The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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BASKETBALL RECRUITING made a run to all but erase a 12‑point deficit, and he made all three free throws at a critical juncture. "You really can't prepare for play‑ ing against Jon," Hassinger told The Medina Gazette. "I know this first‑ hand because we can't prepare for it in practice. A lot of teams have big guys, but there is a big difference between going against 6‑9 and going against seven‑feet. He was great for us tonight." Teske also grabbed 12 rebounds in the win over the top‑seeded Polar Bears, improving the Bees to 15‑11. Medina shocked Jackson, starting the game with a 9‑0 run to take com‑ mand early. They were in control the whole game, Teske noted, in part because they employed a strategy that helped start their winning ways midseason — running the offense through their big man in the post. "Coach Hassinger has been telling the guards to throw it into the post, get the ball in my hands, and I can do something with it or kick it back out," the humble big man said. "He said I've just been playing at an extremely high level lately. Even though we had a tough season at times, it was a lot of close games that haven't gone our way. We're clicking at the right time to make a tourna‑ ment run." Medina beat another conference champion, Canton (Ohio) Timken, March 12. In the 59‑48 win. Teske "overcame myriad double teams," The Gazette reported, in notching 13 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks, including a 7‑4‑4 line in the fourth quarter. He made 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch despite opening a cut on his hand resulting from a massive dunk. "Give Medina a lot of credit," Tim‑ ken head coach Rick Hairston told The Canton Republic. "They played a lot better than we thought they were. And obviously we didn't play very well. … It's tough with all that was going on." Timken settled for threes, not will‑ ing to challenge Teske in the paint, and suffered when double‑teaming him on the other end. "The Teske kid is going to Michi‑ gan for a reason," Hairston said. "When we doubled down, he'd kick it out and their other kids were all making plays." On March 7, the Bees sent division rival and Northeast Ohio Confer‑ ence River Division champs Hudson (Ohio) High — the No. 7 seed at 18‑5 — home with a stifling defensive performance in a 37‑24 victory. "We're just playing great team de‑ fense at the right time, especially in the tourney, when you need great defense to go on a great run," Teske said after scoring 15 points while adding seven rebounds and seven blocks. "That's what we want to do." "They came out with a chip on their shoulders," Hassinger added. "They're still upset about how they were disrespected by the other dis‑ trict coaches after going head to head with Hudson and still getting a lower seed. They wanted to prove a point — they thought they were disrespected a little bit."