The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Cardinals take flight for bounce-back win
Mentor returns to form after loss; VASJ’s schedule doesn’t get easier
Mentor’s 55-mile bus ride home from Medina was long enough Feb. 15, to say nothing of the Cardinals’ loss to the Bees that Friday night.
Luke Floriea, Caleb Piks and their teammates stewed over the loss during the weekend in preparation for a trip to Villa Angela-St. Joseph on Feb. 18. Piks, the team’s sixth man, sparked Mentor’s rebound from the Cardinals’ second loss and their win over the Vikings.
Piks scored 10 of his 18 bench off the bench in the second quarter to help Mentor build a double-digit halftime lead, Chad Rogers led the team with 23 points and the Cardinals won at VASJ, 81-74.
“I hit my first 3 and I know if I hit my first one, it’s always a good sign,” Piks said. “I just go out there, play hard every time, get rebounds, share the ball with my teammates and play hard.”
Floriea added 18 for Mentor as the Cardinals improved to 17-2. Medina defeated Mentor, 74-72, on the back of late free throws Feb. 15.
Three days later, Piks supplied the lift necessary for the Greater Cleveland Conference’s champion. The Cardinals conclude their regular season with games against Elyria, Lake Catholic and Massillon Jackson.
“It gave us a lot of confidence after the Medina game,” Floriea said. “It was kind of a kick in the groin because we played so bad and lost to a mediocre team like that.”
Jaden Hameed’s 3-pointer gave VASJ its first lead, 13-11, late in the first quarter and the Vikings went up, 16-14, by the end of the period. The score was tied, 2020, when Alex Edward’s and-one layup preceded Piks’ momentum-swinging quarter.
The junior’s first 3 stretched Mentor’s lead to nine, 31-22, and he added another to put the Cardinals up by double-digits, 34-24. Mentor led, 39-28, at half. The Cardinals sustained their 11-point lead into the fourth quarter, 56-45.
VASJ drew within six, 68-62, when Jordan Calhoun scored seven unanswered points for the Vikings. Edwards provided the response when Floriea penetrated and kicked out to the senior in the corner, who sank a 3 in front of VASJ’s shrieking student section. The Vikings’ momentum halted and Mentor secured its victory at the foul line.
Coach Bob Krizancic was satisfied by the Cardinals’ rebounding, defensive effort and mental response to a sluggish performance at Medina.
“A sign of a really solid team,” Krizancic said. “I think going into this weekend it was huge, also. You don’t want to go into backto-back home games with two losses.”
Hameed led VASJ with 23 points and Calhoun added 19 on his senior night. The Vikings are 13-6 and 7-2 in the North Coast League’s Blue division.
VASJ lost for the second time in as many games after its defeat at Benedictine Feb. 15. The Vikings continue a brutal stretch of games Feb. 19 at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary and Feb. 21 at St. Edward, before they travel more than an hour south to play St. Thomas Aquinas. VASJ’s final regular-season game is a must-win to claim its league title.
Coach Babe Kwasniak was effusive in praise for Krizancic and Mentor’s program postgame. He’s also aware the Vikings’ performance must improve, quickly, with additional elite opponents on this week’s schedule.
“You’re not going to beat them with your Cplus game, C-minus game,” Kwasniak said. “That’s what it was tonight.”
“I think going into this weekend it was huge, also. You don’t want to go into backto-back home games with two losses.” — Mentor coach Bob Krizancic, on winning