Medina girls basketball leans on depth and chemistry to move forward after Klanac’s graduation

When Karen Kase looks over at her bench, Medina’s girls basketball coach sees—well, it’s more about what she doesn’t see. While they could do without them, coaches sometimes love these kinds of challenges.

What Kase doesn’t see is Olivia Klanac, someone the 13-year mentor was accustomed to seeing for the past four years. And now Kase has some things to figure out.

How do you replace the best player in program history and one of the best ever to come from the area? Klanac scored a school- and county-record 1,837 points, nearly 600 of them last year. She helped Medina win 75 games during her career, all of which she spent as a starter before heading to Coastal Carolina University.

It won’t be easy, but Kase will have plenty of help as her team heads into its final season of Greater Cleveland Conference competition before moving to the more geographically friendly Suburban League.

Four starters return from the 2024-25 team, which finished 19-6, was GCC runner-up and made it to the Sweet 16 in the state tournament. Seniors Abby Dress (5-foot-9, forward), Addy Shook (5-9, guard) and Vivian Kelps (5-7, guard) are back along with 5-8 junior guard Molly Gilbert.

Two more seniors, Bri Kudley (5-7, forward) and Aly Gacek (5-11, forward), and 5-3 junior guard Gillian Kurka bring back additional experience. While none of those seven can duplicate what Klanac did, as a group they’ll still be potent and may be able to do it by committee.

“This team has excellent chemistry. They are wonderful young adults involved in many activities,” Kase said. “The returners own a ton of experience in big games and are good athletes. Consistency and on-court leadership will progress as the season continues.”

Beyond the immediate future, things will sit largely in the hands of a pair of freshmen, 5-9 guard Haylie Perdue and 5-8 forward Kinley Miller.

If there’s one thing missing—and it’s a big one, literally—it’s big players. Kase pointed out they are not a tall team. Without a single 6-footer and only one player approaching that number, the Bees will have to play bigger than they are.

Shook and Dress were All-GCC players last season, with Gilbert and Kelps earning honorable mentions. The cupboard is by no means bare.

Things that have been trademarks of Kase-coached teams—and even going back to the days when Chris Hassinger led the program—are that Medina works hard and plays hard. Many teams over the past two decades have overachieved and accomplished a fair amount without a superstar in the forefront. Medina will have to be one of those teams this year.

The Bees finished second to Strongsville a year ago and just ahead of Mentor, and the GCC promises to be solid again.

“We need to find player leaders, and we play a very tough schedule as usual,” Kase said. “Several showcase games are on the schedule along with the KSA Tournament in Florida.”

The Bees indeed will have a strong slate that, in addition to the final run through the GCC, includes Magnificat, Holy Name and future SL foes Highland and Stow.