Mentor wins fourth straight

Shane Zalba scored 24 points, Mentor opened up a double-digit lead early and the Cardinals won their fourth game in a row, 75-60, against Strongsville.

Mentor improved to 9-4 for the season. The Cardinals evened their Greater Cleveland Conference record at 4-4 after they lost four of their first five league games.

Headed into a stretch against Shaker Heights, No. 2 Solon and Villa Angela-St. Joseph, Mentor coach Bob Krizancic hoped to see the Cardinals build momentum after a 5-4 start.

“We needed to win three in a row,” Krizancic said. “We needed to get on this win streak going into next week. We’ve had tough weeks before, but the Shaker, Solon, Joe’s, it’s like Februarytime, tournament-time, next week is definitely a telling time for us.”

Omari Peek led all scorers with 28 points for Strongsville.

Matt Koski added 13 points and Tadas Tatarunas chipped in 12 for the Cardinals.

Zalba’s emerged as an offensive leader for Mentor recently. Over his past three games, the Cardinals’ senior point guard has averaged 21.7 points per game.

“I think he can control a game,” Krizancic said. “He gets to the hole as well as anybody we’ve had in a while. He makes a couple mistakes here and there, but if he could not make a couple mistakes I think he’s one of the best guards in the state.”

Mentor travels to Shaker Heights on Jan. 30 in a rematch of the Cardinals’ Dec. 15 loss to the Red Raiders. Shaker Heights’ Christian Guess set the program singlegame scoring record with 57 points against Mentor.

Mentor also lost its first contest against Solon, a 80-66 loss on the Comets’ home floor Dec. 22. After the Cardinals’ host Solon Feb. 2, they’re visited by defending Division III state champion VASJ the next day.

“Going into next week we’ve got to be fundamentally-sound,” Krizancic said, “not make many mistakes. Like I said, going into those three games, you need to go in with some momentum.”