Boys basketball: Highland gets a little momentum going into playoffs with win over Medina

GRANGER TWP. — The non-league game between future Suburban League National Conference rivals technically meant nothing, but the Highland boys basketball team was searching for momentum heading into the Division II tournament.Losers of four of their previous six games, the Hornets found exactly that Friday with a methodical 44-37 victory over D-I neighbor Medina to clinch at least 16 victories in consecutive seasons for the first time since capturing back-to-back SL titles in 1997-98 and 1998-99.The Bees were expecting a fast-paced, tournament-style game they'll see against Elyria in the district semifinals next week. They got the opposite and were annoyed with how the game transpired despite being known as one of the slower-paced teams in the generally high-flying Greater Cleveland Conference."I think we played Highland basketball," Highland point guard Jake Weber said. "We were really nice on defense. We followed the scouting report. We had been struggling with that a little bit recently. Offense, I don't think we took too many bad shots. We forced it here and there, but overall I think we did a lot better job today than we have recently."The defense of the Hornets (16-6) held Medina (14-8) to single-digit shots from the field in each of the first two quarters, while Highland made 4-of-5 field goals in the fourth quarter of its incredible 17th game decided by single digits (12-5 record) this season. There wasn't much increase in pace other than the Bees trying to push tempo in an 8-5 third quarter.Weber was magnificent slithering in and out of traffic, finishing with eight points and team highs of seven rebounds and four assists. Carson Cope used a hot first quarter to finish with a game-high 13 points, while Joshua Butcher battled against a taller Bees front line to make two critical 3-pointers in the fourth en route to 10 points, three boards, two assists and three steals.Highland regained the lead for good on a pair of Weber free throws with 3:43 remaining that made the score 37-35. Butcher extended to 40-35 with a 3-pointer roughly a minute later and Medina never got back to a single-possession game."Playing slow, I don't necessarily know if we played slow," Weber said. "When they're in a zone, we need to slow it down a little bit. That's one thing. Recently we had been playing faster and forcing shots, maybe the first OK look that we get instead of moving it around and trying to get a really great shot. You can call it slow, but I just think it's playing smart and getting good shots."Coming off an impressive 68-63 win at Mentor but two games removed from a plodding 41-38 win at future SL National opponent Wadsworth, Medina was frustrated when Highland patiently reset its offense or held the ball for short stretches against a 2-3 zone. The Bees allowed the Hornets to hang around but briefly took the lead on a Brody Kopkas 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.Center Garrett Myers led the Bees with 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Kopkas added nine points and good defense against Butcher, Luke Webb scored seven points in the first quarter and hauled in a team-high five rebounds and Beckett Miller was steady throughout with seven points, four rebounds and a game-high six assists.Entering play averaging 60.0 points, Medina made 7-of-22 field goals in the second half. "It doesn't make me excited about coming to the Suburban League," coach Chris Hassinger said. "We've played two teams from the Suburban League this year, and it's such a different brand of basketball. We're going to have to change. We're not going to be very successful in the Suburban League unless we change the whole dynamic of how we play. "We were hoping to get ready for the tournament, and obviously that's really tough to do. Maybe they have to win that way in the tournament — I don't know — but in Division I you need to go up and down and you need to get your brains beat in physically. You've got to be able to execute, and it's tough with the limited possessions."Highland opens the D-II tournament at home against Stow (13-9), which has failed to score 50 points 13 times season but still has an 8-5 record under the scenario. While the Hornets insisted they were not purposely trying to shorten the game, they took their time against the defense-oriented Bees.They're back on the right track again, and that's all that mattered to them."Tonight the thing I'm most proud of is we have not had our best two-week stretch of the season and haven't had the best practices, and it's led to a couple of games that we haven't played our best basketball, but we are a little re-motivated for the tournament now," third-year coach Tanner Houska said. "They were definitely locked into the game plan for 32 minutes, which is what we need going forward. I'm proud of our seniors for responding to a tough two weeks."Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.Highland 44, Medina 37MEDINA 10 10 8 9 — 37HIGHLAND 12 13 5 14 — 44Medina — Ryan Harubin 1-0-2, Brody Kopkas 3-1-9, Garrett Myers 4-1-10, Bishop Burch 0-0-0, Beckett Miller 3-0-7, Luke Webb 3-0-7, Donte Cargill 1-0-2, Korde Carey 0-0-0, Brody Robison 0-0-0, Christian Kalal 0-0-0, Owen Sturm 0-0-0, Alex Wollmann 0-0-0. .TOTALS: 15-2-37.Highland — Nick Dobkowski 0-2-2, Joshua Butcher 4-0-10, Jameson Gordon 0-0-0, Carson Cope 5-1-13, Jake Weber 2-4-8, Colin Goldie 3-0-8, Conner Dean 1-0-3, Jackson Robertson 0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-7-44.3-point goals — Kopkas 2, Myers, Miller, Webb, Butcher 2, Cope 2, Goldie 2, Dean. Rebounds — Medina 19 (Webb 5), Highland 22 (Weber 7). Assists — Medina 10 (Miller 6), Highland 11 (Weber 4).Records — Medina (14-8), Highland (16-6). Junior varsity — Medina 47, Highland 33 (M: Sean Kungli 18; H: Dominic Cirino 8).