cardzfan1234
Well-known member
While the football team continues their memorable season, basketball is right around the corner. Mentor is coming off a 20-2 regular season, their most regular season wins (and best regular season winning percentage) in program history. Their tournament run saw them run into Solon for a 4th straight season. The semifinal win gave Mentor a 2-2 split with the Comets from 2016-2019 at Euclid. The two teams met in the semifinals once and the district final three times. Mentor's 77-73 district final win over a very talented Brush team was one of the best victories in Krizancic's time at Mentor. The magical season ended unexpectedly against Green in a regional semifinal at CSU.
Key losses to graduation include starters Mason Trubisky and Alex Edwards. Three starters do return, and they happen to be the team's three leading scorers from a season ago. Here are the four returning starters/rotation players:
- Senior guard Luke Floriea, 2nd team All-Ohio that averaged 19 points and 7 assists, will eventually return from the football field. Floriea's future is in football (Kent State wide receiver commit), but he is on track to be one of the best guards in the Krizancic-era. His speed is unmatched and his ability to score inside/outside while being a key distributor makes him very dangerous on the court.
- Senior forward Chad Rogers, a 6'4 Penn State baseball recruit, was 2nd team All-District after averaging 15.9 ppg a season ago. Rogers is one of the strongest players on the team and the leading rebounder (7.7 rebounds per game) from last season. Rogers has a nice inside/outside offensive game.
- Junior guard Luke Chicone had a breakout sophomore season and earned 3rd team All-District honors with his 15.6 points and 6 assists per game. During the summer, Chicone committed to Youngstown State. If Chicone improves from sophomore to junior as much as he did from freshman to sophomore year, the sky is the limit for him this season.
- Senior Caleb Piks is a 6'5 wing that committed to play DII basketball at Lake Erie College. Piks was a 6th man for last year's team and is a great complimentary player to Mentor's top three scorers with his ability to shoot, defend, and rebound.
A couple of junior rotation players from last year don't appear to be returning: football players Ian Kipp and Nyzier Fourquean. At least I didn't see them on the roster for the Cleveland.com preview. The 5th starter and the bench will be comprised of guys that were JV players last season.
Greater Cleveland Conference Outlook: The league schedule will be tough, but maybe not as deep as last season. Medina and Shaker are the teams to beat in the league. The league will be decided by the six games between those two teams and Mentor. Medina has a few returning starters back including junior DI recruit Corey Tripp. I think it will come down to the Cardinals and Raiders. Like Mentor, Shaker brings back their top three scorers from last season. Euclid, district champions in 2019, will take a bit of a nose dive after projected 4th year starting guard Garvin Clarke transferred to Cleveland Heights. That was on top of graduating their other four starters and their coach stepping down. Solon was hit hard by graduation, but they did have a couple youngsters to watch out for. They have a great coach too, so I don't expect them to be down. I really don't know much about Brunswick or Elyria. The Blue Devils graduated district POY Kyle Goesler. The coach's son (Tre Massey) does return. Elyria probably will finish closer toward the bottom of the GCC. Strongsville has been at/near the very bottom of the league every season.
Non-conference schedule: Mentor returns to the very popular Arby's Classic in Tennesse this December. It is a tournament where Mentor can play up to four games depending on how well they do. Mentor has finished in 3rd once and 2nd twice. Will this be the year they win the Arby's? There are some talented individuals and players that will be in their way. Lake Catholic and VASJ are two of their last three regular season games. Those will be great atmospheres and competitive games against some talented teams with good coaching all around. The other two non-conference games are against teams with Mentor connections: Eastlake North (coached by former Krizancic guard Rob Koelling) and Lakota East (Lakota's superintendent is Mentor's former super).
Euclid District Outlook: Solon left and Benedictine returns. That is about the only major movement in the Euclid district. Solon probably wasn't going to be a huge threat at districts, but they are a solid team. Benedictine lost their top player somewhat unexpectedly when senior Andy Barbara (Miami, OH recruit) transferred to ISA. Even with that, Benedictine might end up being the 4th best team in a district that is really about three teams: Mentor, Brush, and Cleveland Heights. Brush brings back big John Hugley (Pitt commit) along with some big and talented freshman/sophomores. Brush will miss the senior guard leadership of a season ago, but they might be just as talented overall this season. Cleveland Heights inherited a few transfers this "recruiting" season - including Garvin Clarke from Euclid and junior EJ Farmer from Lutheran East. Clarke, a starter since a freshman at Euclid, averaged 17 and 6 for the Panthers. Farmer, a smooth 6'4 lefty guard, averaged 22 points for last year's state runners-up in DIII. Mentor will have their hands full with one/both of these teams if they aim to win their third district title in four seasons.
