Boys basketball: Broken wrist abrupt end to career of Brunswick's Trey Drexler

One of the most prolific boys basketball careers in Medina County history has come to a sad and stunning conclusion. Brunswick wasn't too worried when superstar point guard Trey Drexler took a hard fall Feb. 17 in a Greater Cleveland Conference game at Euclid. The Blue Devils held him out of the league finale at Shaker Heights, and his left wrist was put in a brace and appeared to be healing in time for the Division I tournament. Then came a follow-up Friday, when a doctor said the risk of re-injury was too great due to two fractures. Drexler is done for the season and will remain the second-leading scorer in county history. "Regrettably, wanted to let everyone know I will be out for the rest of the year," Drexler said in a post on "X," formerly known as Twitter. "I broke 2 bones in my left wrist (shooting hand) and wasn't cleared by the doctor to play. Big thank you to the Brunswick community for the support through out (sic) my career!" Drexler averaged a school-record 26.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting .497 from the floor, .451 from 3-point range and .850 at the foul line this season. The Blue Devils (19-3) set a school record for victories in a regular season and captured a consecutive league championship for the first time. The Indiana University–Indianapolis finished his career with 1,754 points in 91 games, putting him 88 behind longtime leader Rob Wininger of Highland (1,842, 1989-93). Brunswick had a sterling 73-18 record (.802) with the 6-foot left-hander at point guard, who was a Mr. Basketball finalist last season and is a contender to be one again this winter. "First, I'm absolutely devastated for Trey and his family," coach Joe Mackey said. "I'm not sure any player in the state of Ohio is more valuable to his team than Trey is for us. For everything he has done for our program the past four years and the position he's put us in for a deep tournament run this season, this news is beyond cruel. "Trey was planning on still playing with two fractures in his hand up until today. It shows how much his teammates and this program mean to him, as well as his determination to get us to the final four. In the end, the doctor thought it was too risky and placed him in a cast, ending his season." Brunswick is the top seed in the Division I Northeast District and opens Tuesday with a Northeast 3 semifinal against 17th-seeded John Marshall (6-16). The winner advances to play No. 5 Perrysburg (16-6) or No. 14 GlenOak (7-15) at Copley on March 7. The Blue Devils still boast Flagler (Fla.) recruit Sean Barnett (17.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.9 spg) and versatile pseudo center Adin Evert (10.1, 9.0, 4.0 assists). Freshman Blayke Hamilton joined those two, Drew Matus and Luke Stella in the starting lineup at Shaker Heights, while Prince Abi was the sixth man. "We understand our goals just got a lot tougher, but our guys will compete at an extremely high level and expect to win," Mackey said. "Don't count us out just yet." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.