by CLEVELAND, Ohio- Mentor head coach Bob Krizancic thought his team held the advantage coming into Tuesday night’s regional semifinal game against Medina after last year’s season-ending loss to Green at the same stage. They experienced something none of the other three teams did a season ago, giving the upper hand to the Cardinals.
“It was a physical game and being here last year helped,” Krinzancic said. “We went through that loss last year and we knew what it takes [to win here].”
Mentor and Medina met Wednesday night for the third time this season, and the Cardinals came out on top with a 76-72 win over the Bees behind Luke Chicone’s game-high 39 points.
Mentor held a two-point lead with just 10 seconds remaining. Moments later, Chicone ripped the ball away from a driving Kyle Szumski, sending him to the free-throw line where he sunk the two closing free throws to seal the win for the Cardinals.
“The steal at the end of the game was big but I think our role players stepped up a lot more than I did,” Chicone said.
Senior forward Chad Rogers finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds along with Culler’s seven-point, four rebound performance as well.
With the win, the Cardinals advance to the regional championship game Saturday afternoon against Shaker Heights for a shot to go to Columbus for the state final four.
“We got to play 32 minutes. We have to play harder and smarter and you want to have that shot to go to Columbus,” Krizancic said.
For Medina, Kyle Szumski led the way with 29 points and five rebounds during the loss. Corey Tripp poured in 24 points and seven rebounds as the comeback fell short in the end for the Bees. Head coach Chris Hassinger knew what his team needed to do behind guys like Tripp and Szumski, but in the end, they couldn’t do much more.
“Those two kind of make everything happen for us,” he said. “Behind their basketball IQ, they kept us in the game. Kyle and Corey really tried to put us on our back tonight. I’m just really proud of the whole team effort.”
