Boys basketball: Turnover-prone Medina falls to Mentor

MEDINA — Most seasons, energetic Medina boys basketball coach Chris Hassinger would have screamed his lungs out and broken a whiteboard in a game like this, but this isn't most seasons. With a young team in terms of varsity experience, the Bees are learning through trial and error, and there were a lot of errors Friday in a 71-63 Greater Cleveland Conference loss to Mentor. Medina committed a whopping 28 turnovers and went just 5-for-12 at the free throw line to offset its 27-for-41 shooting from the floor (.659) and 33-18 advantage on the boards. "You're going to think I'm crazy, but I'm not freaking out," Hassinger said. "With these guys and the way they learn, those things will be fixed in the next couple of weeks. These guys will watch film and learn from it. That's why it's so much fun to coach them." Eighteen of the Bees' turnovers came in the second half against Mentor's relentless full-court pressure, helping the Cardinals (7-3, 3-2) outscore Medina (7-4, 4-3) 43-31 after intermission. This despite the fact the Bees were 13-for-21 from the floor in that span, including 7-for-8 in a third quarter that saw them only match Mentor's 17 points. While Medina was solid on the boards, a large chunk of its rebounding advantage was due to the fact it often committed turnovers without getting up a shot for the Cardinals to possibly rebound. "We let pressure get to us," said shooting guard Ryan Harubin, who finished with 15 points and seven boards but went just 1-for-4 at the line. "The first half was better, but in the second we were missing skip passes and the open passes. And some were just dumb turnovers." Mentor capitalized behind small but gritty sophomore point guard Jack Kennedy (19 points, 7 assists) and 6-foot-7 center Tony Katava (18, 6 rebounds), who combined for 16 points as the Cardinals won the fourth quarter 26-14. "Fatigue played a big part in our mistakes," Hassinger said. "We talk about good turnovers and bad turnovers, and we had a lot of bad ones tonight. I'm OK if we make an aggressive turnover going to the basket, but we didn't want to turn it over and give them an opportunity to score." Down 21-18 after the first period and up 32-28 at halftime after holding the Cardinals to seven points in the second quarter, that's exactly what the Bees did while committing nine turnovers in each of the last two periods. They still held a four-point lead after three, but that advantage could have approached double digits had they taken better care of the ball. "We were hesitant and got nervous," Harubin said. The Bees still had a number of positives. Though he has moved from center to power forward, 6-6 Garrett Myers was once again Medina's best player with 16 points and eight rebounds, while 6-10 center Lucas Hogan was dominant in the first half and finished with nine points, 11 rebounds, one assist and a block. Hogan, who is still rounding into shape after being sidelined by a foot injury, had all his points in the first half, including three dunks in the first 10:36 of the game. Two of the slams came off impressive offensive rebounds. Hogan, however, had to be used in three-minute stints to keep him fresh. He played even less after Mentor started the fourth period with a 10-0 run to take a 55-49 lead, because the Bees had to come out of the zone defense they had played in the second half to that point. "Fatigue still plays a big role with him," Hassinger said. "He's still weeks away from being what he was in the preseason, but I love where he's at right now." Down six in the fourth, Myers scored six straight points on aggressive drives and Harubin hit a three as the Bees went on a 9-3 spurt to tie at 58 with 3:40 to go, but Mentor responded immediately with an 8-0 run and iced the game at the line. Medina also got solid efforts from small forward Brody Kopkas (8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist), point guard Beckett Miller (5, 3, 5) and reserves Korde Carey (4, 1, 3) and Donte Cargill (6 points), but came up short because it did not give itself enough offensive opportunities and had too many breakdowns defensively. "We're a young team and we don't have a lot of experience," Harubin said. "That's not an excuse, though. We have to get better." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Mentor 71, Medina 63 MENTOR 21 7 17 26 — 71 MEDINA 18 14 17 14 — 63 Mentor — Logan Lynch 1-0-2, Bernard Gnjatic 1-0-3, Tony Katava 8-2-18, Tommy Pavicic 2-5-11, Jack Kennedy 6-6-19, Nate Sabin 1-0-3, Mason Sauric 2-0-6, Connor Witte 4-0-9, Luke Gerard 0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-13-71. Medina — Brody Kopkas 3-0-8, Garrett Myers 7-2-16, Lucas Hogan 4-1-9, Ryan Harubin 6-1-15, Beckett Miller 2-1-5, Bishop Burch 0-0-0, Korde Carey 2-0-4, Luke Webb 0-0-0, Donte Cargil 3-0-6. TOTALS: 27-5-63. 3-point goals — Pavicic 2, Sauric 2, Kennedy, Gnjatic, Sabin, Witte, Kopkas 2, Harubin 2. Rebounds — Mentor 18 (Katava 6), Medina 33 (Hogan 11). Assists — Mentor 15 (Kennedy 7), Medina 12 (Miler 5). Records — Mentor (7-3, 3-2), Medina (7-4, 4-3). Junior varsity — Medina 78, Mentor 61 (Med: Bryce Ridge 19, Brody Robison 16, Tyson Riffle 12, Owen Sturm 11).