Girls basketball: Medina's Vivian Kelps gets to take court in girls Hoopla! game

YORK TWP. — Medina guard Vivian Kelps spent five weeks wondering if her basketball career had come to a premature end.Her second concussion of the season was much worse than the first, forcing her to leave the Bees' regular season finale against Stow and miss their lone tournament game against Berea-Midpark.Fortunately, Kelps' symptoms subsided just in time to play in the Hoopla! Medina County Senior All-Star Game sponsored by the Brunswick Rotary and wrap up her hoop dreams on her terms.Kelps scored 10 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out a game-high four assists, earning the MVP award as the Dark team pulled away in the second half for a 56-39 victory over the Light squad Friday.She also provided the most memorable moment by draining a 3-pointer from beyond half-court as time expired in the first quarter, receiving the loudest ovation of the night from the crowd."I feel great," a smiling Kelps said. "I have since the beginning of the week, so I've been looking forward to tonight. I was originally in the 3-point contest and had to drop out because we didn't think I would be able to compete."But two weeks ago, I had a real quick turnaround and things have been going really well since."Bees teammate Abby Dress scored a team-best 13 points and Wadsworth's Marah Minor had 12 points and six rebounds, eight days after starting at center in the Division I state semifinals at the University of Dayton Arena.Black River's Anya Koberna also shined for the victors with eight points and eight rebounds, and Medina's Addy Shook had seven points, five rebounds and three assists. Erin Jackson of the Pirates coached the team."I'm super proud of Viv coming back and playing like she did," Shook said. "Being able to see her go out and have fun meant a lot to all of us."It's doubtful that anyone had more fun at Buckeye High, though, than Shook and her cousin, Cloverleaf forward Kayla Shook. They faced off for the opening jump ball — both grinning from ear to ear — and went right at each other in half-court sets.The Colts' Shook twisted her right ankle in the third quarter, finishing with two points and five rebounds, but appreciated every second she shared the court with Addy."Me and her are always really goofy with one another, so it was a lot of fun," Kayla said, adding with a laugh. "Obviously, Addy is way better than I am, but we had a blast. No one said anything. Going against each other in the half-court just happened."Addy called the opportunity "amazing because we're literally best friends." She couldn't resist saying her favorite sequence was "cooking Kayla in a one-on-one" that saw her make a beautiful spin move while heading toward the hoop for a layup."Cloverleaf standout Evie Barth doubled her fun by winning the 3-point contest, then scoring 16 points to pace the Light team. Colts teammate Madi Young scored nine points and Buckeye's Kylee Kash added five points and seven rebounds.Brunswick's Olivia Moats had three points and five rebounds for the squad coached by Buckeye assistants Chloe Akins and Madison Ross."This group of girls, we're all really close, so to be able to play together one last time for Cloverleaf was nice," Barth said.Barth credited Colts boys basketball coach Lance Price for getting her in the correct mindset before the 3-point shootout, recognizing that she was overthinking while warming up.She poured in 21 points in the preliminary round, nearly doubling the 11 by runners-up Analise Lucey of Wadsworth and Dress. The latter duo each had 12 points in the final, but Barth made three shots in the final rack to win the crown with 15."I definitely liked the first round better, but it felt good to make as many shots as I did," she said.Contact Brian Dulik at sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow @BrianDulik on X. Dark 56, Light 39DARK 14 8 14 20 — 56LIGHT 13 10 4 12 — 39Dark — Abby Dress (Medina) 5-0-13, Addy Shook (Medina) 3-0-7, Marah Minor (Wadsworth) 5-0-12, Morgan Kubitz (Black River) 2-0-4, Vivian Kelps (Medina) 4-0-10, Aly Gacek (Medina) 0-0-0, Anya Koberna (Black River) 4-0-8, Savanna Mullet (Black River) 1-0-2. TOTALS: 24-0-56.Light — Ryleigh Zenda (Brunswick) 1-0-2, Evie Barth (Cloverleaf) 7-0-16, Kayla Shook (Cloverleaf) 1-0-2, Olivia Moats (Brunswick) 1-0-3, Kylee Kash (Buckeye) 2-1-5, Merrin Crow (Cloverleaf) 1-0-2, Madi Young (Cloverleaf) 4-0-9. TOTALS: 17-1-39.3-point goals — Dress 3, Minor 2, Kelps 2, A. Shook, Barth 2, Moats, Young. Rebounds — Dark 40 (Koberna 8), Light 30 (Kash 7). Assists — Dark 14 (Kelps 4), Light 5 (Young 2). 3-point contest — 1. Evie Barth (Cloverleaf) 21-15, 2. Analise Lucey (Wadsworth) 11-12, 2. Abby Dress (Medina) 11-12, 4. Aaliyah Wilson (Brunswick) 10.