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
| Former Medina athletic director Rollie Platz was in attendance and received an ovation at halftime. What most Medina people don’t know is Platz had a 22-17 record as Brunswick boys basketball coach from 1955-57.
l Tyler Kaminski scored 14 points as the Medina junior varsity won 52-45. |
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.
