The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Cards power past Panthers
When two players combine to score 60 points, it’s a tough hole for the other team to crawl out of.
That is something Euclid learned in its matchup with Mentor as the Cardinals downed the Panthers, 90-65, in a Greater Cleveland Conference clash. Mentor remains undefeated at 13-0, while Euclid falls below .500 to 4-5.
The duo of Luke Chicone and Jonah Waag combined for 60 of the Cardinals’ 90 points, each ending with 30 apiece.
The pair has been playing together for a long time, and they both know the chemistry they have is one that helps them play basketball the way Mentor is supposed to.
“That’s how Mentor plays basketball,” Chicone said. “We play AAU together, we’ve played together a long time so we’re used to playing off of each other. We both had it going on offense tonight, and it went very well.”
“Growing up playing with Luke, I know what he’s going to do. He knows what I’m going to do,” Waag said. “We just have to keep giving each other the ball and executing on offense.”
On an offense that includes Steven Key, who is also in the top 15 in The News-Herald coverage area in scoring, and Ian Kipp, there are a lot of mouths to feed. But Chicone and Waag both know no matter who has the hot hand, they are going to continue to play unselfishly.
“We like to play fast and tough,” Chicone said. “We have a goal of scoring 100 a game. So on a night like tonight, everyone knows that they’re going to score. We’re a bunch of unselfish guys, so as long as we’re winning it doesn’t matter.”
“Nobody on this team is going to play selfishly,” Waag added. “If Luke’s doing well we’re going to get him the ball, if Steven’s playing well, we’ll get it to him. It goes between all of us and staying unselfish.”
While the scoreboard might say one story, the play on the court says another. Despite winning by 25 points, Mentor coach Bob Krizancic had a very intimidating statement postgame: that his team still isn’t playing at its best.
“We have to do a better job shooting the ball,” Krizancic said. “We’ve been inconsistent at times and let teams back into the game, a lot like tonight. We can’t play the game perfect, but right now we’re playing the game 30%-40% well. We haven’t even come close to playing our absolute best yet.”
The letting a team back into a game issue Mentor has had showed up in this game as Euclid kept within 20 for a majority of the game. Euclid coach John Kane said despite the loss, he told his team they need to just focus on winning the next one.
“We have another opportunity to win tomorrow,” Kane said. “We played Medina, and they’re the No. 7 team in the area, and that was the best game we’ve played since I became head coach. We played Mentor well for three quarters. Unfortunately basketball is a four-quarter game.”
Euclid finished with three players in double figures: Michael Patterson (15), Clayton Cunningham (14) and Jaden Wanton (10).
Both teams are playing five games in a seven-day stretch, and both are back on the court Feb. 10. Euclid steps out of conference to play Garfield Heights in its third game in three days, while Mentor takes on GCC opponent Strongsville.