Ohio City - The third-seeded 15-6 Wildcats of Saint Ignatius Hall of Fame Coach Brian Becker '77 advanced to face 8-16 Medina by eliminating sixth-seeded Brecksville-Broadview Heights, 56-48, in last weekend's Sectional Final at Father Sullivan Gymnasium.
Seventh-seeded Medina pulled off one of the Tournament Trail's major early upsets by defeating archrival and second-seeded Brunswick, 47-44, in last weekend's Sectional Final at Brunswick High School.
The Blue Devils of Brunswick, who defeated Medina twice by double digits in Greater Cleveland Conference play this season, were sent to Heartbreak Highway after being outscored by the Battling Bees, 15-5, in the fourth quarter. Medina scored 21 of the game's final 29 points.
Saint Ignatius and Medina will enter their Thursday night matchup already knowing who awaits the winner.
In the other half of the Strongsville Bracket, defending District Champion and top-seeded St. Edward (20-3) will face its neighborhood rival, fourth-seeded Lakewood (22-2), in Wednesday's 7 PM semifinal at Strongsville High School. The Eagles of St. Edward finished as the eighth-ranked program in the final Associated Press Division I State Media Poll for 2018.
Just a reminder that Saturday's 7 PM District Championship Game will move from Strongsville High School to the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University.
This corner will take a look at Wednesday's Eagles versus Rangers Semifinal following our preview report on the Wildcats-Battling Bees District Semifinal.
COACH BECKER ON THE 2018 MEDINA BATTLING BEES: "Certainly, they're playing with a lot of confidence right now. They play in a very good league (the Greater Cleveland Conference) and they had a young basketball team that has matured.
"This is a different Medina team than is indicated by the record," Coach Becker continued. "They're very well-coached, they have a good big man and their guards have come of age. They shoot the ball well and the crazy thing is that they have different scoring each night, different guys have led them.
"They're a true testament to a team and we're going to have to get out and defend all five guys," said Coach Becker. "They are a very patient team, they don't take bad shots. It's a program that is comfortable playing in big games. Offensively, we have to play with confidence and find the right people. I thought we were a little jittery in our Sectional Final.
"No matter what, we're going to play a tough schedule and be a tough out in the tournament," added Coach Becker. "And that is kind of the way I look at Medina. Their schedule and their losses don't indicate how good of a basketball team this (Medina) is. And they're playing loose, they have nothing to lose. They go out and play, and have fun doing it. That's the right mentality to have."
NO STRANGERS TO DISTRICT PLAY
Saint Ignatius and Medina expect to be alive and well this time of the season.
No, it's not arrogance. These are two programs who take on all comers during the regular season in preparation for the OHSAA's all-important March Madness.
What, 8-16 Medina, you ask?
Well, after eliminating Normandy and Brunswick in Sectional play, the Battling Bees of Medina are bound for the Districts for the sixth time in the past seven seasons.
Carrying a 12-3 postseason record under fourth-year Head Coach Chris Hassinger, Medina would make a school-best, fifth-consecutive District Championship Game appearance if it were to upset the Wildcats on Thursday night.
Last season, the Battling Bees defeated top-seeded Archbishop Hoban, 55-52, to capture the Copley Division I District Championship. Medina finished 18-8 last year, including a 9-5 mark in the talent-laden Greater Cleveland Conference.
Although it was only 2-12 in the GCC this winter, Medina played most of its conference opponents, including state power Solon, tough during the second half of conference play. A sign of things to come in March you might say.
AMONG THE BATTLING BEES TO WATCH
You can start with 6-foot-7 senior post Tyler Kaminski, who scored 19 points in the Sectional Final victory over Brunswick, including a 5-for-6 night from beyond the 3-point arc.
Saint Ignatius' basketball savvy Assistant Coach and Chief Scout Jerry Porath describes Kaminski as "a physical and skilled post who works hard for position." Kaminski averages 11 points and nine rebounds per game, including 25 3-pointers. Coach Porath emphasized that Kaminski plays a lot of minutes, so the Wildcats must make him run the floor.
Senior guard Dylan Fultz contributed 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists versus Brunswick and did a solid defensive job on Blue Devils mainstay Kyle Goessler, limiting him to six points.
