Bees Boys Basketball Better, If Not Bigger

Now that the weather is starting to cooperate, Coach Steve Mehalik believes the Brecksville-Broadview Heights boys basketball team can win some games this season.

"We've played once, had two games postponed by snow, and everybody is getting a little antsy," Mehalik said before the Bees defeated Olmsted Falls 59-34 on Friday night. "We're ready to play. We're tired of banging against each other in practice."

The Bees (2-0, 2-0) showed that in beating the Bulldogs (0-5, 0-3) for the first time in five years.

Mehalik, a former Bees player in his fourth year as head coach after five seasons as an assistant, thinks his experienced squad will compete in the Southwestern Conference.

"Avon Lake is the cream of the crop and Berea is good," Mehalik said. "After that, it is wide open. Unlike last year (4-10 in SWC, 8-14 overall), we have a lot of players coming back. Our biggest loss in the second half of last season was by four points and that was to Avon Lake. We gained confidence and experience."

The Bees are not very tall, but Mehalik likes his players' ability to shoot and their tenacity on defense.

"We've made progress on defense," he said. "We want to try and get out and run a little more, though we're not the biggest team and in order to do that you need to get rebounds."

You also can do it by forcing turnovers and making shots, two areas in which the Bees excel. They hit a school-record 15 three-pointers in their final regular-season game a year ago. In a 31-30 win at Midpark in which they showed off new bright red road uniforms to open this season, they forced 17 turnovers.

Senior guard Kenny Cunningham was the team's Most Valuable Player last season and is joined by Tommy Tupa, Kyle Coronel, Adam Best, Jon Everett, David Haba, Zac Balhorn and Clay Laubacher in a regular rotation.

"Kenny does about everything," Mehalik said. "He can play all five positions, has been playing point guard and is our best defender. Tommy can shoot and he's getting better on defense. He came on strong as a freshman last year and we are looking forward to three good years from him."

Tupa is the son of Brecksville football legend Tom Tupa, who went on to Ohio State and the NFL, including several seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

Balhorn's dad also played basketball at Brecksville and Mehalik is counting on the 6-foot-5 senior to be a key contributor. "He can shoot and is tough to cover," Mehalik said, adding that if Balhorn can hit a few shots from the outside, it would open up opposing defenses and allow quicker players such as Cunningham to drive inside for easier shots.

Snowed-out games against Parma and North Olmsted have been reset for February, when Mehalik believes underclassmen Mark Chrzanowski and Matt Csuhran may be able to step up and provide needed depth when the schedule gets tougher.

BRECKSVILLE BOYS BASKETBALL VARSITY ROSTER

NAME

CLASS

HT

WT

POS

NO.

Balhorn, Zac

SR.

6-5

185

C

42

Best, Adam

SR.

6-2

205

F-C

50

Chrzanowski, Mark

SO.

6-0

165

F

22

Coronel, Kyle

SR.

6-3

185

F-C

24

Csuhran, Matt

SO.

6-2

160

F

12

Cunningham, Kenny

SR.

6-2

170

G

4

Everett, Jonny

SR.

6-0

155

G

13

Haba, David

SR.

6-3

175

C

15

Laubacher, Clay

SR.

6-3

185

C

23

Radjen, Danilo

JR.

6-0

150

G

5

Tupa, Tommy

SO.

6-3

180

F

10

Willey, Bryan

JR.

6-4

165

C

44