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TWINSBURG, Ohio– Mentor coach Bob Krizancic told his team prior to Saturday afternoon’s regional championship game that intangibles are going to win the game.
Thanks to an aggressive defensive approach along with three players scoring in double figures, the Cardinals earned a trip to Dayton, advancing to the state semifinal next week following a 65-55 win over Medina.
The win improves the Cardinal’s record to 25-0 and with the way the season abruptly ended last year, finally being able to advance to states weekend feels that much more special to Luke Chicone and his team.
“This is where we should’ve been last year if not farther and for it to happen today with these guys it’s surreal,” Chicone said.
Jonah Waag finished with a team-high 19 points followed with 18 and 13 points each from Chicone and Steven Key.
FINAL: Mentor 65, Medina 55. @CardinalCage advances to the final four in Dayton @SportsKee1 @MentorAthletics pic.twitter.com/DnkkwuXyCH
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 13, 2021
Mentor built an early lead throughout the first quarter following a fast start shooting the deep ball. Chicone, Key and Kyle Culler each had at least five points in the opening eight minutes, getting the Cardinals out to an 18-12 lead.
@lukechicone with 5 straight points for Mentor, pushing their lead to 16-9 closing out the first quarter. pic.twitter.com/SFliA7fUFf
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 13, 2021
Culler and Ian Kipp have both battled injuries throughout the last couple of weeks for the Cardinals. With them both back on the court fully healthy, it’s added another dimension to an undefeated team that never lacks confidence.
“We were winning without them which was hard to do,” Waag said. “When we’re all together and playing for each other, it makes a huge difference. It’s just a great team, everyone loves each other.”
The Mentor lead was 13 at halftime and stayed in double figures for most of the third quarter as well.
Medina senior guard Corey Tripp was tough to control all night for the Cardinals. He was the reason Medina cut the Mentor lead into single digits early in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 28 points along with Chris Howard’s 12 to lead the Bees.
It seemed like every time Medina was on the verge of a comeback, Chicone, Waag and the Cardinals were right there with another basket or free throw to keep the game out of reach in the closing minutes.
With Mentor in the double bonus with just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter, they closed out the game at the free-throw line. In fact, they attempted 23 free throws in the fourth quarter alone, connecting on 15 to help remain unbeaten on the year.
The gameplan for Krizancic and his team was to try to limit Tripp from taking over the game. Albeit he scored 28 points, only one other player had more than six points to pace the Medina offense.
“Corey is a really great player and we know he is going to score,” Waag said. “We said if we can hold the other players to less than 10 each we would be fine. Corey was going to go to work and we all had to take away our man.”
With the poor shooting performance early on from Medina as a whole, that played a big part in Mentor controlling the game early on, explained Chicone.
“It was definitely a big factor, I just think that these guys want it more than anybody in the state right now.”
FINAL: Mentor 65, Medina 55. @CardinalCage advances to the final four in Dayton @SportsKee1 @MentorAthletics pic.twitter.com/DnkkwuXyCH
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 13, 2021
With the win, Mentor advances to the state semifinal on March 20 against the winner of Archbishop Moeller and Centerville. The Cardinals are just two wins away from another state championship and heading down to Dayton with a perfect record adds a little bit more pressure.
However, that’s nothing new for Waag and his teammates.
“The pressure is a little high because we’re undefeated and we can lose any time,” Waag explained. “If we play together, for each other, we won’t lose. We can make history going 27-0 and winning a state championship and that’s what our goal is.”