Another veteran backcourt performer, senior Colin Szumski, had some major fourth-quarter moments against Brunswick and totaled 8 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Coach Porath refers to the other half of the Szumski duo, 6-1 sophomore guard Kyle Szumski, as Medina's best offensive player. A skilled and solid attacker, and an athlete who can score over bigger defenders, Kyle is averaging 12 points per game and has delivered 45 3-pointers.
Don't overlook freshman guard Corey Tripp, who can attack, score off the catch and the dribble, and has 12 3-pointers in 15 games. Corey scored 15 points in the hard-fought, late season 76-70 loss to Solon at Medina. The Comets of Coach Tony DeCesare, a former Saint Ignatius basketball mainstay, had defeated the Battling Bees, 79-56, earlier in the season at Solon.
There is no doubt that Medina had to overcome the leadership and skill that was lost with the graduation of guards Luke Schaefer, Ben Geschke and Jackson Sartain. That said, the Battling Bees are back where they have made themselves at home the past several seasons, in District play.
You probably know by now how this seasoned corner always likes to inform our younger fans on some of the history of our opponents, especially a team like Medina that we don't play on a regular basis. Well, here are a couple of blasts from the past in Battling Bees basketball.
Stunned state-ranked St. Edward — and future NBA player Jawad Williams — in the 2000 Grafton Midview Division I District championship game, 53-50. Those Battling Bees, who were coached by Medina County legendary player Jody Peters, were led by one of the County’s greatest 1-2 punches in guard (and Ohio co-Mr. Basketball) Tony Stockman and center Travis Schwab. Tony was the co-Mr. Basketball with Cleveland South's Chet "The Jet" Mason, one of this old reporter's all-time favorite players to cover and report on. Chet is now the Head Coach of the Brush Arcs.
Four years later, Peters added to his reputation as a superb big-game coach when Medina completed a Cinderella run to the Copley Division I District Championship by upsetting Wadsworth, 59-56, in double-overtime.
As promised, here is a corner's glance at Wednesday's District Semifinal between St. Edward and Lakewood. The neighborhood battle of Bunts Road and Detroit Avenue will tipoff at 7 PM in Strongsville High School.
In the season opener at Lakewood's new atmosphere-rich gymnasium, the Rangers showed the promise of what was to come as they went toe-to-toe with Coach Eric Flannery's perennial power before losing, 51-38.
It was quite a contrast from last season, when St. Edward walked away with a 106-51 victory in The Eagles' Nest.
The Eagles led by 17 points with five minutes left in the first half, but the Rangers came back to cut the deficit to six points with 3 minutes and 30 seconds remaining to be played.
“Lakewood is a well-coached team with size and athleticism,” Coach Flannery told St. Edward's veteran reporter Norm Weber. Norm and yours truly worked together many years covering games when Norm was employed by the outstanding Sun News chain and this corner was punching the keys for the great Plain Dealer.
“They (the Rangers) did a great job tonight," Coach Flannery continued. "They got lucky in a sense in slowing down the pace. It’s hard to attack them early in the season, especially with their length. They mixed it up well.”
The Eagles did lose their standout sophomore guard Grant Huffman to an ankle injury in the third quarter. As Wildcats fans know, Huffman came back strong after a few weeks off and was recently named to the third team on the annual All-Northeast Lakes District Division I Team. Joining Grant as All-District honorees were teammates Montorie Foster, a sophomore guard, P.J. Flannery, a senior forward and a son of Coach Flannery, junior guard Demetrius Terry, sophomore post Devontae Blanton and senior post/forward Emmett Chambers.
As someone who covered the Lakewood-St. Edward rivalry in basketball, football and baseball for many, many years at The Plain Dealer, a huge smile accompanied these old Irish eyes when Coach Flannery gave these quotes to Norm.
“We can always say we played the first varsity game here. We’re honored to be here. I want to apologize for winning the game. I am a Lakewood guy (St. James). There is a special part in my heart for Lakewood. To see what they are doing with the schools in Lakewood is great.”
And great is a perfect description for the season Coach Alex Cammock's Rangers have put together. Alex should have received at least a share of the Coach of the Year honor in the Northeast Lakes District.
Led by All-District honorees Jacob Sala, a 6-9 senior, Tim Smith, Zion Kolodynski-Darby and Tommy Sala, the Rangers will take a 19-game winning streak into Wednesday's rematch with the Eagles.
Have a great week and we will see you at Strongsville High School.