The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mentor grinds out victory
A group of weary but excited Mentor Cardinals gathered in their locker room after a knock-down, drag-out, fight to the finish with familiar foe Medina in a Division I regional semifinal on March 11.
After 40 minutes of backand-forth in front of a limited crowd due to novel coronavirus concerns, Mentor junior Luke Chicone, who carried his team on his back most of the night, made one final big play.
The Cardinals led by two points with 10 seconds to go in the second overtime. Medina’s Kyle Szumski drove for another of his patented layups, but Chicone reached out, took the ball away, was fouled, and sank both free throws to give Mentor a 7672 victory.
Mentor advances to a regional final on March 14 to face another familiar opponent for the third time this season, Shaker Heights. The Red Raiders were a 83-71 victory over Canton McKinley in the opener.
“If he was gonna get it he was gonna have to earn it,”
Chicone said. “I knew it was our jump ball. So if I got a hold of it, it would be our ball. I just happened to take it from him.”
Chicone put forth a Herculean effort to lead his team to victory, scoring 39 points, including 14 of 16 from the line, grabbing nine rebounds, and adding three steals.
Chad Rogers scored 16 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots. The efforts of Chicone and Rogers, and all of the Cardinals’ role players, became doubly important after Luke Floriea picked up his fifth foul with about 3:40 left in regulation.
“He’s second-team allstate,” Chicone said of Floriea, who could only helplessly watch and root his team on from the bench down the stretch and in overtime. “We knew we had to keep our composure, and I thought we did a great job of that.”
Mentor held a 52-46 lead with three minutes left in regulation, but Szumski, who scored 29 points for Medina, scored to cut it to 52-48. Corey Tripp (24 points) sank two free throws after a Mentor turnover, then traded free throws with Chicone until Szumski hit another layup with 18 seconds left to send it to overtime at 54-54.
Medina built a 62-57 lead in the overtime period, but Chicone willed the Cardinals back. A pair of free throws by Cael Gray brought Mentor within 6463 before Szumski hit a free throw. With 15 seconds left, Chicone converted an acrobatic reverse layup in which he jumped between two defenders and weaved through to send the game to the second overtime at 65-65.
Mentor took a 69-68 lead on a pair of Chicone free throws in the second overtime, and Mentor stayed ahead from there, although Szumski brought Medina within 74-72 to give the Bees one last shot before Chicone’s steal.
“I didn’t want to go to overtime because Floriea was out of the game,” Mentor coach Bob Krizancic said. “Probably in the last two years we haven’t had to play without one of our two guards. I thought playing in the Brush game down six with four minutes left (helped us) keep our composure. In the second OT, I thought every one of our offensive possessions was solid.”
Krizancic praised the efforts of his role players, including Kyle Culler, Caleb Piks, Andrew Witte, and Cael Gray, who all provided solid minutes in helping the Cardinals win.
“Coach K always tells us to be ready,” said Piks, who has two fingers on one hand in a splint from an injury earlier in the season. “When the ball goes up, anything goes.”
Mentor led, 14-12, after one quarter, and took a 29-28 lead into halftime on a key play by Piks. The 6-foot-5 senior poked the ball away from a Medina player who had just grabbed a defensive rebound, and pushed it forward to Culler, who scored in the paint to put the Cardinals in front at the break.
Mentor, Medina, and Shaker Heights finished as the top three teams in the Greater Cleveland Conference this season. With Medina out of the picture, the Cardinals will turn their focus to the Red Raiders, with a trip to state on the line.
“I’m ecstatic, can’t wait,” Piks said.