Cleveland State Regional Preview
Wednesday, March 11 at the Wolstein Center
6:15 - Canton McKinley (21-4) vs Shaker Heights (20-5)
8:00 - Medina (20-5) vs Mentor (19-6)
Canton McKinley (10-2 in Federal League, 18-4 in regular season, 21-4 overall)
The Pups have by far the longest and best basketball tradition of the four teams. They are in the Ohio big school Sweet 16 for the 49th time, about twice as much as the other programs combined. This is McKinley's first district title since 2016. In order to get there, they had to defeat their rival Massillon (55-51) in the sectional final. That was followed by the knocking off the #7 ranked team in the final AP poll, Boardman. A district final win over Green, the #6 ranked team in the state, capped off an impressive 10 days in Canton. The Pups outed last year's CSU regional runners-up by a score of 55-42.
McKinley is led by appropriately named Kobe Johnson. The talented 6'3 junior guard, who has a handful of scholarship offers from the MAC and similar mid-majors, scored 20 points in the district final win. Johnson was one of Stark County's leading scorers this season. He has incredible shooting splits for a high school player: 48.8% FG, 36.6% 3FG, and 78.6% FT. 6'6 junior forward Brent Walker is a talented double-double machine that can dominate on both ends of the floor. Besides a great shooter like Johnson, McKinely has scoring guards like seniors Antwan Williams (second behind Johnson on the team in 3FG) and CJ Hall. As a team, McKinley has hit over 200 three-pointers this season.
Coach Andy Vlajkovich is in his 2nd year as McKinely coach after a successful stint for six seasons with WGH, that included a 2016 district title.
Biggest regular season wins: Green, Lima Senior, GlenOak, Massillon, Wooster, and Hoover (twice)
Regular season losses: Green, GlenOak, St Ignatius, SVSM
Mentor (12-2 in the GCC, 16-6 in regular season, 19-6 overall)
Mentor won their 13th district title at Euclid since 2001. The 2013 state champions are making their third trip to CSU in the last four seasons. During the season, Mentor went 3-1 against Medina/Shaker to capture a share of the GCC title. Their path to the district crown included a comfortable win over Mayfield followed by a shaky game against University School (71-58) in the district semifinals. In the final, Mentor made a late game comeback and gutted out a 71-69 win over a talented Brush team led by a top 100 national player in 6'10 center John Hugley.
Mentor has a terrific trio in a group of experienced All-District players: junior guard Luke Chicone (committed to YSU for basketball), senior guard Luke Floriea (committed to Kent for football), and senior forward Chad Rogers (committed to Penn State for baseball). They were the top scorers on last year's team that set the program record for regular season wins and winning percentage. Dangerous offensive players, these three are capable of scoring inside and out. They all scored 20+ points in the district final win over Brush. Mentor's role players (Caleb Piks, Kyle Culler, and Andrew Witte) are confident shooters and strong defenders.
Coach Bob Krizancic has over 600+ wins in his career that are highlighted by his state championships (1995 with Girard and 2013 with Mentor).
Biggest regular season wins: Medina, Shaker (twice), Solon, and VASJ
Regular season losses: Medina, Lakota East, Lake Catholic, Solon, North Mecklinburg (NC), Concord First Assembly (NC)
Shaker Heights (11-3 in the GCC, 17-5 in regular season, 20-5 overall)
The Red Raiders won their district for the 2nd time in the last three seasons. A season in which they finished in 3rd place in the competitive Greater Cleveland Conference (behind fellow CSU regional semifinalists Mentor/Medina), they got through the Twinsburg district unscathed. After a surprisingly close sectional final with Stow (51-48), Shaker cruised through the district rounds with big wins over Warren Harding (77-39) and Solon (66-48).
Shaker brought back their top three scorers from a 2019 district finalist team. Senior Dakota Cochran, also a starter on Shaker's 2018 district championship squad, leads the way with 16.5 ppg. Cochran is a gifted and physical athlete that is committed to Central Michigan for a football scholarship. Senior Shamnah Scott is an explosive guard that was second on the team in scoring. Sophomore guard Danny Young Jr. already has DI scholarship offers. He is the son of head coach Danny Young Sr. and is one of the top players in his class in Ohio. Eric Mudd is a 6'7 post that occupies the middle of Shaker's defense. None of the four teams have more all-around size and athleticism than the Raiders.
Coach Danny Young Sr. was hired in 2009 and has helped reestablish Shaker as a power program in NEO. He has won six district titles since 2012.
Biggest regular season wins: Lutheran East, Cleveland Heights, Medina, Solon (twice), Walsh Jesuit
Regular season losses: Mentor (twice), Medina, SVSM, and Huron (Michigan)
Medina (12-2 in the GCC, 17-5 in regular season, 20-5 overall)
Medina has established themselves as one of NEO's top teams all season. Splitting their four games with Mentor/Shaker this season, the Bees were co-champions of the league. In the tournament, Medina handled their business well with three easy victories over Highland (81-51), Barberton (63-44), and in the district final against Walsh Jesuit (53-36). The Bees are back in the regional tournament after last winning their district in 2017.
The Bees are led by Kyle Szumski. The 6'3 senior guard has a smooth all around game and was awarded the GCC Player of the Year in a very crowded field of talented players. There is every reason to believe that Szumski is as good as anyone in this tournament. His teammate, junior Corey Tripp, is a talented 6'3 guard that is getting scholarship offers from the MAC. Playing with Szumski, there might not be a better duo at CSU. Senior guards Spencer Aylward and Doug Sartain were all-league players that provide experience and scoring. Senior Christian Howard-Caffey is an active 6'4 forward capable of a double-double as evidence by his 20 and 9 performance in the district semifinal against Barberton.
Coach Chris Hassinger shared the Coach of the Year honors in the league with Krizancic. Hassinger has three district titles in his six seasons with the Bees.
Biggest regular season wins: Mentor, Shaker, GlenOak, Solon (twice)
Regular season losses: Cincinnati Moeller, SPIRE, Mentor, Shaker, Lakewood
