Medina tops Barker to claim N-O title outright

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 14 February 2017 at 9:03 pm

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Medina’s Brendan Luthart puts up a shot as Nate Luckman (4) and Jacob Arnold (3) defend for Barker. The action took place during the Mustangs win over the host Raiders this evening.

Putting a lock on outright possession of a second straight Niagara-Orleans League championship, Medina posted an 80-42 victory over host Barker this evening.

Jalin Cooper scored 23, Johnny Salone 18, Brendan Luthart 13 and Izaiah Rhim 11 to lead the attack for Medina which improves to 11-0 in the league and 15-4 overall. Mason Lewis added 5, Vincent Montague 4, Tyrellis Atkins 3, Michael Cardone 2 and Tyler Howard 1 for the Mustangs.

Medina’s Michael Cardone looks to pass as Evan Ecker defends for Barker.

Nate Luckman paced Barker with 19 as Jacob Arnold added 5, Eddie Wasnock and Evan Ecker 4, Ryan Voss and Austin Sullivan 3 and Shawn Callaghan and Malik Smith 2.

Barker pulled even at 16-16 early in the second period after a three-point play by Luckman but Medina answered with a key 13-1 run and the Mustangs were never headed.

Salone had a layup and a three-point play, Cooper a pair of layups, Montague a layup and Luthart a bucket during that run as the Mustangs opened up a 29-17 advantage.

Cooper had a total of 8 and Salone 7 in the period which ended with the Mustangs up by a dozen at 35-23.

The Mustangs then broke the contest wide open by exploding for a 16-0 scoring burst over the first three minutes of the third period to open up a commanding 28 point, 51-23, advantage. A slam dunk by Cooper, along with a steal and layup by Salone, highlighted that uprising. Rhim and Cooper both had a total of 6 and Salone 4 during that key stretch.

In all, Medina outpointed Barker 27-9 in the deceive period to extend the advantage to 30, 62-32, at the three-quarter mark. Cooper tallied 8, Rhim and Salone 6 each and Luthart 5 during that uprising.

Medina held a slender 14-13 lead at the end of the first period as Luckman tallied 8, including a pair of threes, to keep Barker close.

Medina will now close out the N-O campaign at Akron at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Barker, which is now 4-7 in N-O action, will wrap up the N-O season at home Thursday against Roy-Hart.

Medina also defeated Barker in the JV game 52-44 as Brian Fry scored 22 and Tyler Chinn 12.