Mentor High Boys Basketball Team Wins a Tough One Against Shaw

This time around, all of the Mentor boys’ basketball team didn’t post in the scorebook or reach their usual three-point totals.  They shot poorly from the free-throw line and had their pressing defense broken repeatedly by Shaw’s athletic guards.

And yet, the usually fiery Mentor coach Bob Krizancic was remarkably calm about the whole affair. Such play enraged the coach last week despite smashing East Tech by 40 points.

But Krizancic knew what he had witnessed Thursday night at Euclid High School. He saw his Cardinals face a tough test from East Cleveland Shaw and, to his way of thinking, escaped with a 100-84 victory to advance to the district final against rival Brush on Saturday night.

Shaw acquitted itself quite well as it briefly led in the second quarter and came within four points in the third when Mentor usually has the contest well in hand.

“We got away with one. (Shaw) fought hard. They’ve got explosive guards,” Krizancic said. “It was a game.”

Mentor was 10-of-18 from the line and made six 3-pointers in the first quarter but finished with 11 for the game, four below its average. Nonetheless, the usual suspects guided Mentor. Justin Fritts came away with 28 points, while Cole Krizancic, the coach’s eldest son on the team, had 26. Collin Barth had 15 and Danny Wallack, 12.

Shaw itself wasn’t too shy in the scoring column as Ronnie Galloway had 23 points, Cordell Smith posted 22 and Gerald Fletcher had 18.

Lake Erie League Lake Division champion Mentor (19-4) has now won 12 of its last 13 games with its only loss coming to St. Edward, 108-105, in their final home game of the season on Feb. 19. Mentor bounced Geneva, 95-48, in the first round and then slammed East Tech, 106-66, to follow.

Mentor, a final four team in Division I last season, will have to go through Brush for the fourth straight season. Mentor defeated Brush, 88-73, last year for their second straight district finals win over the Arcs at Euclid High School.  Mentor also beat Brush in the district semifinals in 2008.

“I think it’ll be the same kind of game, a three- to five-point game. I would think it would be no different on Saturday,” Krizancic said of facing Brush at 7 p.m. They defeated the Arcs in the regular season, too, 76-66, in January.

The ninth-seeded Shaw Cardinals (11-12) have been the surprise team of the Euclid District bracket, knocking off fourth-seed Mayfield, 61-44, in the sectional finals. They defeated Eastlake North, 73-50, to open play in the bracket.

Shaw appeared to be on its way to another major surprise as it got Mentor’s attention with 12 straight points to open the second quarter to take a 34-28 lead.

Micha White hit a twisting layup in the lane to tie the score as Krizancic fouled him. White made the foul shot to put Shaw ahead, 29-28, at 6:25. Cordell Smith hit a pair of spinning layups in the lane and a William Woods free throw extended Shaw’s lead to 34-28.

But Fritts and Krizancic stepped up to quell Shaw’s surge as they helped to put together an 8-2 run to tie the game. Fritts scored a basket and grabbed a steal which he sent to Krizancic for a score. Then Krizancic found Derek Bryner for two. Brandon Fritts, Justin’s freshman brother, then knotted the score, 36-36. Collin Barth canned a 3-pointer for 39-36 at 3:15, and Shaw never regained the lead.

Thereafter, Mentor went on a 16-6 run to spring to its largest lead to that point, 55-40, just seconds before the half ended. One would have expected Mentor to stretch its advantage, but Shaw held firm in the third.

Down, 64-50, Shaw’s Smith and Fletcher each had three baskets, including a Smith 3-pointer, as part of a 13-3 run to draw to 67-63, but Mentor responded with eight straight points to close the third quarter, capped by a Krizancic 3-pointer from just inside the half-court line at the buzzer for a 75-63 lead.

Shaw came within eight points once and 10 points three times, the last time at 2:25 in the fourth quarter, only to be turned back.

Mentor 28 27 20 25 100

Shaw  22 20 21 21 84

Mentor: Justin Fritts 28, Collin Barth 15, Brandon Fritts 2, Tom Strobel  4, Cole Krizancic 26, Brad Kukula 2, Matt Solden 5, Derek Bryner 2, Danny Wallack 12, Conner Krizancic 4.

Shaw:  Micha White 6, Cordell Smith 22, William Woods 8, Ronnie Galloway 23, Gerald Fletcher 18, Marc Fountain 7.