Mentor Boys' Basketball Team Rings Up Another 100

Mentor boys’ basketball head coach Bob Krizancic thought it might take a few weeks before several of his top players made the transition from football to basketball season.

After three consecutive plus-100 scoring games, culminating in Friday’s 110-52 thrashing of Strongsville, one might think such talk could be interpreted as the kind of coach-speak, jibber-jabber often designed to make the mountains seem higher than they truly are.

Ah, but not so fast.

Coach K, being a man of detail, has noticed that all-everything Cardinals quarterback Mitch Trubisky has developed a nagging habit that’ll have to be corrected. Trubisky seemingly can’t stay in games having fouled out for all three of the Cardinals’ blowouts.

“Check MaxPreps and see if he’s leading the country in fouls per minute,” Krizancic chided. “But that’s a little bit of football, not moving the feet.”

Well, apparently Trubisky can escape Solon’s rush, but not Coach K’s blitz. 

Nonetheless, Trubisky still had an effective game with 11 points but didn’t have to worry much as Mentor’s usual suspects provided plenty of support.

Senior Justin Fritts led the team with 20 points followed by his sophomore brother Brandon Fritts (14), sophomore and coach’s son Connor Krizancic (13), seniors Branden Piks (12) and Danny Wallack (11), and sophomore Caleb Potter (10).

Senior Jake Even led the Mustangs with 16 points and was the team’s lone double-figure scorer.

The Cardinals’ win was their first Valley Division victory as a new member of the Northeast Ohio Conference after having won the Lake Erie League crown last season. The Cardinals (3-0, 1-0) remain undefeated, while the Mustangs fell to 1-3, 0-1.

Fritts, who starts alongside his football-playing brother Brandon, feels the chemistry has come together quickly in the changing sports season. The way he scarfed down those post-game chocolate chip cookies would tend to suggest his confidence is pretty high.

“I think now we’re clicking from all cylinders,” Fritts said. “This is a new league and I don’t think teams are really ready for what we bring to the table day in and day out. We really work really hard in practice, pushing the ball, never slowing the game down.”

Not surprisingly, coach Krizancic saw Friday night a little differently. Yeah, all those points are nice, but there’s something to be said for mastering the fundamentals of basketball.

“We missed a ton of layups in the third quarter. Good teams don’t do that. We had some younger guys missing the ball. Those are turnovers. The last couple years, we’ve really taken care of the basketball. And that was a big concern (tonight),” Krizancic said.

Mentor’s opening pretty much defined the game. The Cardinals rained down five three-pointers to open its scoring and led, 15-2, with just over two minutes gone. Mentor finished with 19 three-pointers on the evening.

In the second quarter, it became a matter of seeing how wide a margin the Cardinals could gain before the break. With 5:37 left, the Cardinals put 20 points between themselves and the Mustangs on Justin Fritts’ three-pointer, and the load eventually reached 30 at halftime with a 66-33 mark.

Mentor doubled-up Strongsville again on Jeff Foreman’s three-pointer for an 80-40 bulge with 3:27 left in the third. Pik’s three-pointer at 4:52 of the fourth ended the Cardinals’ run of perfectly symmetrical point margins as it extended their lead to 99-48 before arriving at the final differential.

Earlier this season, the Cardinals defeated Willoughby South, 101-48, and Lakeside, 108-72.

“It’s been a good three games for us …and we’re healthy. The football players, every game we play, they’re getting in better shape. They weren’t in bad shape, but they weren’t in great basketball shape,” Krizancic said.

Mentor travels to Medina on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip.

Strongsville  20  13   10   9   52

Mentor          34  32  21  23 110

Strongsville – Justin Stephens 9, Johnny Weiser 3, Wes Davic 7, Josh Richissin 2, Kyle Meehan 4, Sean Alexander 8, Tony Kapferer 3, Jake Even 16.

Mentor – Brandon Fritts 14, Connor Krizancic 13, Mitch Trubisky 11, Branden Piks 12, Danny Wallack 11, Brody Nelson 4, Justin Fritts 20, Kyle Morris 1, Jeff Foreman 5, Michael Gallagher 2, Kade McClure 5, Caleb Potter 10, Jake Leonard 2.