyria D-II District, where the top seeds are Elyria Catholic (15-3), Bay (18-1), Padua (14-5) and Keystone (16-2).

Three of the top seeds elected first-round games, putting the middle seeds in quandaries. Colts coach John Carmigiano took so long to decide that an Elyria Catholic coach sarcastically asked “What’s the time limit again?” leading to room-permeating laughs from everyone, including Carmigiano.

Carmigiano didn’t want an eight-day layoff, so his choices were a Feb. 13 sectional semi at Keystone or an open sectional semi in front of defending district champion Padua, which is piloted by former Cloverleaf boys coach Dan Brown. Carmigiano chose the Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division champion Wildcats, and No. 7 Holy Name (7-12) quickly pounced on the bye.

“Basically, (three) top seeds really forced our hands by all taking first-round games,” Carmigiano said. “We have scrimmaged Keystone and Padua, so it was more of a preference of matchups and hoping we would be able to get further along in the tournament.

“(Brown’s) a great coach, and their program is definitely a tough one to get by in the tournament. I preferred not to go up against him if it was at all possible.”

Despite beating No. 6 Firelands (12-7) last week and having a significantly better record than Holy Name, Buckeye (12-6) was the eighth seed and didn’t take long to choose a Feb. 13 rubber-match sectional semifinal at Firelands. Padua awaits the winner Feb. 18.

“It was nerve-racking because we weren’t sure where we were going to be with all the teams in front of us,” Bucks coach Ron Clady said. “We were in the middle group, so we were looking for a spot not only to get a first-round win, but to continue on.

“With what spots were left, we split with Firelands this year (in PAC Stars Division play), so we had a good chance of playing them. Then to play the third seed (Padua) was not a bad position to be in.”

Black River (1-17) was the 13th and final seed in the Wooster D-III District. The Pirates will play at second-seeded Orrville on Feb. 17.

Schedule
MEDINA DIVISION I
Feb. 13 — Copley at Brecksville, 1 p.m.; Wooster at Strongsville, 1 p.m.; Cuyahoga Falls at HIGHLAND, 1 p.m.. Feb. 18 — Copley-Brecksville winner at WADSWORTH, 7 p.m.; Strongsville-Wooster winner vs. BRUNSWICK, 7 p.m.; Firestone at Berea-Midpark; Cuyahoga Falls-Highland winner vs. North Royalton, 7 p.m. Feb. 22 — District semifinals at Medina, 6/7:45 p.m. Feb. 25 — District championship, 7 p.m.

VALLEY FORGE DIVISION I
Feb. 13 — Lakewood at Normandy, 1 p.m. Feb. 18 — John Marshall at St. Joseph Academy, 7 p.m.; Parma at MEDINA, 7 p.m.; Rhodes at Magnificat, 7 p.m.; Normandy-Lakewood winner at Rocky River. Feb. 22 — District semifinals at Medina, 6/7:45 p.m. Feb. 25 — District championship, 7 p.m.

ELYRIA DIVISION II
Feb. 13 — Fairview at Elyria Catholic, 1 p.m.; CLOVERLEAF at Keystone, 1 p.m.; BUCKEYE at Firelands, 1 p.m.; Clearview at BAY. Feb. 18 — Elyria Catholic-Fairview winner vs. Brooklyn, 7 p.m.; Holy Name at CLOVERLEAF-Keystone winner, 7 p.m.; BUCKEYE-Firelands winner at Padua, 7 p.m.; Bay-Clearview winner vs. Brookside, 7 p.m. Feb. 22 — District semifinals, 6/7:45 p.m. Feb. 25 — District championship, 7 p.m.

