Boys district basketball: Canton McKinley pulls away late to beat Medina

AKRON — A resilient, well-coached, built-for-the-postseason Medina boys basketball team gave itself plenty of shots to upset Canton McKinley in a Division I, Northeast 3 District final Saturday afternoon. Problem was, the Bulldogs didn't miss many shots. Pushed to the limit for three-plus quarters, eighth-seeded McKinley finally pulled away late to down the No. 13 Bees 64-51 at Akron North High School. Medina, which was bidding for its fifth district title in Chris Hassinger's 11 years as coach but was minus its most productive player in 6-foot-8 center Jase Holland (knee), finished 11-13 for its first losing season since 2018. McKinley (19-5) advanced to play 10th-seeded Toledo Whitmer (17-7), a 64-62 winner over No 2 Brunswick (19-5), in the Region 1 semifinals Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kent State University. "They were very athletic but also very skilled," said 6-foot-6 Medina senior Kellon Johnson, who led the Bees with 16 points and tied for the team lead with four rebounds. "When you combine those two things, it makes it really hard to stop. That's why they're district champs." McKinley, which got 22 points, four rebounds and four assists from 6-5 senior Reed Sims Jr. and 13 points, three boards and three assists from 6-4 junior Anthony Chavers, who was 5-for-5 from the field and 2-for-2 at the line, missed just 11 shots in the game while shooting .694 from the field (25-for-36). More astounding, the Bulldogs missed just two shots from the field in the second half while connecting at an .857 clip (12-for-14). "We fought, but the second half they were not missing," said Bees senior shooting guard Bryce Zufra, who had 15 points on three 3-pointers and 6-for-7 at the line. "Every time we cut it to three, they hit a three. Credit to them. They were just hitting shots." That trend started early and was helped by seven Medina turnovers in the first quarter. After Johnson scored off an assist from point guard Luke Hassinger (6 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists) to put the Bees up 2-0, the well-coached Bulldogs, who played man-to-man defense for the vast majority of the game, rattled off eight straight points and never trailed again. Every time it looked like the Bees were done, however, they rallied behind Johnson, Zufra, Hassinger, small forward Everett Rodriguez (9 points, 2 rebounds, assist) and solid performances off the bench from 6-6 junior Garrett Myers (2, 4, 4) and senior guard Coen Miller (3, 2, 1). Down seven early in the second period, Medina cut its deficit to four. Down eight moments later, the Bees quickly got within three. Behind by eight later in the same quarter, they climbed back to 28-25 at intermission on a 14-foot, one-footed, Dirk Nowitzki-like fadeaway by Rodriguez just before the buzzer. "I don't really like to shoot that in games," Rodriguez said. "I make it when I'm messing around in practice, so making it today felt really good." McKinley scored the first six points of the second half to go up nine, but a Rodriguez hoop off a Myers assist and a Rodriguez three made it a four-point game just 1:32 later. At that point, the Bees looked like a 5-year-old pulling a sled up an icy hill. Every time they got near the top, they slid backward. "We kept saying, 'One stop, one stop,'" Zufra said. "We knew if we got a stop or two, the game would be totally different." Medina was down just five entering the final quarter, at which time it was 13-for-15 at the line to the Bulldogs' 1-for-4, but it never got any closer. "They just made more shots in transition," Rodriguez said. "They played really aggressive on defense, got steals and scored. Credit to them. We played really hard, but it just wasn't enough." The Bulldogs, who went 8-for-10 at the line in the fourth quarter while going 6-for-7 from the field in each of the last two periods, slowly pulled away down the stretch, finally taking their first double-figure lead with 27.5 seconds to play before tacking on a meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer. "We knew it was going to be a challenge coming in," said Johnson, who helped the Bees upset fourth-seeded Massillon Jackson in the district semifinals. "We kept fighting and we got back in the game a number of times, but they just kept answering." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X. Canton McKinley 64, Medina 51 Division I, Northeast 3 District Final MEDINA 8 17 12 14 — 51 McKINLEY 13 15 14 22 — 64 Medina — Everett Rodriguez 4-0-9, Brody Kopkas 0-0-0, Kellon Johnson 6-3-16, Bryce Zufra 3-6-15, Luke Hassinger 1-4-6, Garrett Myers 1-0-2, Coen Miller 1-0-3, Ryan Harubin 0-0-0, Beckett Miller 0-0-0, Lucas Hogan 0-0-0, Talan Posey 0-0-0, Brandon Colosimo 0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-13-51. McKinley — Reed Sims Jr. 8-4-22, Anthony Chavers 5-2-13, Ed Webster 3-0-6, Jaylen Jeter 2-0-4, Davey Thompson 2-2-6, Jayveion Carter 2-1-6, Keith Quincy 2-0-4, Donte Hill 0-0-0, Jayden Boles 0-0-0, Jay'Dyn Nelson 0-0-0, Tavion Spencer 1-0-3, Mejor Cheek 0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-9-64. 3-point goals — Zufra 3, Johnson, Rodriguez, C. Miller, Sims 2, Chavers, Carter, Spencer. Rebounds — Medina 16 (Johnson, Myers 4), McKinley 13 (Sims 4). Assists — Medina 11 (Hassinger 5), McKinley 14 (Chavers, Thompson, Sims 3). Records — Medina (11-13), McKinley (19-5).