The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
MENTOR CAN’T KEEP UP WITH SOLON’S PACE
The Mentor Cardinals lost a basketball game on Dec. 22 but learned a valuable lesson in the process.
The small and quick Solon Comets outhustled Mentor in their own gym to run away with an 80-66 GCC triumph after trailing, 22-18, at the end of one quarter.
Cardinals coach Bob Krizancic had a simple explanation about why his team was beaten by state-ranked Solon despite being shorter.
“I thought we got the ball stripped 10 or 12 times minimum,” Krizancic said. “I asked our four coaches what the main factor was and they said Solon played harder than us and was more physical.
“When you look at turnovers, when you look at loose basketballs, when you look at boards, we lost them. When you look at the toughness categories, Solon won them.”
The Comets are state-ranked for a reason. Six-foot guard Sincere Carry, bound for West Liberty (W.Va.) University on a basketball scholarship, scored 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out 10 assists. He surpassed the 1,000-point total for his career with his 21-point effort. Trent Williams led Solon with 25 points, many of them scored on the dishes handed out by Carry.
“We play fast, we press and get the ball out,” Carry said. “It’s not really run and gun, but we push the tempo.”
“It’s fun playing that way because we don’t have the height advantage.”
The 22-18 first quarter Mentor lead grew to 25-18 on a 3-pointer by Caden Kryz to open the scoring in the second quarter, but that’s when Solon tightened up defensively. The Comets turned the seven-point deficit into a 37-29 halftime lead. Holding Mentor to seven points in the second quarter was the turning point in the game, Solon coach David Leskovec said.
“We settled for outside shots instead of taking it to the hole,” Krizancic said. “It’s been a strange year. The first quarter we’ve done really well. The second and third has not been good for us.
“When we had our really good teams, you take care of the basketball for 32 minutes. Compete on the boards for 32 minutes. A lot of the categories we’re losing at is why we lost.”
The Solon advantage grew to 57-42 at the end of three quarters.
The Cardinals put on a full-court press and cut the lead to 70-60 on a steal and lay-up by Mentor senior Shane Zalba, but the Cardinals could get no closer.
The Cardinals and Comets will meet again in February in Mentor’s gym.
“We know where we stand,” Krizancic said. “We have to get tougher. We have to get tougher in the paint. We have to take care of the basketball. We have to be stronger with the basketball. When you know that, that’s a plus.”
Matt Koski led the Cardinals with 17 points. Tadas Tatarunas added 14 and Zalba 12 points.