High school basketball: Medina girls beat Solon in trip down memory lane

MEDINA — The Medina girls basketball team went back to the future, playing a home game at Claggett Middle School. Senior center Sarah McKee made the most of her trip down memory lane. McKee scored a game-high 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had three blocks Thursday, leading the Bees to a 56-52 victory over Solon in Greater Cleveland Conference action. The Ashland University signee was one of eight Medina players to have attended Claggett — along with two of its coaches — and relished the opportunity to return for an evening while the high school gym was being used as a COVID-19 vaccination site. "It brought back a lot of old memories, for sure," McKee said, smiling. "We obviously weren't expecting to ever play here again, but it was definitely a good experience to come back. The court is new, but it's pretty much the same building that we went to." Not only did McKee score and control the glass, she locked down Comets standout power forward Hailey Weaver, holding her to four points on 2-of-17 field goal attempts, four rebounds and one assist. The Northwestern signee did not score until 1:30 remained in the third quarter and missed all seven of her 3-point tries as Solon (5-8, 3-4) completed a three-games-in-three-nights stretch — all on the road. "Sarah steps up and plays her best against really good individual players and really good teams," Bees coach Karen Kase said. "When we're going against lesser teams, she tends to defer to her teammates, but she knows that we need her to be big in games like this." Senior shooting guard Aly Dwyer also came through in the clutch for Medina (12-6, 6-2), which remains within striking range of GCC-leading Strongsville but will need the Mustangs to lose once down the stretch in order to have a shot at a co-championship. Dwyer scored on a sharp pass from Shannon Wojciak with 2:15 left, extending the Bees' lead to 53-50, then locked up the victory by making one free throw with 12 seconds remaining. She also had six rebounds and rose to the occasion when defending Weaver. "Aly showed a lot of guts when she found herself matched up against (the much taller) Weaver," Kase said. "Her desire to win is always there, and she calmed everyone down with the way she took care of the basketball in the fourth quarter." Junior point guard Hailey Tripp scored eight points, including a layup with 1:02 on the clock that put Medina up 55-52. She exited the contest late in the third after landing on her already sore back but returned for the final 1:54. The Bees went in front for good on back-to-back 3-pointers by Elizabeth Stuart earlier in the fourth. Stuart, Dwyer and Leora Owings each had six points, while Ohio Dominican recruit Wojciak collected four points, five rebounds and a game-best five assists. "Tonight was fun, and it's always a great game when we play Solon," McKee said. "I know they'll come out and give it their all again when we go to their gym on Saturday." Shooting guard Chyanne Hatcher-Turbeville had 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and fellow sophomore Morgan Blackford scored 14 points for the Comets, who forced 24 turnovers. Freshman pivot Kaylee Levenhagen had four points and six boards. Solon, which only has eight healthy players in its entire program, beat Elyria 73-30 on Tuesday and forced 29 turnovers in a 71-50 victory at Brunswick the next night. It held a seven-point lead in the second quarter at Medina. "It's really tough to play back-to-back-to-back games — a tripleheader, of sorts — but our kids have handled it as well as possible," said Comets coach Trish Kruse, whose squad has been ravaged by COVID-related issues all winter. "We had a chance to win tonight, but we needed a few more perimeter shots to go down." Contact Brian Dulik at brisports@hotmail.com. Follow him @BrianDulik on Twitter. Medina 56, Solon 52 SOLON &emsp;&emsp;13 16 10 13 — 52 MEDINA &emsp;&emsp;10 18 11 17 — 56Solon — Morgan Blackford 4-6-14, Hailey Weaver 2-0-4, Kaylee Levenhagen 1-2-4, Chyanne Hatcher-Turbeville 8-1-17, Mackenzie Blackford 1-0-3, Kennedy Ford 1-0-3, Nia Booker 3-0-7, Sophia Lance 0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-9-52. Medina — Elizabeth Stuart 2-0-6, Shannon Wojciak 1-2-4, Sarah McKee 8-1-18, Aly Dwyer 2-2-6, Hailey Tripp 3-1-8, Regan Todia 0-4-4, Leora Owings 3-0-6, Mylie Roberts 0-2-2, Kate Bobey 1-0-2. TOTALS: 20-12-56. 3-point goals — Ma.Blackford, Ford, Booker, Stuart 2, McKee, Tripp. Rebounds — Solon 22 (Hatcher-Turbeville 7), Medina 38 (McKee 9). Assists — Solon 10 (Hatcher-Turbeville, Ma.Blackford 3), Medina 11 (Wojciak 5). Records — Solon (5-8, 3-4), Medina (12-6, 6-2).