Defense Leads Midpark to Win Over Highland
Fewest Points allowed (17) in School History as Meteors Advance
The Midpark Meteors advanced to the District Semi-Finals with a 28-17 win over Medina Highland on Saturday night at Brecksville High School. The win improves Midpark to 19-2 on the season as they allowed the fewest points in school history en-route to the victory.
The Meteors got out to a quick start to take an early 6-0 lead with lay-ups from Eric Way and Jared Kreis. Highland battled back in the first quarter but only managed two field goals in the quarter, both coming from behind the three-point line. Midpark held a 13-6 lead after one quarter.
The Hornets managed just two more three-pointers in the second quarter while Midpark got just two field goals as neither team got into any kind of offensive flow. Midpark led 18-12 at the break with all the points for Highland coming from beyond the arc.
Highland picked up their fifth three of the game before finally making a shot from inside the arc as they cut the Midpark lead to one at 18-17 by holding Midpark to a single free throw in the third period.
The Meteors came out with the possession in the fourth quarter and with Highland still sitting back in a zone, Midpark ran off over four minutes of clock before Highland came out to guard them which led to a Meteor time out. Out of the time out, Midpark got a quick lay-up from Bryan Theriot to extend to a 21-17 lead. It turned out that would be all the Meteors would need as Highland went the final quarter with scoring a point. Midpark got late field goals from Theriot and Way to help seal the win.
The Meteors were paced by Theriot with nine points and Way with eight. Alex Guzel added six points for Midpark and Kreis finished with four. Midpark will face the winner of Rhodes and Revere on Wednesday, March 10 at 7:45pm.
Meteors Hold of Jaguars 55-50, Advance To Districts
The #2 seeded Midpark Girls Varsity basketball team defeated St. Joseph Academy 55-50 in the Division I Sectional Championship held at Valley Forge High School on Saturday, February 27. The win improves the Meteors to 17-4 on the season while the Jaguars finish their season 11-11. After having 10 days off, the Meteors were ready to get back on the court and they came out of the gates running in the first quarter and the Jaguars had no answer defensively. With Senior Claire Gutchall and Junior Kaila Barber scoring the game’s first six points, Junior Amanda Szeltner knocked down a three-point shot to stake Midpark to a 9-0 lead. The Meteors built on the early lead and closed the first quarter with a 21-11 lead. The second quarter was more of the same on the offensive and defensive side for Midpark. The Jaguars coughed up the ball several times that the Meteors turned into lay-ups. Midpark held St. Joe’s scoreless for more than half of the second quarter and held them to just seven points in the quarter. Midpark went to the locker room with a 21-point lead at 38-19. With a big lead, the Meteors got somewhat comfortable in the second half and the Jaguars took full advantage. After putting together two solid offensive quarters in the first half, Midpark managed just six points in the third quarter and saw their 21-point advantage trimmed to 15 headed to the fourth. The Jaguars continued their surge in the fourth quarter when their leading-scorer Maggie Berry took over inside. With Midpark in foul trouble, Berry got a couple easy inside buckets and pulled St. Joe’s to within one-point at 51-50 in the final minute. Midpark, who got huge buckets from senior Ally Lobas got a couple of big free throw hits from her and Szeltner down the stretch to help Midpark pull away with the win. The Meteors shot 18-for-44 (41%) from the field in game while the Jaguars went 18-for-55 (33%). Both teams struggled from behind the arc with Midpark going 2-for-13 and St. Joe’s 2-for-16. The Meteors were 17-for-24 from the free throw line while the Jaguars were an efficient 12-for-13. Midpark now advances to the District Semi-Final game to be played on Thursday, March 4 again at Valley Forge. The Meteors will play Magnificat and the tip-off is set for 7:45pm.
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