Bees no longer tourney underdog
Girls, after spectacular ’17 run, earn high seed
Klara Bergholz and Medina’s girls basketball team will look to make a second consecutive extended postseason run starting next week. Photo by BRUCE BILLOW
A year after a stunning run to the Valley Forge Division I District final, Medina’s girls basketball team won’t sneak up on people this year. Not that the Bees could anyway. They’re in the middle of a very good season.
The Bees were voted the No. 4 seed in the district and will play a first-round home game against Cleveland Rhodes at 1 p.m. on Feb. 17. The winner will move on most likely to face No. 5 Lakewood on Feb. 22. That will be at Medina if the Bees advance.
The district semifinals will be Feb. 26 at Valley Forge. Medina likely would face top-seeded Berea-Midpark in a district semifinal. The Bees upset top-seeded St. Joseph Academy last season in a run to the district final.
“Berea and St. Joe’s are clearly the top two teams in our district but I do think it’s up for grabs,” Medina coach Karen Kase said. “There are multiple teams that haven’t played their best games yet and I think the games and atmospheres at Valley Forge will rival last year. For us, that was an unbelievable experience.”
Kase was among many area coaches not wild about recent rule changes in which seeds are automatically placed on brackets, with no choice about what line they go on.
“Taking away the strategic part is a bummer for me because I enjoyed choosing a potential path for the Bees,” she said. “I thought we were knowledgeable and prepared and did well choosing our route, especially last year.”
Medina, which hosts a district, will benefit big-time from the rule that prohibits host schools from playing in their own gyms. Sitting in the top two seeds in the Medina District are state-ranked Canton McKinley and Wadsworth. There is no similar team at Valley Forge or really anything even close.
Last week the Bees won a pair of games to improve to 12-7 overall, 6-6 in the Greater Cleveland Conference. They first beat Elyria 55-46 behind 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks from sophomore Lindsey Linard. Freshman Sarah McKee added 10 points and eight boards.
After that it was a 55-43 win over Copley. Junior Madison Luthy led with 11 points. Linard had 7 points and eight rebounds. Junior Klara Bergholtz added seven boards and freshman Alysen Dwyer had five assists.
The Bees were to finish their regular season against Solon (Feb. 7), Brunswick (Feb. 10) and Amherst (Feb. 14) before hitting the tournament road.
Boys basketball
The Bees had a strong week last week even if only meant splitting a pair of games. The first was a 62-48 GCC win over Elyria, Medina’s first conference win this season. Kyle Szumski led with 20 points and five rebounds. The Bees followed that by giving Brunswick all it could handle in a 61-51 Medina loss on Feb. 2. Colin Szumski and Tyler Kaminski led Medina with 12 points each.
The Bees stood at 5-12 overall, 1-9 in the GCC and despite maybe the toughest schedule in the field, likely won’t get a home game when sectional and district pairings are announced this weekend. The Bees were set to play Garfield Heights on Feb. 6 and Solon on Feb. 9. They will play at Strongsville on Feb. 13 before taking on Mentor on Feb. 16.
Wrestling
With a trio of champions and seven others with top-four finishes, Medina finished in third place at the GCC tournament on Feb. 3 at Euclid. The Bees totaled 169 points to edge Brunswick’s 161. Elyria won with 227.5, ahead of Mentor’s 190. Winning titles were seniors Ryan Wissell at 145 pounds, Brady Chrisman at 170 and Lee Coleman at 285. Runners-up were senior Braydon Potter (113) and freshman Jonathan List (152). Seniors Jared Dressler (120) and Ian Senz (138) each placed third. Sophomore Seth DiCola (182), senior Isaiah Helton (195) and freshman Nick DeFraine (160) all had fourth-place finishes.
The Bees were voted the No. 4 seed in the district and will play a first-round home game against Cleveland Rhodes at 1 p.m. on Feb. 17. The winner will move on most likely to face No. 5 Lakewood on Feb. 22. That will be at Medina if the Bees advance.
The district semifinals will be Feb. 26 at Valley Forge. Medina likely would face top-seeded Berea-Midpark in a district semifinal. The Bees upset top-seeded St. Joseph Academy last season in a run to the district final.
“Berea and St. Joe’s are clearly the top two teams in our district but I do think it’s up for grabs,” Medina coach Karen Kase said. “There are multiple teams that haven’t played their best games yet and I think the games and atmospheres at Valley Forge will rival last year. For us, that was an unbelievable experience.”
Kase was among many area coaches not wild about recent rule changes in which seeds are automatically placed on brackets, with no choice about what line they go on.
“Taking away the strategic part is a bummer for me because I enjoyed choosing a potential path for the Bees,” she said. “I thought we were knowledgeable and prepared and did well choosing our route, especially last year.”
Medina, which hosts a district, will benefit big-time from the rule that prohibits host schools from playing in their own gyms. Sitting in the top two seeds in the Medina District are state-ranked Canton McKinley and Wadsworth. There is no similar team at Valley Forge or really anything even close.
Last week the Bees won a pair of games to improve to 12-7 overall, 6-6 in the Greater Cleveland Conference. They first beat Elyria 55-46 behind 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks from sophomore Lindsey Linard. Freshman Sarah McKee added 10 points and eight boards.
After that it was a 55-43 win over Copley. Junior Madison Luthy led with 11 points. Linard had 7 points and eight rebounds. Junior Klara Bergholtz added seven boards and freshman Alysen Dwyer had five assists.
The Bees were to finish their regular season against Solon (Feb. 7), Brunswick (Feb. 10) and Amherst (Feb. 14) before hitting the tournament road.
Boys basketball
The Bees had a strong week last week even if only meant splitting a pair of games. The first was a 62-48 GCC win over Elyria, Medina’s first conference win this season. Kyle Szumski led with 20 points and five rebounds. The Bees followed that by giving Brunswick all it could handle in a 61-51 Medina loss on Feb. 2. Colin Szumski and Tyler Kaminski led Medina with 12 points each.
The Bees stood at 5-12 overall, 1-9 in the GCC and despite maybe the toughest schedule in the field, likely won’t get a home game when sectional and district pairings are announced this weekend. The Bees were set to play Garfield Heights on Feb. 6 and Solon on Feb. 9. They will play at Strongsville on Feb. 13 before taking on Mentor on Feb. 16.
Wrestling
With a trio of champions and seven others with top-four finishes, Medina finished in third place at the GCC tournament on Feb. 3 at Euclid. The Bees totaled 169 points to edge Brunswick’s 161. Elyria won with 227.5, ahead of Mentor’s 190. Winning titles were seniors Ryan Wissell at 145 pounds, Brady Chrisman at 170 and Lee Coleman at 285. Runners-up were senior Braydon Potter (113) and freshman Jonathan List (152). Seniors Jared Dressler (120) and Ian Senz (138) each placed third. Sophomore Seth DiCola (182), senior Isaiah Helton (195) and freshman Nick DeFraine (160) all had fourth-place finishes.
