by Tallmadge, Ohio – Senior Alex Jaworski had 20 points to lead all scorers Friday evening as visiting Medina Highland closed out the regular season with a 53-37 triumph over host Tallmadge on Senior Night.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with Tallmadge jumping out to an early lead, thanks to buckets from Danny Kirko and Brandon Heigelmann. But the Hornets would respond and take the lead, thanks to buckets from senior forwards Preston Grinder and Bryce Profitt. A Heigelmann layup late in the first would make the score 10-8 going into the second quarter.
The Blue Devils would add a couple of free throws to tie it up before Highland went on a 8-0 run to push the lead to 18-10. Tallmadge would respond with a 6-0 run of their own to trim their deficit to 18-16 going into the halftime break.
Starting the second half, Bryce Profitt and Alex Jaworski would take over for the Hornets.
“We just picked it up on the defensive side, which helped us on the offensive side and push in transition.” said Profitt.
Early in the third quarter, Alex Jaworski hit a pair of triples, and Bryce Profitt chipped in eight third-quarter points. This helped Highland to push a 24-22 lead to 31-22 by the midway mark.
Their efforts would help the Hornets expand their lead to double digits and cruise to victory.
Senior forward Preston Grinder added 11 points of his own for the Hornets.
“They came out in a 1-3-1, and we practiced all week and saw some film and were ready to go. With the zone, we knew they would throw a couple different looks at us.” said Grinder. “Our goal was to find the open spots in the corners and push the middle. Me and Bryce (Profitt) worked between each other. It feels good to win the game tonight.” he added.
“We wanted to finish out the regular season the right way. We played a really challenging schedule this year and we were battle tested. It was not the first half that we wanted, but we turned it on in the third quarter and got the pace going where we wanted it, got the ball to the interior of the zone, got finishes, and took care of business.” said Medina Highland head coach Adam Cestaro.
In the loss, Tallmadge senior forward Brandon Heigelmann had 17 points to pace the Blue Devils. Senior forward Danny Kurko had eleven.
“I didn’t have the best night shooting the ball, plus a lot of stuff just didn’t go our way. All we can do now is forget about that and get ready for this playoff run we’re trying to make.” said Heigelmann.
“In the first half, we did a pretty good job. We knew we would have trouble guarding them going to the basket off the dribble. I thought we were pretty successful with that. In the second half, I thought our energy was a little down. We just weren’t able to make enough shots to get the job done.” said Tallmadge head coach Bill Johnson. “I’m proud of our seniors, but it’s tough. We’ve had some games in the last few that would prepare us for them and their style, so we’re excited to turn the page onto the postseason and try to get a win.” he added.
Medina Highland finishes the regular season at 9-13 overall and 5-7 in the Suburban League American Division. They host Akron North on Wednesday evening to open up postseason play in the Division I Copley District. Tallmadge finishes the regular season at 8-14 overall and 4-8 in the Suburban League American Division. They travel to Orange Tuesday evening to open up postseason play in the Division II Stow District.