WOOSTER DIVISION III
Feb. 17 — Manchester at Fairless, 7 p.m.; BLACK RIVER at Orrville, 7 p.m.; Loudonville at Mapleton, 7 p.m.; Triway at Tuslaw, 7 p.m.; Norwayne at Smithville, 7 p.m. Feb. 20 — Fairless-Manchester at Northwestern, 1 p.m.; BLACK RIVER-Orrville winner vs. Waynedale, 1 p.m.; Mapleton-Loudonville winner at Chippewa, 1 p.m.; Tuslaw-Triway winner vs. Smithville-Norwayne winner, 1 p.m. Feb. 24 — District semifinals, 6/7:45 p.m. Feb. 27 — District championship, 1 p.m.

YORK TWP. — Trevor Thome is a man of his word.

Trevor Thome

Shortly after completing his record-breaking football career at Buckeye, Thome declared publically he wasn’t seriously considering anyone but defending Division III national champion Mount Union.

The reigning Gazette MVP worked out the details with the small-school superpower in the meantime, and everything culminated with his commitment this week.

“It felt like home there,” the 5-foot-8, 180-pound future slot receiver said. “Every since my sophomore year, I really liked it there. When they started recruiting me a little bit, I had a feeling if things worked out on their part, that was where I was going to end up.”

The Purple Raiders need no introduction with 12 national titles, 24 consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference championships and an active 103-game regular-season winning streak.

Thome also visited Baldwin Wallace, Ashland, Otterbein and Alderson-Broaddus (W. Va.), but those schools couldn’t match Mount Union’s tradition or academic scholarship package that will cover $15,000 of the $28,000 annual tuition. Thome’s 4.1 grade-point average and 27 ACT score obviously helped.

Illustrating the Purple Raiders’ interest in Thome, wide receivers coach Daryl Ely attended multiple Buckeye games last fall.

“It’s pretty neat location, and I think Alliance is really nice,” said Thome, who will major in either mechanical engineering or mathematics.

Thome was the leader of a Bucks team that went 10-0 and qualified for the D-III, Region 7 playoffs last fall. The four-year starter was everywhere, compiling 978 yards rushing, 444 yards receiving and scoring a Medina County-leading 176 points. He also was a standout free safety and finished fourth in area history with 336 career points.

Thome is thrilled to know he’ll be playing for another winning program.

“It’s exciting, I think,” he said. “It represents a new challenge, and I’m ready for it. I’m ready to work hard and see what the next chapter of my life has in store for me.”

WELLINGTON — The term “Backyard Brawl” was defined clearly in southern Lorain County.

Allan Benson

With all the intensity, physicality and rowdiness fans have come to expect when Black River and neighboring Wellington square off in any sport, the Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division boys basketball game Tuesday night was a low-scoring slugfest.

As Dukes coach Dan Gundert and Pirates coach Josh Calame alluded to, Wellington simply made a few more positive plays, as three straight Black River missed shots and a turnover allowed Wellington sophomore Maxwell Joppeck to make both ends of a double-bonus and clinch a 49-45 victory.

Starting three sophomores and two juniors, hard-nosed Wellington (10-8, 7-4) matched its win total from the previous two seasons combined.

“It was definitely a big game,” junior center Trey Bealer said. “There were a lot of people here for both sides. It’s a big rivalry. It always has been and it probably always will be.

“We came out a little slow, but we got it done, and that’s all that matters. A win is a win is a win is what Coach always says.”

Bealer was a load inside with 18 points and nine rebounds. Fellow 6-foot-4 post Josh Kindel added 14 points, while the previously scoreless 6-4 Joppeck had the game’s final three points at the foul line while adding eight boards and a game-high five assists.

Wellington scored 18 of its 21 field goals in the paint and added seven points from the foul line, meaning 88 percent of its scoring came from those locations. The Dukes didn’t even try to stretch the defense with 3-pointers — often pump-faking open looks and attacking the rim — and survived a brutal second quarter in which they took only nine shots while committing eight turnovers.

“We didn’t shoot it very well today, so we had to (go inside),” Gundert said. “We couldn’t get our outside shot falling early, so we go through Trey Bealer. There’s no secret to that. That’s what we do.”

