Tuesday night’s boys basketball game against Maple Heights at Ohio’s Medina High School provided a chance for a community to pay tribute to one of its own. Sierra Bland, a 17-year-old who attended Medina, died Dec. 13 after a battle with ALS. Her funeral was Monday.
There was a moment of silence before the game, and those in attendance wore blue “Sierra Strong” t-shirts. As time ticked down and with the hosts trailing by a point, a former classmate of Bland’s paid tribute the best way he could.
Ben Geschke hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, giving Medina the 72-70 win on an emotional night.
Maple Heights had just missed the front end of a one-and-one to set up Medina’s final chance. According to Cleveland.com, Geschke asked Medina head coach Chris Hassinger in the huddle if he could play off the ball and take the last shot with his team down a point.
Hassinger then drew up a plan that began with Luke Schaefer inbounding the ball from the far sideline to Tyler Kaminski on a give-and-go. Medina had just 4.9 seconds to make this play work, and Schaefer plowed toward the top of the 3-point arc before getting the ball to Geschke on the right wing.
As Gerschke said on camera, he had not hit a shot of that magnitude before. The game-winning trey kept Medina unbeaten at 5-0. More than that, it was his and his team’s own way of paying tribute to Bland and her family.
“In the locker room and pregame speech, we talked about dedicating this win for her,” Geschke told Cleveland.com. “And we went out there and gave it our all for her.”
The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help with the medical and funeral expenses. It has received nearly $18,000 in donations.
Geschke, meanwhile, was able to provide his own special tribute. It’s worth one more look.