The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mentor, RH hope tournament can resume
Seventeen hours after Mentor walked off the court victorious in a double-overtime regional semifinal against Medina, the Cardinals gathered in their locker room at the school. Coach Bob Krizancic informed them of news they already saw — their season may be over.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association indefinitely postponed all postseason tournaments March 12 due to concerns over novel coronavirus.
After Krizancic addressed his team and put forth a positive message, assuring that all possible would be done to continue the season, he held his three senior captains back. Krizancic asked Luke Floriea, Chad Rogers and Caleb Piks how they felt.
No one answered. Heads in their hands seated next to each other, they released pent-up emotion they withheld in front of their teammates.
“There’s no feeling or words that can explain how I feel right now and how I want to just be able to play, and keep going,” Rogers said. “I know if it ends, we’re going to end on a win but I’d rather go out knowing that we did all we could to try to get to a state championship and possibly win a state championship than to end like this.”
Krizancic called the news brutal.
“First thing I thought of is, my players are going to be devastated,” Krizancic said. “How do I tell them?”
During a news conference in Columbus, OHSAA executive director Jerry Snodgrass said cancellation of the tournaments is an option but the state it not yet willing to go that far.
Likewise, Coach Quentin Rogers and the Richmond Heights Spartans’ quest for a return to the Division IV state final four is on hold.
Richmond Heights defeated Warren JFK in a Canton regional semifinal March 10 and was scheduled to play Lucas in the regional championship March 13. Rogers said the postponement was shocking.
“The biggest thing is the seniors,” Rogers said. “So much time and effort ... this is their last go-around. They don’t even get a chance to even attempt a goal they’ve been trying for their whole high school career. That’d be real bad, that’s the worst out of all of it to be honest with you.”
Both Krizancic and Rogers met with their respective teams following the end of the school day. Mentor and Richmond Heights planned to continue to practice, but all athletic activities appear to be shelved after Governor Mike DeWine ordered Ohio’s schools to close from the end of the day March 16 until April 3.
“We’ll do what we’ve been doing,” Rogers said. “As long as school’s open, we’ll be doing what we’ve been doing. Practice like any other day, we’ll just keep them focused, locked in. Nothing will change. If schools and stuff, things like that, or if they cancel the season, obviously, we just shut it down.”
Krizancic said keeping the student-athletes in the gym can help their mentality. He’s hopeful, too, Mentor can stay in game shape in the event the tournament resumes.
Floriea, Rogers, Piks and fellow captain, junior Luke Chicone, are doing what they can to keep their teammates spirits up. After they met with Krizancic, the Cardinals headed to a nearby church to play.
“It’s hard because everyone was looking at it realistically,” Floriea said. “The chances of us playing aren’t looking great, so it’s hard to keep everyone’s spirits up. Even mine aren’t exactly through the roof right now.”
Krizancic voiced his displeasure
N-H CLASSIC ALL-STAR GAMES CANCELED
Because of growing concerns about the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, The News-Herald has canceled its upcoming boys and girls all-star basketball games. The News-Herald Classic was set for March 28 at Lakeland Community College. The all-star games feature the area’s top senior boys and girls basketball players.
It has been an area tradition every year since the event when the OHSAA limited spectators for the regional boys games and state girls basketball and wrestling tournaments. After the NBA opted to suspend its season, Krizancic suspected Ohio would follow suit.
“At first, I wasn’t happy but now I just don’t know,” Krizancic said. “I guess I just hope that, health and everything, that if the NBA resumes and if the NCAA Tournament goes on next week, then Ohio high school will definitely complete the tournament.”
If the state basketball tournament is canceled, Richmond Heights will have ended the season on a 17-game winning streak.
Mentor’s last two games, a victory over Brush in the Euclid District final and gritty double-overtime triumph against Medina at Cleveland State, are among the best wins in Krizancic’s career.
“Those are stories I’m going to tell my kids and my kids’ kids,” Piks said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone else.” was created in 1979. On March 11, Lakeland announced on-campus classroom instruction has been suspended starting March 14 through March 20. The decision by Lakeland came days after several people tested positive for COVID-19 in neighboring Cuyahoga County, and one day after an announcement by the World Health Organization that labeled COVID-19 as a global pandemic.