The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mentor motivated by bitter end to 2019 run
Mentor soared into the 2019 Division I regional tournament at Cleveland State.
The Cardinals’ 20 wins in the regular season set a program record. At the Euclid District, they defeated a Brush team led by a pair of three-year starting guards who moved on to play college basketball. A trip to the state tournament seemed destined.
Then Mentor ran into a hard-nosed, gritty Uniontown Green team that didn’t care what the Cardinals felt they deserved. The Bulldogs played harder and with more physicality than Mentor as they unceremoniously ended the Cardinals’ season.
“We came into it a little bit overconfident,” junior point guard Luke Chicone said, “especially coming off a win against Brush and how good they were last year. I think we came into it satisfied. This year, we’re going into it with a lot of hunger.”
Headed into a regional semifinal against Medina on March 11, Mentor is now at the threshold where last season concluded.
The 77-60 defeat left a bitter taste after the 2018-19 season held many successes. That sour feeling is what motivated Chicone, Luke Floriea, Chad Rogers, Caleb Piks and their returning teammates during the offseason.
Mentor’s high-flying, uptempo brand of basketball was met by Green’s methodical system that deflated the Cardinals and made them uncomfortable for 32 minutes.
Floriea, last year’s leading scorer at 19.3 points per game, was face-guarded and harassed by Green’s wings. He was limited to eight points.
“They just played harder than us,” Floriea said. “A lot harder. We thought we could run in there and roll. We were kind of the bigger name team. We came off a big win against Brush. They kind of set the tone early in the game, and it didn’t change.”
Green’s tenacious style compounded issues presented by playing on the Wolstein Center’s floor.
The infamous green curtain hanging behind one basket creates difficulty gauging depth perception while shooting. Some teams struggle playing on a larger court. Even the style of lighting overhead affects players.
Only Floriea had played there before. But even those minutes were late in a double-digit loss to St. Edward his freshman year. Mentor expects last year’s experience to help the team enter the March 11 game better prepared for the atmosphere and environment.
Mentally, the Cardinals feel they’ve made strides from a year ago — composure visible in their district championship victory against Brush on March 7.
“We showed it in the Brush game,” Chicone said. “We were down six with about four minutes left. We were missing shots, nothing was going our way but we kept our composure, stayed in the game and just stayed strong, made plays down the stretch.”
Krizancic points to Mentor’s ability to earn a share of the league title as further proof of the team’s mental toughness.
The Cardinals split their first four games in Greater Cleveland Conference play, losing at Medina and Solon. Mentor won out — a stretch that included two wins against Shaker Heights and victory over Medina — in league play to share the GCC crown with Medina.
“We never outright said it. But I knew that they were looking to go further than they did last year,” Krizancic said. “I thought a great, great part of this season was to be 2-2 in the league knowing we probably had to win 10 in a row and we played some games that were tournament-type atmosphere, which I thought was really good headed into this part of the season.”
Krizancic believes his players have a better understanding of what’s required to win at the regional level this season. His captains — Chicone, Rogers, Floriea and Piks — are all in at least their second year playing major varsity minutes.
Against Medina, Mentor will have the chance to further demonstrate its growth from last year’s disappointment.
“I’m very excited,” Floriea said. “It’s a cool experience. I just want to keep playing and living to fight another day. This is my last season so I want to win the whole thing and play as many games as possible.”