Girls basketball: Lacrosse skills serve Medina's Sylvie Hipp, Kylie O'Cull well on court

Kylie O'Cull's 2023 goal-scoring average in lacrosse was a full point higher than it is in her current sport, while Sylvie Hipp didn't take to the hardwood until her prospective middle school coach promised her free cookies if she tried out. The statistical numbers aren't overwhelming — or "eye-popping," to use coach Karen Kase's word — but make no mistake about this: O'Cull and Hipp are extremely valuable senior starters for the eighth-seeded Medina girls basketball team (23-4), which will attempt to earn the first state tournament berth in school history when it takes on seventh-seeded Magnficat (20-6) in the Medina Division I Regional final Saturday at 7 p.m. at Medina High School. "They're both super driven," Kase said. "They know they're in there to provide leadership and defense and that they have to do the dirty work. Kylie is just a really good athlete and she's very disciplined. She knows defense is her focus and that's what she thrives on. Sylvie knows the game plan. She's strong. She's very positive and she helps keep some of our girls even-keeled. She's a caretaker." The 17-year-old O'Cull, a 5-foot-8 small forward in her third season with the varsity, is averaging 1.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals. She also carries a 4.3 grade-point average and scored 50 goals in 20 games for the lacrosse team as a junior midfielder. "She is somehow the most intense without being intense at all person I know," Hipp said. "She's looking around like she doesn't have a care in the world, but the minute the game starts, she's locked in. She's the best defender I've ever seen. "She's so good at laughing at herself and she doesn't get bothered by people. It's so much fun to be around her. She just brings a contagious energy of working hard but also being super humble and a fun person to be around." The 18-year-old Hipp, a 5-10 center also in her third season with the varsity, is averaging 4.1 points and 2.2 rebounds while sporting a 4.1 GPA. Just as O'Cull always defends the opponent's top perimeter threat, she takes on the most rugged post player. "Sylvie really leads by her actions, and she's also pretty vocal with all of us," O'Cull said. "She's always talking on defense, especially when we're pressing because she's the last line of defense. "You could say that," O'Cull added when asked if Hipp served as the de facto team mom. "She worries about how everyone is feeling and does her best to make everyone feel involved." PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC On a team that has its share of big personalities and a wide array of musical tastes, one of Hipp's most important off-court duties is compiling the locker room playlist. It's a job she takes very seriously, though she admits the majority of her selections fall in line with her personal preferences. "She is always in charge of the music, and it's pretty good," O'Cull said. "She makes sure everyone has songs they want." The constant is Noah Kahan's "Stick Season." Though not exactly a heart-pumping, fist-thrusting, foot-stomping motivational tune, the song is always among the last played before the Bees exit the locker room prior to a game. "We first heard it on the bus in Florida (over winter break) and everyone knew it," O'Cull said. "Ever since then, that's been our song before games. I don't know the words as much as everyone else, but we all sing it before games." After games or on karaoke nights at JoJo's Sports Bar, a lot of genres break out. O'Cull and Hipp couldn't — or wouldn't — identify the worst singer on the team, but both pointed to shy sophomore Addy Shook standing on stage as her outgoing mother Janelle performed Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice, Baby" as the most entertaining. "Addy won't dance and Addy won't sing," Hipp said. "She just stands there and watches the rest of us. Mrs. Shook would sing all the lyrics, then when there weren't any she'd give the microphone to Addy." The "100%" best singer on the team, Hipp said, is freshman Molly Gilbert, who got rave reviews for the rendition of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" that she performed with her father John. Gilbert, equally well known for dancing while she practices free throws prior to a game, also learned to play Kahan's "Forever" on her ukulele as a favor to Hipp and senior guard Hailey Johnson. "Molly won't admit it," Hipp said, "but she is a very good singer." Just as Hipp is loathe to admit she's a very good leader. True leaders, after all, don't talk much about leading. "I just try to make it my goal to make sure everyone is OK and motivated and knows we need them and that they are part of this team," she said. "I don't think I will ever get as excited for myself as I do for others." MULTI-SPORT ATHLETES While O'Cull and Hipp are very dedicated to basketball, they're even more accomplished lacrosse players who also proved to be great recruiters, as underclassmen Shook, Gilbert, Abby Dress and Vivian Kelps are now playing that sport at Medina as well. O'Cull is leaning toward studying industrial engineering at Wisconsin, Penn State or North Carolina State and not playing organized sports, but she is talented enough to play college lacrosse should she decide to go in that direction, which is still a possibility. The irony is that while she rarely takes a shot on the basketball court, she's a big-time scorer in lacrosse, though her midfield position in the latter still requires her to play a ton of defense. "I would say I'm better in lacrosse on offense and defense, but basketball and lacrosse defense are so similar," she said. "They really translate to each other. Playing both of those sports has really helped. "Shooting is not my strong suit (in basketball), but I'm still able to be out on the court and help my team at the defensive end. That's very rewarding. One of the things my dad (Ryan) has always harped on since I was little is to control the controllables. Defense is something I can control playing well at." Like O'Cull a varsity lacrosse player since her freshman year, Hipp is a defender in that sport. The job doesn't bring a ton of newspaper headlines, but it got her a scholarship to continue her career at D-II national runner-up West Chester University in Philadelphia, where she plans to major in psychology. Hipp's basketball career started much differently. "The JV lacrosse coach, Mr. (Dan) O'Brien, was the seventh-grade basketball coach at (A.I.) Root (Middle School)," she said. "He stopped me in the hallway one day and told me he would give me free cookies if I tried out for basketball. That's how I started and I never stopped. I grew up watching my older brother (2023 Medina graduate Carter Hipp) play, so it wasn't foreign to me, but that's how I started. "I remember I was not very good. I mean, I was not good. After tryouts, my dad (Greg) took me out in the driveway and showed me how to shoot a layup. I made the team because I was athletic. I was always a starter, but I'm convinced that's because I could do the tipoff." CHANCE AT HISTORY O'Cull and Hipp are fully aware of what is at stake Saturday against Magnificat. No Medina girls basketball team has reached the state tournament, and the last time the Bees appeared in a regional championship was 1982. "It's just crazy," Hipp said. "We were looking at the stats in the hallway (outside the locker room) and it's been 42 years since one of our teams even played in the game we will be in Saturday. "We're such an unconventional group of athletes. We have (leading scorer Olivia Klanac), who is the driving force, and Izzy (Kurka), but for me and (O'Cull), we don't put up a lot of points. It's weird to sit back and think that this is the team that is going to a regional final. It's so crazy and surreal to be a part of. We want it so bad and we're going to do everything we can to get there." Making Saturday night even more special is the fact the game will be played inside Medina's Richard H. Clevidence Gymnasium, which is once again expected to be filled to near capacity. "I haven't ever been part of something like this," O'Cull said. "It's been very rewarding to see how many people have come to our games. It's crazy switching from not having any people other than our parents to having so many friends and family members there. You looked up in the stands (at the regional semifinal) and there was not an empty seat. Having all the students there was an amazing memory I'll remember forever. It was a great atmosphere. "(Making the state tournament) would be awesome. It would be crazy to make that history and have all of our hard work pay off. It already has, but making it to states would be a dream come true." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X.