by The Medina Bees led from pillar to post tonight in a 70-43 victory over the River Pirates. The Bees were just too much to handle in the middle as big man Jase Holland put in 22, with 4 slam dunks. Kellon Johnson put in his work early, scoring 10 of his 12 in the first half. Everett Rodriguez was steady throughout with 11 while Garrett Myers had 8 and Coen Miller finished with 7. Also scoring for the Bees was Ryan Harubin with 5, Brody Kopkas with 4 and Bryce Zufra with 3.
The Pirates were led by Jeff Masler and Michael Swallow with 10 each while Jacob Radcliffe and Daniel Berg each had 7. Brandon Nazette had 2 while Colin Hunt and Rowan Kennedy had 3 each to round out the Pirate scoring. 21 of the Pirates 43 points came from long distance.
Kellon Johnson scored 8 of the Bees first 14 points as they raced out to a 14-8 lead. Jeff Masler kept the Pirates in it with two from long distance to cut into the Bee lead. A Daniel Berg drive to lane for the Pirates cut into the lead at 14-10 with 1:08 to play in the first. A Bryce Zufra three for the Bees, ran the lead back out to 17-10. The second Jase Holland slam dunk of the quarter, finished the opening frame scoring at 19-10 after one.
It was a slow start to the second quarter as the Bees led 23-11, four minutes into it. The only Bees points coming from two Johnson foul shots and a Holland put back while the only Pirate point coming on a Kennedy foul shot. The action picked up a bit as the Bees took a commanding 31-15 into the break.
A Michael Swallow jumper and Jeff Masler three gave the Pirates a spark to start the second half. Swallow connected twice in the early minutes after having foul issues limit his time in the first. Understandable considering he was given the short straw to guard the lanky Jase Holland of the Bees. Swallow hit a three moments later, as the Pirates were doing everything they could to stick around in this one.
Shortly after, a Radcliffe three ball cut the Bee lead to 41-30 with 1:57 to play in the third quarter. A Coen Miller three ball slowed down the River run. Swallow answered again with a jumper as the young man has tremendous form. The Bees went on to hold a 48-32 lead after 3 as they finished on a 7-1 run.
The Bees started off the fourth quarter on a nice 9-3 run to extend the lead to 20 at 57-37 with 3:45 to play, and put the game away. The Bees went on to capture the 70-43 victory.