With 17-point scorer Curtis Roupe (season-low-tying 5 points, 11 rebounds) struggling among the trees and 1,000-point man Allan Benson (17 points, 3 assists) being face-guarded by Colton Schmidt, Black River (5-12, 3-9) used a 1-2-2 defense to frustrate Wellington and get back in the game. Zach Hawley, Derek Hawley and Brennan Scheck were key in the second quarter, scoring 10 of the team’s 13 points.

Benson then got going with eight third-quarter points, many coming on rainbow mid-range jumpers. The Pirates never led again after Kindel hit a fadeway 17-footer at the third-quarter buzzer, and down 47-45 missed two layups and a jumper and couldn’t keep the handle off a steal.

The final chance came when Benson took a handoff from Roupe at the 3-point arc, drove right and tried to split three defenders for an acrobatic layup with approximately 15 seconds left. The attempt glass-balled and Joppeck grabbed the rebound.

“I can’t be more proud of them as a group for as far as they’ve come, especially in games like this,” said Calame, whose team shot 6-for-14 at the foul line. “I feel real bad for them that we couldn’t make a few more plays and come out on top in that one.”

Joppeck’s free throws not only were clutch — he entered the night pushing 70 percent at the stripe —they proved his resiliency as well. The sophomore’s playmaking was paramount in the Dukes’ 18-10 start, but he sat for long stretches after picking up a technical foul in the second quarter.
The right-hander more than made up for that with 11.9 seconds left.

“For him to be able to fight through that and knock down the two biggest free throws, that says what kind of kid he is,” Gundert said.

Note
River Wheeler, Blake Widenmeyer and Seth Pluta had eight points apiece as Black River’s junior varsity lost 51-36.

Wellington 49, Black River 45
BLACK RIVER 10 13 13 9 — 45
WELLINGTON 18 8 12 11 — 49
Black River — Mike Hazlett 1-0-3, Brennan Scheck 3-0-7, Curtis Roupe 1-3-5, Zach Hawley 3-2-9, Allan Benson 8-0-17, Derek Hawley 1-1-4, Brandon Heath 0-0-0, Garrett Hord 0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-6-45.
Wellington — Trevor Porter 3-0-6, Josh Kindel 7-0-14, Trey Bealer 8-2-18, Colton Schmidt 2-2-6, Maxwell Joppeck 0-3-3, Damian Paramore 1-0-2, Grant Kidd 0-0-0. TOTALS: 21-7-49.
3-point goals — Hazlett, Scheck, Z. Hawley, Benson, D. Hawley. Rebounds — Black River 29 (Roupe 11), Wellington 30 (Bealer 9). Assists — Black River 7 (Benson 3), Wellington 11 (Joppeck 5). Records — Black River (5-12, 3-9), Wellington (10-8, 8-4). Junior varsity — Wellington 51, Black River 36.

WESTFIELD TWP. — With 6:10 remaining in the game, the Ravenna girls basketball team’s student section chanted “This is our house.”

There was no sense arguing.

Cloverleaf’s Helaina Limas puts up an off-balance shot while defended by Ravenna’s Lauren Calhoun during the first half. AARON JOSEFCZYK/GAZETTE

The Ravens left little doubt about who is the best team in the Portage Trail Conference Metro Division on Wednesday, playing flat-out better from the opening tip to grab a 65-49 victory over Cloverleaf and clinch the outright division championship.

Pick an aspect of the game other than the foul line and the Colts (14-6, 9-3) were outplayed in all of them.

“It was a very frustrating night,” coach John Carmigiano said. “I don’t care if you’re the Cavs, the Colts or whoever. You’re not going to beat anybody when they can shoot a bunch of wide-open layups underneath the basket. It was tough.”

Struggling with turnovers without starting guard Ava Illig (nose), Cloverleaf couldn’t get stops, either, and fell behind 19-9 after one quarter and 35-23 at halftime.

Ravenna (16-3, 12-0) went cold for a short stretch in the third and the Colts had the ball down 42-33, but the Ravens responded with a 15-2 run that turned the game into blowout status.

