Boys basketball: Lethargic Medina smacked around by Strongsville

MEDINA — Everyone in uniform played and no one got hurt. That was about the only good news Friday night for a lethargic and suddenly struggling Medina boys basketball team, which got shellacked 72-54 by Strongsville in Greater Cleveland Conference action. The Bees (8-5, 5-4), who needed overtime to beat one-win Lorain and sub-.500 Shaker Heights to go 2-2 over their last four games, trailed the Mustangs (6-9, 3-6) by as many as 25 points after winning the teams' first meeting 55-31. Strongsville was without head coach Ryan Kilbane in the first meeting, but the 42-point turnaround since Dec 12 was still remarkable and led to Medina coach Chris Hassinger benching his starters for the final 12½ minutes. "To play in this program, you have to have fight," Hassinger said of using 11 reserves for the last quarter and a half-plus. "You've got to be able to play defense and you've got to give effort. We didn't feel the top guys were doing that, so why not reward the guys who work hard in practice every day?" Medina's last lead was 14-13 with 1:14 to go in the opening period, as the Mustangs were up 17-14 after one, 36-28 at recess, 59-40 after three and 70-45 with 4:07 to play. Strongsville's win was not a fluke by any means, as it played better, smarter and harder throughout while forcing 19 Medina turnovers and committing just eight. The Mustangs did a lot of driving and kicking for 3-pointers, but they also scored a surprising amount of points from eight feet or closer against the much bigger but undisciplined Bees. Strongsville was at its best while outscoring Medina 23-12 in the third quarter, when it went 9-for-12 from the field and pulled away behind power forward Mathew Heftke (22 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists), point guard Brandon Byers (21, 3, 6) and small forward Abdul Awawda (18, 4, 0). "Our kids have zero energy to start games," Hassinger said. "We win in the tournament when we play at a high level. We beat good teams when we play at a high level. We're playing at an average level right now." Medina's leading scorer was sixth man Bishop Burch with 10 points. Shooting guard Ryan Harubin had eight, power forward Garrett Myers had seven, seven boards and three assists and point guard Beckett Miller had seven, four and two. The Bees student section still carried on following buckets by seldom-used reserves Brody Robison (5 points), Andrew Kupec (5), Jaxon Sesock (2) and Alex Wollmann (2). "We didn't come out with as much energy as we usually do," Miller said. "It kind of speaks for itself. "We get off to a slow start and usually get down early and have to fight back," he added of the last four games. "That's not the best situation." Of sitting and watching with the rest of the starters, Miller said, "When you're on the bench, you still have to cheer for your teammates and try to hype them up, even if you're down a lot." The Division I Bees will be back in action tonight against D-VII Medina Christian Academy as part of "The Battle of 44256" — Highland and Buckeye will play the first game — so they will have a quick opportunity to erase the bitter taste left by their performance against the Mustangs. "We've got to be ready," Miller said. "Otherwise, the same thing is going to happen." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Strongsville 72, Medina 54 STRONGSVILLE&emsp;17 19 23 13 — 72 MEDINA&emsp;14 14 12 14 — 54 Strongsville — Abdul Awawda 8-0-18, Mathew Heftke 8-3-22, Harsh Patel 1-0-2, Shane McIntyre 1-0-3, Brandon Byers 9-2-21, Adrian Fuentes 2-0-4, Pavin Kadras 1-0-2, Jayquan Blackman 0-0-0, Troy Garder 0-0-0, Brandon Studier 0-0-0, Ayden Staub 0-0-0, Bryson Parrott 0-0-0. TOTALS: 30-5-72. Medina — Brody Kopkas 0-0-0, Garrett Myers 3-0-6, Lucas Hogan 1-0-2, Ryan Harubin 3-0-8, Beckett Miller 2-2-7, Bishop Burch 2-5-10, Donte Cargill 0-2-2, Luke Webb 2-0-5, Sean Kungli 0-0-0, Brody Robison 2-0-5, Tyler Minarcin 0-0-0, Christian Kalal 0-0-0, Andrew Kupec 2-0-5, Owen Sturm 0-0-0, Jaxon Sesock 1-0-2, Alex Wollmann 1-0-2. TOTALS: 19-9-54. 3-point goals — Heftke 3, Awawda 2, McIntyre, Byers, Harubin 2, Burch, Miller, Webb, Robison, Kupec. Rebounds — Strongsville 22 (Heftke 10), Medina 27 (Myers 7). Assists — Strongsville 16 (Byers 6), Medina 13 (Myers 3). Records — Strongsville (6-9, 3-6), Medina (8-5, 5-4). Junior varsity — Medina 51, Strongsville 43, OT (M: Sturm 17, Robison 13).