Mentor Boys' Hoops Head Off to Arby's Classic

’s high-powered offense and pressing defense isn’t just a hit in Northeast Ohio, apparently they love it in Tennessee, too.

The Cardinals boys basketball team return to the in Bristol, Tenn., today after a successful campaign there last season that earned them a rare invite back to the long-standing holiday high school basketball tournament.

The tournament likes to invite new teams to the event each year, but Mentor’s third-place finish last year featured 42 three-pointers and made them an unofficial crowd favorite.

, who graduated last season, earned the tournament’s MVP award making it easy for tournament officials to break the event’s tradition and invite the Cardinals back.

“They like the caliber (of the team). And we had a really good following. We had 3,000, then 4,000, then 6,000 for the games. It’s definitely an honor to be asked back and to go. They treat you phenomenally,” Krizancic said.

The Cardinals are one of 18 teams in the 29th annual event which will feature 30 games beginning today and running until Saturday.

Mentor opens play against Hurley, Va., at 5 p.m. today. The Rebels finished 25-4 last season and advanced to the Virginia High School League Group A, Division 1 state semifinals last season.

Mentor heads into the tournament with a 4-0 record having scored 100 points against three of their first four opponents with the only exception being a 98-91 victory at Medina on Dec. 20, their last competitive game.

“They’re kind of a scary team on paper. We have to go in and play our game. …  We have to play solid ball. We didn’t play well against Medina. We’ve been scoring a lot of points, but defensively, we’ve got to play a lot more solid,” Krizancic said.

Krizancic has learned that winning the first game is crucial or the team drops down and plays mostly in the morning and afternoon games which can break a team’s rhythm. Hurley plays in a style that tends to score much lower than Mentor, but Coach K knows his team can’t read too much into it.

“We’re going in with total respect for Hurley, we know tempo is probably going to be the biggest thing because their games are in the 50s and 60s (points) and we love it in at least the 80s and 90s or higher,” Krizancic said.

Should Mentor defeat Hurley, they likely would face Greater Atlanta Christian, the two-time defending Class AA state champions in Georgia.

Christ School in North Carolina, where Duke’s brotherly tandem of Miles and Mason Plumlee went to high school, are in the event as well as Urspring Basketball Academy from Germany which won its country’s Under-19 title last season and features huge size throughout its lineup.

“The first game we play, you hate to say it, but it might be the weakest team we play, because after that, it’s loaded,” Krizancic said.