MEDINA — The bumps, bruises and floor burns may become deranged badges of honor for the Medina girls basketball team.
Winning in heart-palpitating fashion is euphoric like that.
Medina’s Amanda Holzman goes up for a shot against Highland’s Kathleen Kirchner during the fourth quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
On the hardwood version of life support early in the fourth quarter Saturday, the Bees turned angry and began attacking all over Richard H. Clevidence Gymnasium against undermanned but hard-nosed Highland. The defense-oriented comeback was methodical, but successful and thrilling nonetheless.
Chemistry-laden Medina couldn’t contain its excitement following the non-league game with tournament-level intensity.
Final score: Bees 46, Hornets 41 after Team Better Together scored 17 of the final 19 points.
“Oh, my gosh. It hasn’t even hit me yet,” said giddy Medina power forward Amanda Holzman, who scored the go-ahead bucket. “I’m overwhelmed. This is insane. It’s an amazing feeling.
“It started with the bench. Everybody was talking and loud. One play after another, we just kept going.”
Down 39-29 with approximately seven minutes left after Alli Esker nailed her second career 3-pointer, the Bees’ full-court, arms-flying-everywhere zone pressure fueled a 15-0 run that saw seven different players score and sixth man Margaret Swiecicki wreck havoc with tipped balls.
Medina took the lead with 2:04 to go when Hiram recruit Clover Kaple found Holzman (11 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks) for a hoop-and-harm — Holzman missed the free throw — and then went up 42-39 when Holzman nailed a one-handed floater 29 seconds later.
Without starting point guard Sam Catron (family vacation) and committing 11 fourth-quarter turnovers, Highland followed with two critical misses from point-blank range. The Hornets finally answered when Emily Lyon hit a runner in the key.
Fortunately for Medina, Kaple (team-high 12 points) made the back end of a double-bonus to make it 45-41 with 14.3 seconds to go and Highland failed to score again.
“Proud, gritty and gutsy are the three words that sum it up,” said third-year Bees coach Karen Kase, whose team also got eight points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists from All-Gazette pick Jessie Holzman.
With the way the Hornets were playing defensively for the first 25 minutes, a glorious Medina rally appeared unlikely.
Mixing well-timed half-court traps with occasional full-court pressure, Highland rolled early behind Valparaiso recruit Marlee Profitt (16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals) and hustle-machine Madison Less (11, 6 rebounds, 6 steals). The Hornets held Medina scoreless for the first 3:25 of the second quarter — Kathleen Kirchner also sparkled defensively — and led 22-11 with 3:45 left in the half.
The warning signs popped up before the collapse, however, as Highland missed eight straight shots in the third quarter when it could have buried Medina, which shot 2-for-12 in the period. In fact, the Hornets had a 10-point lead heading into the fourth mainly because Profitt flipped on beast mode and scored six straight Highland points.
With a big Suburban League American Division opener against Revere on Wednesday, the crunch-time letdown was difficult to swallow.
“The biggest thing I can take away from this is the season is still long,” second-year coach Mike Moser said. “There’s a lot that we can learn, (especially) patience on offense. We’ve got to get better at knocking down free throws (8-for-14), and we’ve got to work on our zone offense attack.”
Note
Brittany Farley had nine points as Medina’s junior varsity won 28-20. Hannah Zuro had 15 points for the Hornets.
Medina 46, Highland 41
HIGHLAND 12 15 8 6 — 41
MEDINA 8 11 6 21 — 46
Highland — Kathleen Kirchner 1-0-2, Alli Esker 2-0-6, Marlee Profitt 7-2-16, Madison Less 3-4-11, Veronica Peterlin 0-0-0, Alaina Monroe 1-1-3, Emily Lyon 1-1-3, Lauren Zuro 0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-8-41.
Medina — Delaney Cullen 1-0-3, Amanda Holzman 4-3-11, Emma Bobey 1-1-3, Jessie Holzman 1-6-8, Clover Kaple 4-2-12, Margaret Swiecicki 2-0-4, Anna Marie Smith 1-0-2, Abby Teske 1-0-3, Olivia Hutchman 0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-12-46.
3-point goals — Esker 2, Less, Kaple 2, Teske, Cullen. Rebounds — Highland 31 (Profitt 9), Medina 28 (A. Holzman 8). Assists — Highland 7 (Less 3), Medina 8 (Swiecicki, J. Holzman 2). Records — Highland (1-1), Medina (2-1). Junior varsity — Medina 28, Highland 20.