Boys basketball: Medina falls to Mentor, tunes up for tournament

MEDINA — On the down side, the Medina boys basketball team will likely have its first losing season in seven years. On the positive side, the Bees' rugged 63-59 Greater Cleveland Conference loss to Mentor on Friday night should serve as solid tournament preparation. No. 13 seed Medina (10-12), which opens Division I postseason play Wednesday at fourth-seeded Massillon Jackson, would need to win three tournament games — the unlikely equivalent of reaching a regional championship game under the revised tournament format — to avoid the program's first losing season since going 8-17 in 2017-18. Mentor (14-7, 7-5), which isn't the offensive juggernaut it usually is under coach Bob Krizancic, won this blue-collar, physical, semi-ugly game behind 20 points and five assists from freshman point guard Jack Kennedy, 13 points and seven rebounds from power forward Kobe Frasure-Azzano, 10 points from wing Ayo Olulami and eight points apiece from wing Dominic Baroni and center Tony Katava, who both had five rebounds. The Bees battled all night, getting 20 points, five rebounds, three assists and four blocks from 6-foot-8 center Jase Holland, 13 points, nine boards, three assists and a block from power forward Kellon Johnson and 12 points from shooting guard Bryce Zufra, who was scoreless until going on a personal 9-0 run over the final 54.7 seconds of the first half and opening 1:19 of the second. Medina, which hurt itself with seven turnovers in the third period and four in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, also got seven points apiece from small forward Brody Kopkas and point guard Luke Hassinger, but its bench did not score. Mentor's big men took advantage of switches inside as the Cardinals jumped to a 14-4 lead with 1:44 left in the opening period, but the Bees tightened their defense after that and Zufra got them to 29-27 at intermission and then gave them their first lead with a 3-pointer coming out of halftime. It was a dogfight from there, with Krizancic and Medina coach Chris Hassinger riding officials hard throughout the rough-and-tumble game. Mentor took a 46-41 lead into the fourth when Kennedy hit a pair of free throws with 2.9 seconds left in the third that stemmed from a quick technical foul on Luke Hassinger, who had just gestured to teammates after making a 3-pointer from the corner nearest Medina's bench. The Bees never led in the final quarter, though they did tie at 50 when Holland split free throws. The Cardinals stayed in front by making 9-of-10 free throws in the period, including eight straight over the final 1:01. Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X. Mentor 63, Medina 59 MENTOR 16 11 19 17 — 63 MEDINA 8 17 16 18 — 59 Mentor — Aya Olulami 5-0-10, Kobe Frasure-Azzano 5-3-13, Tony Katava 3-2-8, Dominic Baroni 3-1-8, Jack Kennedy 5-6-20, Bernard Gnjatic 0-2-2, Quinton Green 1-0-2, Daniel Gnjatic 0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-14-63. Medina — Brodky Kopkas 3-0-7, Kellon Johnson 4-3-13, Jase Holland 8-4-20, Bryce Zufra 3-4-12, Luke Hassinger 3-0-7, Everett Rodriguez 0-0-0, Garrett Myers 0-0-0, Ryan Harubin 0-0-0, Coen Miller 0-0-0, Donte Cargill 0-0-0. TOTALS: 21-11-59. 3-point goals — Kennedy 4,Baroni, Zufra 2, Johnson 2, Kopkas, Hassinger. Rebounds — Mentor 25 (Frasure-Azzano 7), Medina 28 (Johnson 9). Assists — Mentor 13 (Kennedy 5), Medina 14 (Holland, Johnson, Hassinger 3). Records — Mentor (14-7), Medina (10-12). Junior varsity — Medina 75, Mentor 62 (Med: B. Miller 23, D. Cargill 12, Bishop Burch 10.