The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lake Catholic boys beat hometown rival Mentor
Malchesky’s rebounding allows Cougars to control pace, stop Mentor
Lake Catholic ended its regular season on a high note by dropping city rival Mentor.
Lake Catholic entered its regular-season finale at crosstown rival Mentor already accomplished.
The Cougars swept Benedictine and Villa Angela-St. Joseph for the first time, and won a share of the North Coast League’s Blue Division title.
Add the program’s first victory against Mentor to Lake Catholic’s résumé.
Luka Eller scored a gamehigh 26 points, Luke Frazier added 24 and junior Joey Malchesky ripped down 17 rebounds to lead the Cougars to a 66-56 victory that sent their student section storming onto Mentor’s floor at the end of regulation.
“Ever since last year, we’ve been thinking about this game,” Eller said. “We knew we were going to schedule them again. Especially winning at their place in front of, what, 2,500 people, it’s a great feeling.”
Lake Catholic finished the regular season 16-6. The Cougars are the No. 2 seed at the Division II Ashtabula District and open the postseason against the winner between John Hay and NDCL on Feb. 28.
While Eller and Frazier scored to their customary rates, Malchesky’s rebounding helped Lake Catholic control tempo and prevent Mentor from establishing its preferred fast-paced tempo. On four occasions, Malchesky tracked down offensive rebounds following missed free throws.
At half, the Cougars held a 19-4 rebounding margin and outrebounded the Cardinals by 23 at game’s end.
Frazier called Malchesky the game’s MVP, as he fulfilled a critical role in Coach Matt Moran’s game plan.
“It won us the game,” Moran said. “We stressed that they’re a type of team that you can’t give them the opportunities to get second, third shots. If we’re not shooting the ball well, we needed to produce second, third shots and that’s what he did for us.”
Additionally, Malchesky and senior Christian DeMitro delivered outstanding perimeter defense to prevent Mentor’s offense from finding rhythm in the half court.
“Luke and Luka are obviously going to score all the points,” Malchesky said. “Everybody else just tries
doing their part. We take pride in what we do. We try to hustle out there all the time.”
Frazier, a 6-foot-5 Dayton signee, opened the game emphatically as he skied for a one-handed dunk on the second possession. He scored seven points and added a soaring chasedown block in transition to help Lake Catholic take a 13-10 lead after a quarter.
After Eller went scoreless in the first period, he scored 14 of the Cougars’ 16 points in the second as Lake Catholic built a 29-24 lead headed into halftime.
Luke Floriea, who made five 3-pointers, cut Mentor’s deficit to a point, 3534, with a 3 before Eller responded with an and-one layup. Another 3 from Floriea brought the Cardinals within two late in the third, but Eller tipped in a miss to keep the Cougars ahead, 50-46.
When Eller split a pair of free throws early in the fourth, Malchesky won an offensive rebound and kicked out to Frazier for a 3-pointer that extended Lake Catholic’s lead to seven, 54-47. Frazier found Eller for a layup moments later to give the Cougars their largest lead, 58-47.
Chad Rogers’ 3 cut Lake Catholic’s lead to five, 61-56, inside of a minute to play. Mentor missed two quality looks from 3 on its next possession and the Cougars closed our their victory at the foul line then celebrated with their student section at midcourt.
Friendships and bloodlines run deep between the two teams. Many players on each side were teammates in youth leagues and on AAU teams growing up. Off the court, the Cardinals and Cougars share common social circles. In Moran’s case,
his nephew, Luke Chicone, starts at point guard for Mentor.
Now, Lake Catholic begins its tournament run bolstered by a signature victory.
“It makes us a lot more positive,” Frazier said. “We’re going uphill. We know what we’re doing.”
Floriea scored 23 points for the Cardinals and Rogers added 11. Mentor finished the season 16-6 and suffered its first home loss of the year.
A day after beating Solon to clinch a share of the Greater Cleveland Conference title, the Cardinals struggled to create tempo — an issue compounded by Lake Catholic’s dominance on the glass. Mentor’s pressure was also ineffective due to the length of Frazier and the 6-foot-9 Eller, who were able to pass over the Cardinals when they trapped.