The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Defense lifts Cards to GCC victory over Elyria
Mentor holds Pioneers to four points in third quarter; postseason up next
Both teams kept on fighting. The Mentor Cardinals fought back from a six-point deficit in the first quarter and held the Elyria Pioneers to four points in the third quarter on their way to a 58-52 win in a Greater Cleveland Conference girls basketball matchup Feb. 11 at Mentor.
Mentor improves to 4-9 on the season with the win and will play Aurora in a sectional semifinal on Feb. 16. Elyria falls to 0-14 and will take on North Ridgeville on Feb. 13.
Although Elyria left Mentor without a win, it wasn’t all bad for the Pioneers.
For most of the first quarter, the Pioneers looked like a team on their way to their first win of the season. Sharpshooter Taylor Mehl was lights out, as she scored 11 of the Pioneers’ 17 points to begin the game.
“We had ball movement and we were finding our shooters,” Elyria head coach Anthony Brown said afterward. “We found the right people at the right time. Taylor Mehl was hot.”
Mehl finished with a gamehigh 18 points.
The Cardinals quickly figured out Mehl and held her to one made 3 in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Mentor went on an 11-3 run to go ahead 3121 with three minutes to play before intermission.
Defense turned out to be the recipe for success for the Cardinals.
“Our press was pretty much the ticket tonight,” Mentor head coach James Hrusovsky said. “It gave us the energy we needed and the momentum in the second quarter. The girls responded well after Elyria was on that run in the first quarter.”
Elyria’s first-quarter run wasn’t the only one the Pioneers had in the arsenal.
They answered Mentor’s lead with an 8-1 run of their own, which cut the Cardinals’ advantage to 32-29 at halftime.
Then, the Mentor defense prevailed once again.
In the third quarter, the Cardinals held the Pioneers to four points. Mentor also built a 17-point lead — the largest of the night.
“The biggest thing is we ended up not helping off their two shooters. That was one of the adjustments that we made,” Hrusovsky said. “Sofia (Kraska) and Kiley (Kolschetzky) did an awesome job with that. We got some tips and steals to get the ball out in transition to Bella (Carcioppolo), which allowed Brooke (Hickman) to finish as well.”
Carcioppolo and Hickman each scored a teambest 14 points. Hickman also finished one board shy of a double-double and hauled in her 450th career rebound. Kraska led Mentor with five steals.
“Our defense is all about communication. That’s what we base ourselves on,” Hickman said. “If we can communicate and rotate while being aware of the shooters, it definitely helps us.”
In the final eight minutes, Elyria battled from down 17 points and outscored Mentor, 19-8. The Cardinals held on to secure the victory.
Elyria’s Emma Miller scored 12 of her 13 points during the final quarter.
Boys basketball
1: (1) Mentor 14-0 2: (2) Brush 11-5
3: (3) Richmond Heights 10-4
4: (5) Perry 10-1 5: (4) University 10-4 6: (6) Beachwood 3-2 7: (7) Riverside 11-5 8: (9) Chagrin Falls 5-3 9: (8) Kenston 5-3 10: (10) Gilmour 7-7
Watch list: Andrews Osborne, Cornerstone Christian, Chardon, Fairport, Kirtland, Madison, Mayfield, South
Crop comments: No. 1 Mentor was scheduled to play Strongsville on Feb. 12, but the Cardinals will now play at Riverside in a non-conference contest. The big question is if Mentor can go undefeated in the regular season. That’s never happened under Coach Bob Krizancic . ... The race for the Clark Kellogg Award is heating up. Mentor’s Luke Chicone and Brush’s Elmore James each recently had 40-point games . ... The Arcs face a huge test Feb. 13 when they play at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary . ... The anticipated showdown between Mentor and Brush scheduled for Feb. 20 won’t be played, according to Mentor athletic director Jeff Cassella. The earliest the teams can meet in the postseason is at the Division I regional tournament — if both advance. ... Perry continues to rise as it is now at No. 4. The Pirates host crosstown rival Harvey on Feb. 12 . ... No. 3 Richmond Heights was scheduled to play Shaker Heights on Feb. 13 but that non-conference game has been postponed . ... Fairport’s gym is unavailable, and its first tournament game Feb. 23 against Andrews Osborne will be played at Madison High School.