Girls basketball: Medina wins district final over Hoban

Rick Noland The Gazette RAVENNA — Olivia Klanac played the best game of her life in the biggest game of her life, and her Medina girls basketball teammates were right behind her. In a minor upset that probably shouldn't be considered an upset given the one-sided nature of most of the game, the eighth-seeded Bees drilled top-seeded Akron Archbishop Hoban 49-32 Friday in the Division I, Northeast 3 District final at Ravenna High School. Medina (22-4) not only advanced to its first regional semifinal in three years, it will play in its own Richard H. Clevidence Gymnasium when it takes on second-seeded Lake (23-2), a 56-45 winner over No. 4 Stow (20-6), at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The Knights, who had won four straight district titles, finished 19-4. There were a lot of big reasons for that, but none bigger than the 5-foot-9 Klanac, who registered 28 points, four rebounds, two assists and 11 steals in an incredible performance that saw her get fouled at least eight times. "We knew it was going to be physical," the junior said. "They're a tough team and they were the No. 1 seed and feeling good, so we were prepared for that. They were physical, but we knew what we had to do was give it right back to them." That's exactly what the Bees did, and they did it from the opening tip while winning for the 14th time in their last 15 games. Medina scored on its first two possessions and forced 11 first-quarter turnovers — Hoban had 28 in the game — en route to a 15-4 lead after the opening period. The Knights appeared totally confused by Medina's 1-2-2 matchup zone, as they went 1-for-8 from the field in the first period, 3-for-23 en route to falling behind 27-10 at halftime and a woeful 8-for-44 (.182) on the night. Never backing down regardless of how physical Hoban got and how much it pressed, the Bees led by 20 early in the third period before the Knights made their only legitimate run of the night. Behind rugged guard Niera Stevens (14 points, 11 rebounds, 5 steals), center Devin Harris (4 points, 8 rebounds) and power forward MaKenzie Grant (5, 9), Hoban cut its deficit in half and trailed 30-20 with 3:18 still to play in the third period. Bees coach Karen Kase used a timeout at that point and calmed her players, who responded with a 10-4 run over the rest of the quarter. That pushed Medina's lead back to 16 despite eight third-quarter turnovers in a game that took 1 hour, 45 minutes. "It was so important," point guard Hailey Johnson said of regaining control. "That timeout really helped us. We were falling apart a bit, but that calmed us down." Klanac, who had eight points in the first period, five in the second, nine of her team's 13 in the third and six in the fourth before fouling out with 22.9 seconds to play, was the biggest reason the Bees survived but far from the only one. Power forward Izzy Kurka did a bit of everything, finishing with seven points, a team-high eight boards, a game-high three assists, three blocks and a game-high one fan ejection. The latter occurred with 6:21 to play in the third period, when she dove into fans seated in the first row of the bleachers on Hoban's side and suddenly found herself quite a few feet away from where she had landed. Security was called and an adult female was ejected. "All I remember is going to save the ball and falling into the stands," Kurka said. "Next thing I knew, some lady shoved me." Klanac, a calming influence to the Bees whenever they needed it while going 9-for-17 from the field overall, 4-for-7 on 3-pointers and 6-for-8 at the line, handled that, too. "She was insane — not only scoring but as a teammate," Kurka said. "Everyone knows opponents can get under my skin very easily, but she and my other teammates helped me calm down." Johnson was every bit as important, setting the tone with five early points en route to seven points and three rebounds, while Abby Dress came off the bench for five boards and reserve Addy Shook had two points, two rebounds and provided some crucial ballhandling in the backcourt. Starting forward Kylie O'Cull added three rebounds and two assists, reserve Ashley Kollar scored two points, center Sylvie Hipp had three points and three boards and freshman backup guard Molly Gilbert was solid with the ball on a night when all nine Medina players who saw action contributed something valuable. "We came out kind of tired and dead (in the third quarter), but we knew they were getting yelled at in the locker room so we knew we had to keep our foot on the pedal," Klanac said. "We didn't want yesterday to be the last time we practiced on our home court. We were bringing it back home for regionals." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X. Medina 49, Hoban 32 Division I, Northeast 3 District Final at Ravenna MEDINA 15 12 13 9 — 49 HOBAN 4 6 14 8 — 32 Medina — Kylie O'Cull 0-0-0, Izzy Kurka 1-5-7, Sylvie Hipp 1-1-3, Olivia Klanac 9-6-28, Hailey Johnson 3-0-7, Addy Shook 1-0-2, Abby Dress 0-0-0, Molly Gilbert 0-0-0, Ashley Kollar 1-0-2. TOTALS: 16-12-49. Hoban — Mackenzie Edinburgh 0-2-2, Makenzie Grant 1-3-5, Devin Harris 0-4-4, Niera Stevens 4-6-14, Zoey Hodge 1-0-2, Mayana Pooler 0-0-0, Finley Kennedy 2-1-5. TOTALS: 8-16-32. 3-point goals — Klanac 4, Johnson. Rebounds — Medina 28 (Kurka 8), Hoban 34 (Stevens 11). Assists — Medina 8 (Kurka 3), Hoban 2 (Hodge, Pooler). Records — Medina (22-4), Hoban (19-4).