Coming off a 39-point outburst on Saturday, Cloverleaf All-Ohioan Lexi Civittolo had 23 points, three steals and nine blocks despite being double-teamed all over the court. Emerging sophomore Helaina Limas added 14 points, but the seven other players had 12 points on 4-for-29 shooting.

The Ravens kept firing with an unselfish offense led by left-handed off-guard Autumn Retherford (17 points, 5 assists, 4 steals), small forward Alyssa Smetak (16, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals) and muscular center Taylor Geib (12, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals). The quartet combined for 45 points, 15 assists and 12 steals, and 6-foot-1 freshman Lauren Calhoun added 10 points off the bench.

“I thought that our kids did a better job of at least deflecting balls, touching balls defensively, in the second half,” Carmigiano said. “That’s what allowed us to at least creep back in a little bit.”

John Carmigiano

The problem was the Colts couldn’t establish their trapping defense early, and Ravenna made them pay with wide-open looks near the rim. Rebounding was a big issue as well, as the Ravens held a 22-12 advantage at halftime before Cloverleaf finally shored that up a bit.

Adding to the frustration was the Colts couldn’t hold on to the ball, committing 10 first-quarter turnovers while shooting 4-for-13 from the floor. They also didn’t get much in transition, allowing Ravenna’s half-court defense to hone in on Civittolo.

Limas and Civittolo kept attacking the rim in the second half, when they combined to make 8-of-8 free throws, but ball movement was poor (season-low-tying 6 assists) and Retherford, Geib and Smetak had all the answers.

“The difference (in the game?) That’s a tough question,” Civittolo said. “I just think we didn’t come out and execute in the areas we wanted to execute in.

“Our defense definitely wasn’t up to par. We were jumbled up there. On the offensive end, I think we didn’t get to run our transition as much as we wanted to, and we were forced to run more half-court sets.”

Ravenna 65, Cloverleaf 49
RAVENNA 19 16 17 13 — 65
CLOVERLEAF 9 14 12 14 — 49
Ravenna — Alyssa Smetak 6-1-16, Emily Holt 3-1-7, Taylor Geib 5-2-12, Autumn Retherford 8-0-17, Lauren Calhoun 4-2-10, Sarah Long 1-0-3, Josie Martyna 0-0-0. TOTALS: 27-6-65.
Cloverleaf — Helaina Limas 5-4-14, Kassandra Kemp 1-0-2, Taylor Barnum 1-0-2, Jillian Miglich 2-0-6, Lexi Civittolo 8-7-23, Mckenna Jordan 0-0-0, Erian Hamilton 0-2-2, Anna Winnicki 0-0-0, Kayla Wilson 0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-13-49.
3-point goals — Smetak 3, Retherford, Long, Miglich 2. Rebounds — Ravenna 30 (Geib 9), Cloverleaf 28 (Barnum 5). Assists — Ravenna 18 (Retherford, Smetak, Geib 5), Cloverleaf 6 (Miglich, Kemp 2). Records — Ravenna (16-3, 12-0), Cloverleaf (14-6, 9-3). Junior varsity — Ravenna 38, Cloverleaf 30.

The setting: The east gym at Brunswick High. The game: The Blue Devils’ boys basketball team against a random opponent.

The scenario: Freak athlete Kevin Simmons jab steps, crosses left, leaves his man in the dust and attacks the rim. Another defender scurries to help protect the paint. A posterizing jackhammer dunk is a real possibility.

Surely Simmons will try to become a social media legend, right?

Wrong.

Simmons reads the defense instinctively, with his first thought not that the basket is near, but that a teammate is wide open. Once the help defender gets close, he elevates, twists and passes to Zach Cebula, and the reigning Medina County 3-point champion doesn’t touch rim on a rainbow bomb.

This is how the undersized, selfless, competitive and gutsy Blue Devils operate. Coach Joe Mackey has called the style “dangerous” all season.

