Niera Stevens, Zoey Hodge lead Hoban High School into OHSAA girls basketball district final

RAVENNA — The Archbishop Hoban and Medina girls basketball teams played about as well as they could play Tuesday night in separate Division I, Northeast 3 district semifinals.

Hoban sophomore Niera Stevens and Medina junior Olivia Klanac looked like they were playing in their home gyms.

And they weren't the only Knights and Bees players who were clicking inside Ravenna High School's James L. Coll Gymnasium.

Simply put, Ellet and Hudson ran into what appeared to be perfect storms dressed in home white uniforms.

Hoban dispatched Ellet 86-38 in Tuesday's opener and Medina topped Hudson 71-38 in the nightcap. Hoban (19-3) and Medina (21-4) return to Ravenna on Friday for a district final at 7 p.m.

The Knights and Bees jumped out to big leads Tuesday and never trailed. Both teams turned up the pressure defensively and consistently forced turnovers.

Niera Stevens, Zoey Hodge lead Hoban into OHSAA district final

Hoban topped host Ellet 49-45 in a regular season game on Dec. 13.

Tuesday's game was totally different as No. 1 seed Hoban built a 14-0 lead with 4:21 to go in the first quarter against No. 20 Ellet. Stevens scored eight points during the surge and senior Mackenzie Edingburgh made two 3-pointers.

The Knights advantage reached 23-8 at the end of the first quarter, 47-23 at halftime, and 68-25 during the third quarter.

"We really focused in and our confidence was high coming into this game," Stevens said. "We wanted that defensive pressure to be on 100 the whole time. Our defense beats teams. Defense wins championships and that 94 feet identity we have is going to take us all the way."

Stevens scored 13 points in the first quarter and finished with a career-high 28 points. She also had nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block. Her previous career-high was 22 points in a 64-52 win over Toledo Rogers on Jan. 20.

"I feel very confident coming back Friday," Stevens said. "I know that my teammates are going to be there for each other and they are going to be there for me."

Hoban sophomore Zoey Hodge scored a career-high 18 points and additionally had four assists, four steals and three rebounds.

"Our defense was a lot better this game compared to the last game [against Ellet]," said Hodge, who made three 3-pointers. "We were ready for this game."

Edingburgh totaled 17 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists.

"Everyone played the way that we know we can play," said Edingburgh, who made three 3-pointers. "We made that extra pass, our defense was on point, our shots were on point. We really played as a team.

"... We knew that we could do this. We just had to produce. We just had to hit the shots, play well on defense and do all of the little things."

Knights sophomore Makenzie Grant contributed 11 points and five rebounds, junior Finley Kennedy scored eight points and senior Devin Harris had four points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

"Our posts were on and our guards were on," Edingburgh said. "Everyone was really on."

Junior Sanaiiya Gray paced Ellet (17-7) with 18 points, five rebounds, five blocks and three steals. Junior Caitlyn Holmes contributed 14 points and two blocks.

Ellet had 21 turnovers in the first half.

"We came in with a lot of confidence," Hoban coach Pamela Davis said. "Our basketball IQ is high where we knew our assignments. We had a huge film study for the last few days where we were really keying in on their two top scorers, Holmes and Gray. Our biggest thing was no early success for either one of them, double-team when we could, keep them off the offensive glass and overall I think we did a pretty good job for 32 minutes.

"... All five people contributed — whoever was on the floor at a time. Whether it was Zoey or Mack hitting an outside shot, Zig [Stevens] driving to the basket, Devin or Grant getting offensive rebounds and putbacks. Everybody was doing their job at the right time. Everybody was in sync. Everybody was in motion. Our 3-point shooting was on, our driving was on and our defense was on. We rebounded offensively and we rotated well defensively."

Olivia Klanac, Izzy Kurka guide Medina into OHSAA district final

No. 8 Medina authored a 10-0 run in the opening three minutes against No. 39 Hudson. Senior Sylvie Hipp scored six points during the fast start and Klanac added four points.

"We really wanted to come out with energy, enthusiasm and defensive intensity to help set the tone," Medina coach Karen Kase said. "That is part of who we are as a team all year round, not just in the tournament."

The Bees led 21-6 at the end of the first quarter, 31-19 at halftime, 49-30 through three quarters. Senior Izzy Kurka opened the fourth quarter with a steal, a layup and a free throw on consecutive possessions.

"That was huge. That is Izzy Kurka, a senior player for us," Kase said. "She is an emotional player for us. ... She is a great teammate and loves this team."

Kurka said Medina "played team basketball" to win.

"We believe in ourselves and we push each other at practice everyday," Kurka said. "This is such a fun group to be around."

Klanac finished with 19 points, six steals, four assists, four rebounds and one block.

"It was all about game-planning," Klanac said. "We knew that we were the better team. We just had to come out and execute. We wanted to start off strong. ... I am thankful to have the teammates that I have. We all love each other."

Kurka had 12 points and two steals and freshman Molly Gilbert scored 10 points.

Medina also received solid play from sophomore Addy Shook (nine points, two steals), Hipp (eight points), senior Hailey Johnson (five points, six rebounds) and sophomore Abby Dress (five points, four assists).

"Medina is very disciplined," Davis said. "They run a nice motion offense and they have good shooters and scorers."

Junior Paige Sutton totaled 10 points, four blocks and three rebounds to pace Hudson (11-14).

"We are really proud and happy to be able to do this again," Kase said. "It has been two years since we have been there. We have this as a goal. We know Hoban is awesome. They are good, they are feisty, they are aggressive on defense and they are the No. 1 seed. We know we have our hands full, but we are going to be ready and we are going to do some things that hopefully make them have their hands full, too."

Olivia Klanac climbs up Medina's girls basketball scoring list

Klanac moved past Shelly Miller to the No. 2 spot on Medina's career scoring list Tuesday with 1,192 points. Miller, a 1982 Medina graduate, scored 1,180 points.

Caroline McCombs, a 1994 graduate, is Medina's all-time leading scorer with 1,287 points. Kase, a 1995 graduate, is No. 9 on Medina's scoring list with 694 points.

"Liv is one of the best players in Northeast Ohio, all-around and not just scoring," Kase said. "She does everything, She is hounded and face-guarded all game, but she is more patient this year and lets the game come to her."

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hoban, Medina advance to OHSAA girls basketball district final