BARBERTON: The 12th annual K. Jack Greynolds Memorial Classic concluded Saturday with the namesake’s son and grandson celebrating a victory.
K. Jack Greynolds Jr. and Jordan Greynolds each played integral parts in Barberton’s 63-49 win over Northwestern in the sixth and final game of the day on Greynolds Floor.
“It is obviously great to be back at Barberton,” said Greynolds Jr., who is in his first season as Barberton coach following a lengthy run at GlenOak.
“This is a place I love dearly. There is not a better community in the entire state and there is no better basketball community in the entire state.”
Greynolds Jr. played basketball for his father at Barberton and graduated in 1984, and is now enjoying having his son, Jordan, a 6-foot-4 junior, on the Magics team. Assistant Mike Soyars, a 1987 Barberton graduate, is also coaching his son, sophomore Jordan Soyars.
Junior Zane Ries led Barberton (2-1) with 16 points and four assists, Jordan Greynolds scored 15 points and Jordan Soyars totaled 12 points, five rebounds and three steals.
“It is really exciting to play in this Classic,” Jordan Greynolds said. “Coming back to Barberton is something I have always wanted to do. ... I am really excited to be here. I am not feeling any pressure. I am having fun and liking the group of guys I am with.”
Junior Garrett Turnbaugh had seven points and five rebounds for Barberton and sophomore Maxwell Littlejohn had five points and five assists.
“We had good tempo the whole game and pushed the ball up the floor,” Ries said.
Senior Derek Koch, a 6-9 Bowling Green recruit, had 24 points for Northwestern (2-1).
Hoban 46, GlenOak 42
Collen Gurley, a 6-3 junior, led Hoban (1-1) to a victory in the fifth game of the Classic by scoring 16 points. The Knights utilized a 22-point third quarter to flip a 24-18 halftime deficit into a 40-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter, and then hung on to get the win.
“We had to bounce back after taking a tough [66-60] loss [Friday],” Gurley said. “It was a close game against [Columbus] St. Charles. We came home and put that game behind us. After halftime tonight, we put everything we could on the floor to get the win.”
Hoban’s Jake Snyder and Brian Cuppett each scored nine points, and Cartier Bickley contributed eight points.
“We have 10 football guys come back [from the two-time Division III state championship team], and we are tyring to integrate them in [to our varsity and junior varsity basketball teams] because physically they are pretty gifted, but we only had two and a half days of practice with them,” Hoban coach T.K. Griffith said.
“Trying to integrate them in while also trying to win games at the same time is hard. I was mostly pleased with Jake Snyder and Isaiah Jackson. I thought they gave us a lot from the sophomore class. Snyder in particular gave us nine points. Jackson gave us defense, and Bradley Reece and Garrett Houser each made a bucket.”
GlenOak’s leading scorers were Trajen Wood (15 points) and Cross Mason (12 points).
Jackson 73, Firestone 39
Jackson (1-0) used its height to its advantage to win the fourth game of the Classic. Each of the Polar Bears’ starting five was taller than all five starters for the Falcons (1-4).
Senior Logan Hill, a 6-5 Toledo recruit, totaled 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals, and senior Kyle Young, a 6-7 Butler recruit, finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
The win was also the 100th for Tim Debevec, who is in his sixth year as Jackson coach.
“That’s not important,” Debevec said about the 100th win. “We have to get better. I enjoy coaching and I’m not worried about the wins and losses. We are trying to get better.”
Debevec, a 1988 Barbeton graduate, acknowledged it was “cool” to get 100 at Barberton.
“It’s always great to be back,” Debevec said. “I played for coach Greynolds and this classic is named in honor of him. This is a great event.”
Michael Zitney, a 6-8 senior, had 12 points, seven rebounds and two steals for Jackson.
Tre’Maine Gray, a 5-11 senior, led Firestone with 24 points and seven rebounds.
Maumee Valley Country Day 51, Manchester 50
Van Wallbrown (15 points), JoJo France (14 points) and Nick Beans (11 points) led the Panthers (2-1) in Saturday’s opening game. Zeb Jackson led MVCD (4-0) with 23 points. Dez Jett scored 22 points and Jaiden Woodley contributed 15 points for the Hawks.
Cuyahoga Falls 44, Norton 29
Jashawn Campbell scored 10 points, and Nate Vassalotti and Troy Tofil each scored eight points to guide the Black Tigers (2-2) to a victory in the Classic’s second game. Christian Cheatham (10 points) and Dominick Reinart (nine points) paced Norton.
Cleveland John Marshall 53, Cuyahoga Heights 43
Mandrell Hall led the Lawyers to a victory in Game No. 3 of the Classic with 22 points. Brett Lowther dropped in 21 points for the Redskins.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the #ABJVarsity high school blog at www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.