However, even Mackey can appreciate the Greater Cleveland Conference standings, as Brunswick is in first place while starting a point guard, three shooting guards and a small forward. The Blue Devils (14-4, 8-2) enter a GCC game tonight at Euclid (3-13, 1-9) 128 minutes from their first league crown since 1966.

Just keep chuckin,’ baby.

“That’s definitely our identity,” said pseudo center Aaron Badowski, the younger brother of county career 3-point leader Ryan Badowski. “We compare ourselves to the (Golden State) Warriors. We obviously share the ball really well. When we get into the paint, whoever’s open for the kick-out, that’s who’s shooting.

“They either go in or they don’t, but we’re really good at ’em.”

Think about what Badowski said in regard to the paint. The first thought isn’t to take a shot inside five feet. The first thought is find a teammate in position to shoot from at least 19 feet, 9 inches. Wide-open layups aren’t passed up, but you get the idea.

The statistics are mind-boggling. Brunswick is 202-for-498 from downtown, a .406 clip and an average of 11.22 makes per game. By comparison, the 2014-15 Houston Rockets own the NBA record at 11.38, and they played 48-minute games, not 32.

Fourteen of the last 15 games have featured at least 10 3-pointers. In fact, the Blue Devils have attempted 192 more 3-pointers than 2-pointers on the season, but still play inside enough to be 159-for-222 (.716) at the foul line.

Cebula (53-for-122, .434), Michael Quiring (41-for-107, .383), Kyle Goessler (33-for-76, .434) and Badowski (34-for-79, .430) all have 30 or more makes. Simmons is the lone starter who doesn’t, but the left-hander leads the team with a .460 percentage (29-for-63).

The money statistic is this: If the Blue Devils maintain the current 3-point pace, they will join Mentor, Franklin, Worthington Christian and St. Henry as the only schools in Ohio history to make 250 in a season.

“I don’t think any team can shoot them as well, and I don’t think any team can match us,” said Cebula, one of the most prolific 3-point men in school history with 127 in his career. “We shoot them real well.

“Part of the reason, if not half the reason, is we get each other shots. We move the ball really well, really fast and anyone who comes and watches us, that’s the first thing they say: ‘Wow, you guys really move the ball.’ Second, we shoot every day in practice and all the time on our own. It’s a force of habit now.”

Leading up to the season, Mackey, who was a drive-first point guard at Strongsville High and only made 81 threes in 97 games at Baldwin Wallace University, didn’t know the Blue Devils were going to play this way.

The only sure bets were All-Gazette point guard Quiring (5-foot-10), marksman Cebula (6-1) and 2014-15 subs Simmons (6-0) and Badowski (6-6) in the starting lineup. The other options were well-built 6-4 sophomore Zak Zografos and red-headed freshman Goessler (5-10), the team’s former ball boy who eats, sleeps and breathes Brunswick basketball.

Things became clear the Blue Devils were going to, by their standards, be average at rebounding and defense, so Mackey decided the best way to neutralize the weaknesses was to go small and fire at will.

The results have been breathtaking, as the starting five complements each other perfectly. Quiring is the classic unflappable lead guard, Simmons creates off the dribble as well as anyone in the GCC, Cebula is money off screens and under duress, Badowski opens driving lanes by taking opposing centers away from the basket and fearless X-factor Goessler, who has taken some of the biggest crunch-time shots of the season, arguably is the best long-range threat from the corners.

Like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Co., the offense is impossible to stop.

“We know if we hit more threes than they hit twos, obviously we’re going to win,” Quiring said.

Brunswick has done a lot of that, clinching its 17th straight season of at least 14 wins last week against Solon. The Blue Devils also average 61.6 points, on pace to be the third-highest figure in Mackey’s 20 seasons as coach.

Individual glory is for losers. These boys are all about their warm-up T-shirts that say “#15as1” across the chest.

They’re also all about the long ball. After all, chicks dig them.

“You don’t sleep well at night playing this way, but we are who we are,” Mackey said. “That’s what we’ve said all year. It’s worked for us, so we’re certainly not going to change it.”