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Sports

Justin Fritts' Late Heroics Lead Mentor Boys Basketball Team To Regionals

Fritts' late layups rally Cardinals over Arcs to advance in playoffs

Great players aren’t always great; they’re just great when they have to be.

’s senior leading scorer Justin Fritts was having a lousy evening with just one three-pointer against Brush that often left the Cardinals in a precarious position during the Division I district final Saturday night at Euclid High School.

The Arcs held an 11-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Mentor made its move and caught up as Fritts dispensed with the long-range shooting for which he is known and simply went for the goal.

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Scoring seven of Mentor’s final 11 points on three layups and a foul shot, Fritts sent the Cardinals to a return trip to the regional tournament with a 76-72 victory over Brush, beating the Arcs for the fourth straight district final and the fifth consecutive time in district play.

Mentor will face Warren G. Harding in the regional semifinal at the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State for a 6:15 tip on Wednesday. Harding defeated Green, 71-69, in the Alliance District final.

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With 6.2 seconds left, Brush attempted to set up the game’s last shot but Fritts stole the pass intended for Curtis Oakley Jr. behind the three-point line and made a layup to seal the win. Fritts, who has seen regional play in his first three years at Mentor, didn’t want to miss out on a fourth appearance.

“I couldn’t picture taking off this uniform and being done with Mentor basketball,” Fritts said. “I’m glad our guys came together and we played as one tonight and that’s why we came out on top.”

Mentor (22-2) is ranked third in the Associated Press’ Ohio state final regular season poll and first in the Plain Dealer’s Top 25 poll after splitting the Northeast Ohio Conference’s Valley Division with Garfield Heights after moving into the NOC this season.

Mentor head coach Bob Krizancic is proud his team has faced down tough opposition heading deeper into the playoffs. The Cardinals narrowly edged out East Tech, 71-69, in the district semifinals and the team’s shooting hasn’t been the best over the past two games. Fortunately, Mentor has Fritts to pull them through the tough nights.

“Justin really didn’t play well a lot of the game but he’s that special person on the floor that just makes those huge plays for you. I probably would have felt worse than anybody had we not won it after he’s won it his freshman, sophomore and junior years. Danny (Wallack) and Justin are gutty kids,” Krizancic said.

Fritts, who will attend Division II Wheeling Jesuit and was named the AP Player of the Year for the Northeast Lakes All-District team, led Mentor with 24 points. Senior Danny Wallack had 20 points, while Justin’s sophomore brother, Brandon Fritts, had 13, along with Jeff Foreman’s 10.

Brush’s Pharaoh Brown made sure it wasn’t an easy night for the Cardinals in his own right. Brown, who was an AP Northeast Lakes All-District first teamer and will play tight end at Oregon, nearly won the game for Brush with a game-high 26 points and 24 rebounds for one of the best individual performances in this season’s playoffs. Oakley added 19 points.

“It’s kind of hard for us losing to Mentor four times in a row. We kind of wanted to end our senior season with a district championship because we never won one. Before the game, win or lose, we said we were going to leave everything on the court. I feel like we did. … (It was) the small things that kept us from getting it,” Brown said.

Brush (19-4) captured the NOC River Division and is ranked fifth in the Plain Dealer poll and not ranked in the state. Mentor produced two of those losses as the Cardinals also defeated the Arcs, 83-64, on Jan. 26.

Despite all the past success Mentor has had against Brush, it looked for all the world like Brush was heading to the regionals until Wallack and Justin Fritts stepped in to keep the Cardinals’ streak intact.

Down, 63-52, heading into the fourth quarter, Connor Krizancic canned a three-pointer and a Wallack steal eventually led to Foreman reaching the foul line where he made both to cut Brush’s lead nearly in half, 63-57, in 48 seconds.

After Brush’s Brown made a pair of free throws, Wallack converted his own steal into a layup and then stroked in a three-pointer, while Brandon Fritts made three of four free throws to complete an 8-4 run and trail, 67-65.

Fritts’ layup tied the game at 67-all with 4:15 left, but Jameel Moore got fouled on a layup and converted at the charity stripe to give the Arcs a three-point lead.

Undeterred, Wallack smacked home a three-pointer to knot the contest once again at 72-all. Fritts then made a mid-court steal as Christian Groce gave chase and fouled him as the ball dropped through for a score which the senior then converted at the line to give Mentor a 73-70 lead with 3:11 remaining.

Mentor attempted to milk the clock late, but Brown knocked the ball from Wallack and drove in for a layup as Mentor led, 73-72, with 1:55 remaining.

The Cardinals once again resorted to dribbling out the clock forcing Moore to foul Wallack with 36.2 seconds left, but Wallack made the first and missed the second as Brush called timeout to set up a final shot.

After another timeout with 6.2 seconds left, Fritts stepped in front of a pass intended for Oakley that he rushed up the court and deposited into basket for the game’s final score.

After a nip-and-tuck first half that Brush led, 36-35, the Arcs began to find breathing room. Oakley nailed a three-pointer to give Brush its largest lead of the game, 63-50, with nine seconds left in the third quarter. But Mentor took over from there leaving Brush head coach Jayson Macauda to wonder once again what might have been.

“Being the competitor that I am, it’s humbling. I’m an adult. I’m a big boy. I can take it. I just wanted it so bad for our kids and our senior class because they were really deserving. A lot of them sacrificed a tremendous amount for each other,” Macauda said. “We made tons of plays through three quarters. We just came up short.”

Mentor  20  15  17  24  76

Brush    15  21  27   9   72

Mentor – Brandon Fritts 13, Connor Krizancic 3, Mitch Trubisky 2, Danny Wallack 20, Justin Fritts 24, Jeff Foreman 10, Caleb Potter 4.

Brush – Pharaoh Brown 26, Eric Seaberry 8, Jameel Moore 8, Brandon Dawson 9, Chris Groce 2, Curtis Oakley 19.

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