MEDINA — Cue “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson proclaiming “everybody happy, happy, happy.”
Medina’s Ben Geschke shoots between Wadsworth’s Mitchell Blackburn, left, and Reid Black during the second quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
Pretty much anyone with something resembling common sense Tuesday knew Medina’s boys basketball team was significantly better than Wadsworth heading into their annual non-league rivalry. The more pressing issue was whether each team walked away satisfied with its play.
The Bees got the pressure defense they were looking for in a tidy 78-46 victory that became official at 8:32 p.m., while the extremely young and inexperienced Grizzlies proved they have spunk in what already has been an uphill battle this season.
Even so, it was the largest margin of victory for Medina (4-0) over Wadsworth (1-4) since Dec. 22, 1970 (70-31). Neither Bees coach Chris Hassinger nor Grizzlies counterpart Mike Schmeltzer Jr. were born yet.
“Our whole game plan was to get the ball to Jon (Teske) and get out and run, score quick,” Bees small forward Luke Schaefer said. “That’s all it really was — get steals and play good defense.”
Medina let 7-foot-1 Michigan recruit Teske (9 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) play facilitator in the half court and otherwise pounded the Grizzlies into submission with transition offense.
Schaefer finished acrobatically and with ease en route to a career-high 24 points, four rebounds and five steals. Shooting guard Jackson Sartain added 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists, while point man Ben Geschke scored seven of his 10 points in the third quarter.
The Bees, who led 18-4 after one period and 63-29 after three, also got six points and six rebounds from backup power forward Jimmy Daw, four points and three steals from plucky guard Brian Moran and five quick boards from Shane Cullen.
Hassinger, a Wadsworth graduate, resident and former Grizzlies assistant, pulled his starters for good with 5:04 left.
“It starts with playing hard, hustling and playing good ‘D,’” Sartain said. “If you play good defense, it turns into offense and turns into points.
“I feel like we got a lot of steals (10) and turnovers. I felt like we hustled, I feel like we moved the ball really well (16 assists) and I feel like we shot the ball pretty well, too (33-for-59).”
The Grizzlies, who started sophomores Christian Szalay, Tony Hewitt, Lucas Mills and Reid Black, were overwhelmed by the Bees’ athleticism and aggression midway through the first quarter. Wadsworth settled down, though, and got the deficit to 22-13 before a Medina flurry at the end of the half.
The 6-4 Black finished with a career-high 11 points, four rebounds and three blocks. Szalay (7 points, 4 assists) blew by defenders multiple times to create offense, while Mills chipped in eight points on a night when Hewitt, Medina’s County’s sixth-leading scorer coming in, shot 4-for-15.
“We got a lot of positives from this,” Schmeltzer said. “I told our guys that that score doesn’t indicate, I think, how much better we competed and we played. We had a stretch at the end of the second quarter and we had a stretch there at the end of the third. It might be a 15- or 16-point game at that point.
“There’s no doubt there’s a reason why (Medina) went to regionals last year and that they’re picked to do it again. They’re probably the best team in the area.”
Notes
- The Medina junior varsity won 42-33 behind 16 points from Tyler Kaminski. David Griffin and Jake Justice had eight points apiece for Wadsworth.
- The Bees won the freshman game 48-27 as Ryan Soworowski pumped in 13 points.
Medina 78, Wadsworth 46
WADSWORTH 4 16 9 17 — 46
MEDINA 18 20 25 15 — 78
Wadsworth — Lucas Mills 3-0-8, Daniel Weinerman 0-0-0, Reid Black 5-0-11, Tony Hewitt 4-0-8, Christian Szalay 2-3-7, Kyle Larj 0-0-0, Connor Montgomery 0-2-2, David Hardy 0-0-0, Cameron Deemer 0-0-0, Ryan Storad 1-2-4, Mitchell Blackburn 1-0-2, Graham Blind 1-0-3, David Griffin 0-1-1, Jake Justice 0-0-0, Joey Fernholz 0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-8-46.
Medina — Luke Schaefer 11-1-24, Jimmy Clark 1-0-2, Jon Teske 3-3-9, Jackson Sartain 6-0-14, Ben Geschke 4-0-10, Brian Moran 2-0-4, Jimmy Daw 2-2-6, Colin Szumski 1-1-3, Tyler Kaminski 1-0-2, Matthew McNaughton 0-0-0, Sam McKee 0-0-0, Shane Cullen 1-0-2, Jared Keith 1-0-2, Dylan Fultz 0-0-0. TOTALS: 33-7-78.
3-point goals — Mills 2, Black, Blind, Sartain 2, Geschke 2, Schaefer. Rebounds — Wadsworth 22 (Black 4), Medina 39 (Sartain 8). Assists — Wadsworth 8 (Szalay 4), Medina 16 (Teske 5). Records — Wadsworth (1-4), Medina (4-0). Junior varsity — Medina 42, Wadsworth 33.