Girls Basketball: Big fourth quarter key in Medina Christian win over Black River

SULLIVAN TWP. — In the midst of an epic individual battle between Medina Christian's Grace Workman and Black River's Anya Koberna, the rest of the Knights made sure the greatest performance in the school's young OHSAA history didn't go to waste. Workman's triple-double and Koberna's 20-point, 19-rebound game effectively canceled each other Wednesday in a non-league game, but big 3-pointers from Allijah Rauckhorst and clutch free throw shooting from Leah Stroup and Ann Sems allowed Medina Christian to pull off a wild comeback in the final 4½ minutes and win a 39-35 stunner. The Knights (5-9) trailed the Pirates (7-15) 32-24 with 4:40 remaining. That felt like an insurmountable margin for a young team that entered play averaging 38.2 points, but Medina Christian never quit and scored 15 of the final 18 points in a fourth quarter that had plenty of excitement. "I would say it was just our effort," Workman said. "We weren't as focused in the first half. We ran our offense and played with effort (in the second half)." The 5-foot-10 Workman was the best player on the court and finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds, six steals and 12 blocks. The left-handed sophomore factored into the comeback, too, with a gigantic 3-pointer that cut the deficit to 34-33 and two free throws that iced the game with 9.4 seconds remaining. She wasn't the sole hero by a long shot, as Rauckhorst's sixth and seventh 3-pointers of the season kicked off the rally by bringing the score to 32-30 Black River with 3:40 left. Stroup's fifth and sixth throw makes knotted the game at 35 at the 2:30 mark, while Sems' clutch 2-of-2 effort gave the Knights a shocking 37-35 lead with 52.6 seconds on the clock. Medina Christian, which also got rapidly improving Ansley Wood's fourth and fifth 3-pointers of the season, then survived a few turnovers and got enough stops to hold on. "In the end, we all dug really deep," the 5-foot Rauckhorst said. "We were all really tired this game. We all just really looked at each other and said, 'Defense is how we're going to win this game.' We were there for each other as a team." And her 3-pointers? "(I thought) this is going bring us back up," she said. "They lifted the team's energy so much." Koberna was incredible in the first half, scoring the first 15 Black River points before Heidi Clark found Morgan Kubitz for a 3-pointer that broke an 0-for-21 shooting stretch by players not named Koberna. A physical 5-7 senior who does a great job keeping the ball above her head near the basket, Koberna needed only 11:48 to reach double-double status. The problems for the Pirates were they didn't get other offensive production and had no one defensively who could match up with the long and aggressive Workman. Kubitz added seven points and three assists and Black River won the rebounding battle 54-35, but 14-for-78 shooting (.179) wasn't good enough even on a night when Medina Christian was 12-for-56 (.214). Second-year coach Erin Jackson couldn't have been happier for Koberna, who dove on the floor multiple times for loose balls in the final home game of her career. "Anya was in the right place at the right time," a beaming Jackson said. "She was hustling to get the ball. You could tell she wanted the ball and was getting after it tonight. Her shot was on."She's usually my girl who tells me she can't do it. She'll always say, 'Coach, I can't do it. Coach, I can't do it.' Tonight after the first quarter I said, 'You can do it,' and tonight she was like, 'I can!' That made me happy." The Knights' season of adversity has been well-chronicled, as they began with only six players before Anna Gibson came back from a torn ACL. Workman then returned to the lineup after missing a 37-20 loss to Bristolville Bristol on Monday with an illness and showed no signs of weakness. There aren't many Medina County players in the triple-double club — compiling a list would be impossible — especially ones under 6-foot with blocks as the third category. Workman giggled when informed of the feat but didn't seem too wrapped up in it because she was far more concerned with the victory. "I would say the blocks, I'm proud of myself," she said. "Yeah." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Medina Christian 39, Black River 35MEDINA CHRISTIAN (39): Deanna Pace 0-0-0, Anna Gibson 0-0-0, Anna Sems 1-2-4, Ansley Wood 2-0-6, Grace Workman 7-5-21, Aalijah Rauckhorst 2-0-6, Leah Stroup 0-2-2. Totals: 12-9-39.BLACK RIVER (35): Kadence Cassidy 0-0-0, Savanna Mullet 2-0-4, Anya Koberna 9-1-20, Hailee Moskal 1-0-3, Morgan Kubitz 2-2-7, Livy Fralick 0-0-0, Abbey Kiser 0-1-1, Heidi Clark 0-0-0, Grace Racut 0-0-0, Rylee Howard 0-0-0. Totals: 14-4-35.Medina Christian 13 2 7 17 — 39Black River 9 9 6 11 — 35Three-point goals: Medina Christian 6-24 (Wood 2, Workman 2, Rauckhorst 2), Black River 3-17 (Koberna, Moskal, Kubitz). Field goals: Medina Christian 12-56 (21.4 percent), Black River 14-78 (17.9 percent). Free throws: Medina Christian 9-13 (69.2 percent), Black River 4-12 (33.3 percent). Rebounds: Medina Christian 35 (Workman 15), Black River 54 (Koberna 19). Turnovers: Medina Christian 19, Black River 20. Total fouls: Medina Christian 12, Black River 15. Fouled out: Fralick.