Young Mentor squad developing in summer

Luke Chicone didn’t attract much attention at Mentor during the winter season.

Chicone arrived at Mentor High School with a reputation

as one of Northeast Ohio’s most skilled freshmen. He began his first high school season at a slight 5-foot-5 and split time between the Cardinals’ junior varsity and varsity teams, playing limited minutes across 21 games for Coach Bob Krizancic at the varsity level.

Headed into his sophomore year, Chicone hopes to capture more attention. He’s grown to 5-foot-8 since the end of the winter season, added to his frame through time in the weight room and continued to develop his advanced skills on the perimeter.

“I’m trying to get looked at,” Chicone said. “I might be small and everything, and young, but I just want to get a couple colleges to know my name and stuff.”

Minutes for Chicone were sparse behind all-district point guard Shane Zalba, who led the Cardinals in scoring, passing, rebounding, steals and blocks. Zalba now heads to the college ranks to play at Baldwin Wallace.

Krizancic will count on Chicone and a host of new faces in the upcoming winter. Zalba, Matt Koski, Tadas Tatarunas, Caden Kryz, Chad Blessing, Ben Gingrich and Nick Ventura graduated after logging significant minutes last season.

The onus of replacing multi-year contributors adds significance to the Cardinals’ summer work. Mentor attended team camps at Cleveland State and Denison University and competed in the Terry Rozier Summer League alongside Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, Lake Catholic and Beachwood.

Assistant coach Aaron May, who coached the summer league team, says the offseason work is huge for players like Chicone and the program’s younger members like rising senior Alex Edwards and rising junior Caleb Piks.

Although a down year is anticipated externally, Mentor’s expectations won’t change. It’s up to the Cardinals to prepare accordingly.

“In Mentor, we always talk about we’re going to take everybody’s best shot,” May said, “no matter what, just because we have Mentor on our chest.”

Rising junior guard Luke Floriea returns as the team’s lone starter. He averaged 9.2 points and 3.4 assists per game as a sophomore. Between Chicone and Floriea, Krizancic figures to have guard play at the caliber of his liking.

As Edwards, Piks and others fill out the rotation, the Cardinals should benefit from years of experience playing together.

“We’re really young but we’ve been playing with each other since third, fourth grade, maybe,” Chicone said. “We just know how each other plays, so it should be pretty good.”

Chicone scored 18 points in a 59-52 win against John Hay in the Cardinals’ summer league finale on July 2. Chicone ran the team on the floor with Floriea absent, handed out four assists and collected three rebounds.

Chicone’s largest improvement was evident in his ability to beat defenders off the dribble and attack the basket.

After the Cardinals finished as the Division I Euclid District runner-up to state finalist Solon, Chicone’s growth may prove a determining factor in how long Mentor competes next winter.

“I think we lost six out of our top seven scorers, so people probably think we’re going to be down,” May said. “Hopefully by the time March comes, we’re ready and we’re right where we usually are.”

Chicone