The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Krizancic’s crew a nightmare for teams as postseason nears
Right or wrong, the book on the 2020-21 Mentor boys basketball team is that the Cardinals just run the opposition off the court with their high-scoring offense.
If you listened real hard around 8 p.m. on Feb. 20, you could probably hear a collective sigh from Division I teams around Ohio.
That’s because while some teams throttle down a little at the end of the regular season to perhaps conserve energy for the upcoming tournament, the Cardinals instead gave everyone else across the state something else to worry about with the postseason on the horizon.
In the Cardinals’ best defensive effort of the season against arguably their toughest test of the season, Mentor scored 30 points fewer than its season average and STILL boat-raced visiting St. Ignatius, 58-33, to end the regular season with a spotless 19-0 record.
During pregame warmups, the Cardinals were announced as the top-ranked Division I team in the state.
Then they went out and played like it, especially on the defensive end of the court.
“That’s always been the misnomer about us, that we’re just a team that runs and shoots,” said coach Bob Krizancic. “Defense dictates everything for us. I thought we showed that tonight. I thought our toughness showed tonight.”
Against a St. Ignatius team (14-5) that was taller at every position across the board, Mentor outrebounded the Wildcats, 28-20. The Cardinals forced 15 turnovers and disrupted anything Coach Cam Joyce’s team wanted to do offensively.
Sure, people might wrinkle their noses a bit that Mentor, which came into the game averaging 88.1 points per game, scored only 58 points.
But make no mistake — this game was a statement game for the Cardinals’ defense.
“I think we proved tonight we’re one of the best defensive teams in the state,” said senior Luke Chicone.
And on top of that, one of the most dangerous teams in that the Cardinals can still blow the doors off of top-notch competition when their leading scorer — Chicone — is held 16 points beneath his season average.
With St. Ignatius doing its best not to have Chicone hang 30 on them by himself, Chicone did an exemplary job of driving the lane, drawing doubleteams and kicking out to teammates for easy shots.
Steven Key had a gamehigh 17 points. Jonah Waag had 15 and a teamhigh eight rebounds. Kyle Culler knocked down four 3-pointers.
Chicone had a statbook-stuffing eight points, seven assists, six rebounds, four steals and and countless deflections on defense.
Keep in mind, the Cardinals played without forward Ian Kipp, who was in a walking boot on the Mentor bench.
Add it all up and it makes for a scouting report that might make opposing teams grumble in frustration when trying to find a way to deal with the Cardinals when the postseason starts next week.
Should teams try to run with the Cardinals?
Good luck with that. That’s like challenging Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt to a sprint-off.
Limit Chicone? That doesn’t work. The supporting cast has shown it can more than carry its share of the load when/if the Youngstown State signee is held to single digits.
Slow the pace? Mentor just blew out the toughest team on its schedule by 25 on a night it scored 30 points less than it’s 88.1-per game average.
So how should teams approach the Mentor Cardinals when the Division I tournament starts next week?
Insert massive shoulder-shrug here.
After all, teams are thus far 0-for-19 in finding ways to deal with the Cardinals.
Mentor has shown it can run teams off the floor with a high-scoring offense. It has shown it can pester teams to the point of insanity with its defense. It can deal with teams who have a superior height advantage, and it can hurt the opposition with anyone on the court able to score.
Good luck drawing up a game plan for THAT.
“I think we’re a matchup nightmare,” Krizancic said.
Key word being “nightmare.”