Brunswick’s Farrah Benner scores past Highland’s Kathleen Kirchner during the Hoopla All-Star game. Benner was the MVP of the game. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
MEDINA — I scream, you scream, we all scream for (Farrah to get) ice cream.
Tuesday was a good night to be Brunswick small forward Farrah Benner. The Lake Erie signee won the 3-point contest, then pumped in 23 points to lead the Light team (Buckeye/Brunswick/Medina) past the Dark team (Cloverleaf/Highland) 45-34 in the “Hoopla” Medina County Senior All-Star Game.
The only problem for the MVP was the icing on the cake — bad cliché intended — didn’t happen, as Medina coach Karen Kase promised to buy ice cream if Benner made a reverse layup.
Benner tried multiple times, but ultimately gave up after getting fouled by Highland’s Alli Esker in the third quarter. The 5-foot-9 Benner turned to Kase, smiled broadly and yelled, “I’m not doing that anymore.”
She was having a blast, anyway.
“I kind of just enjoyed myself and had fun,” Benner said. “I know the girls from AAU. They’re Medina rivals, but I’m friends with them. We were all having a good time.”
Benner had a perfect fourth rack to outlast Medina junior Delaney Cullen 17-14 in the finals of the 3-point contest. It turned out Benner simply was warming up for the real show.
The right-hander was scorching, netting the game’s first 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting and prompting Buckeye guard Nathan Polidori, who was sitting in the stands, to ask aloud if Benner was going to UConn.
Benner made 9-of-18 field goals, 3-of-7 3-pointers and 2-of-2 free throws to go along with five rebounds and a game-high eight steals, while Buckeye post Sam Hritz added 12 points and 18 rebounds.
Buckeye’s Samantha Hritz goes up for a shot past Cloverleaf’s Kassandra Kemp during the Hoopla All-Star game. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
The five-player Light team preferred volume shooting over quality shooting (17-for-58 field goals, 3-for-21 3-pointers), using Benner’s scintillating start to lead 16-6 after one quarter and never looking back.
“I was just like, ‘Well, this is not a serious game. It’s fun,’” Benner said. “I wanted to shoot the ball and have fun.”
Another key to the Light team victory was “coaching” from Medina guard Clover Kaple. The Hiram recruit was unable to play after having ACL reconstruction surgery late in the season, but was in her element — knee brace and all — barking out instructions and encouragement from the bench.
Kaple was particularly rough on Bees teammates Jessie Holzman and Margaret Swiecicki, and even “threatened” to yank Holzman in the fourth quarter. This, of course, was hilarious since the Light team had exactly zero substitutes.
Kaple even called a timeout — she would have two minutes prior but was laughing uncontrollably — although her reasoning of “we were getting pretty tired” was sketchy at best because the Light team was leading comfortably and Brunswick Rotary officials had shortened the quarters to five minutes.
Sensing that coaching may be in her future, Kaple didn’t break stride afterward.
“We just had a lot of fun out there, and they really put forth a great effort,” a super-duper sarcastic Kaple said while trying super-duper hard not to giggle. “I couldn’t be prouder. I knew I had it in me. It was a fun time.
“I knew I had to do it for the girls. They really expected a lot out of me, and I just had to put forth that effort.”
The Dark team committed 16 turnovers but kept within striking distance after the slow start.
Highland center Esker had a season-best performance of 14 points and four blocks, while Cloverleaf’s Kassandra Kemp and the Hornets’ Kathleen Kirchner added nine and eight points, respectively. The only scoreless player in the game, the Colts’ Erian Hamilton, wowed the crowd with hustle as well as team highs of seven rebounds and three assists.
But for all the Dark team’s efforts, it still couldn’t stop Benner and Kaple, the most dynamic player-coach duo — well, maybe not, but definitely the most unique — in “Hoopla” history.
“(Kaple) was excellent,” Benner quipped. “Probably by far my favorite coach.”
Light 45, Dark 34
DARK 6 6 10 12 — 34
LIGHT 16 4 13 12 — 45
Dark — Kayla Wilson (C) 1-3 0-0 2, Kassandra Kemp (C) 4-6 0-0 9, Alli Esker (H) 4-10 5-7 14, Kathleen Kirchner (H) 3-10 0-2 8, Erian Hamilton (C) 0-2 0-0 0, Madison Less (H) 0-8 1-2 1. TOTALS: 12-39 6-11 34.
Light — Margaret Swiecicki (M) 1-8 2-2 4, Jessie Holzman (M) 2-9 0-0 4, Sam Hritz (Buc) 4-12 4-5 12, Farrah Benner (Bru) 9-18 2-2 23, Kayla Glancy (Buc) 1-11 0-0 2. TOTALS: 17-58 8-9 45.
3-point goals — Dark 4-18 (Kirchner 2-7, Kemp 1-1, Esker 1-4, Wilson 0-1, Hamilton 0-1, Less 0-4), Light 3-21 (Benner 3-7, Holzman 0-1, Swiecicki 0-4, Glancy 0-9). Rebounds — Dark 25 (Less, Hamilton 7), Light 32 (Hritz 18). Assists — Dark 6 (Hamilton 3), Light 5 (Swiecicki, Holzman 2). Turnovers — Dark 16 (Hamilton 6), Light 7 (Benner 2). Fouls — Dark 6, Light 7. 3-point contest — Finals: Benner (Bru) 17, Delaney Cullen (M) 14. Semifinals: Benner 14, Cullen 11, Jillian Miglich (C) 9, Glancy (Buc) 8.