Mentor 2019-20 Schedule
Dec. 13 vs. Brunswick
Dec. 20 at Medina
Dec. 26 vs TBD at Arby's Classic in Tennessee
Dec. 27 vs. TBD at Arby's Classic in Tennessee
Dec. 28 vs. TBD at Arby's Classic in Tennessee
Dec. 30 vs. TBD at Arby's Classic in Tennessee
Jan. 3 vs. Elyria
Jan. 7 at Solon
Jan. 10 vs. Shaker Heights
Jan. 17 at Strongsville
Jan. 21 at Eastlake North
Jan. 24 at Brunswick
Jan. 28 vs. Euclid
Jan. 31 vs. Medina
Feb. 1 at Lakota East
Feb. 4 at Euclid
Feb. 7 at Elyria
Feb. 11 vs. Strongsville
Feb. 14 at Shaker Heights
Feb. 17 vs. Villa Angela-St. Joseph
Feb. 21 vs. Solon
Feb. 22 vs. Lake Catholic
Key losses to graduation include starters Mason Trubisky and Alex Edwards. Three starters do return, and they happen to be the team's three leading scorers from a season ago. Here are the four returning starters/rotation players:
- Senior guard Luke Floriea, 2nd team All-Ohio that averaged 19 points and 7 assists, will eventually return from the football field. Floriea's future is in football (Kent State wide receiver commit), but he is on track to be one of the best guards in the Krizancic-era. His speed is unmatched and his ability to score inside/outside while being a key distributor makes him very dangerous on the court.
- Senior forward Chad Rogers, a 6'4 Penn State baseball recruit, was 2nd team All-District after averaging 15.9 ppg a season ago. Rogers is one of the strongest players on the team and the leading rebounder (7.7 rebounds per game) from last season. Rogers has a nice inside/outside offensive game.
- Junior guard Luke Chicone had a breakout sophomore season and earned 3rd team All-District honors with his 15.6 points and 6 assists per game. During the summer, Chicone committed to Youngstown State. If Chicone improves from sophomore to junior as much as he did from freshman to sophomore year, the sky is the limit for him this season.
- Senior Caleb Piks is a 6'5 wing that committed to play DII basketball at Lake Erie College. Piks was a 6th man for last year's team and is a great complimentary player to Mentor's top three scorers with his ability to shoot, defend, and rebound.
A couple of junior rotation players from last year don't appear to be returning: football players Ian Kipp and Nyzier Fourquean. At least I didn't see them on the roster for the Cleveland.com preview. The 5th starter and the bench will be comprised of guys that were JV players last season.
Greater Cleveland Conference Outlook: The league schedule will be tough, but maybe not as deep as last season. Medina and Shaker are the teams to beat in the league. The league will be decided by the six games between those two teams and Mentor. Medina has a few returning starters back including junior DI recruit Corey Tripp. I think it will come down to the Cardinals and Raiders. Like Mentor, Shaker brings back their top three scorers from last season. Euclid, district champions in 2019, will take a bit of a nose dive after projected 4th year starting guard Garvin Clarke transferred to Cleveland Heights. That was on top of graduating their other four starters and their coach stepping down. Solon was hit hard by graduation, but they did have a couple youngsters to watch out for. They have a great coach too, so I don't expect them to be down. I really don't know much about Brunswick or Elyria. The Blue Devils graduated district POY Kyle Goesler. The coach's son (Tre Massey) does return. Elyria probably will finish closer toward the bottom of the GCC. Strongsville has been at/near the very bottom of the league every season.
Non-conference schedule: Mentor returns to the very popular Arby's Classic in Tennesse this December. It is a tournament where Mentor can play up to four games depending on how well they do. Mentor has finished in 3rd once and 2nd twice. Will this be the year they win the Arby's? There are some talented individuals and players that will be in their way. Lake Catholic and VASJ are two of their last three regular season games. Those will be great atmospheres and competitive games against some talented teams with good coaching all around. The other two non-conference games are against teams with Mentor connections: Eastlake North (coached by former Krizancic guard Rob Koelling) and Lakota East (Lakota's superintendent is Mentor's former super).
Euclid District Outlook: Solon left and Benedictine returns. That is about the only major movement in the Euclid district. Solon probably wasn't going to be a huge threat at districts, but they are a solid team. Benedictine lost their top player somewhat unexpectedly when senior Andy Barbara (Miami, OH recruit) transferred to ISA. Even with that, Benedictine might end up being the 4th best team in a district that is really about three teams: Mentor, Brush, and Cleveland Heights. Brush brings back big John Hugley (Pitt commit) along with some big and talented freshman/sophomores. Brush will miss the senior guard leadership of a season ago, but they might be just as talented overall this season. Cleveland Heights inherited a few transfers this "recruiting" season - including Garvin Clarke from Euclid and junior EJ Farmer from Lutheran East. Clarke, a starter since a freshman at Euclid, averaged 17 and 6 for the Panthers. Farmer, a smooth 6'4 lefty guard, averaged 22 points for last year's state runners-up in DIII. Mentor will have their hands full with one/both of these teams if they aim to win their third district title in four seasons.
Mentor 2019-20 Schedule
Dec. 13 vs. Brunswick
Dec. 20 at Medina
Dec. 26 vs TBD at Arby's Classic in Tennessee
Dec. 27 vs. TBD at Arby's Classic in Tennessee
Dec. 28 vs. TBD at Arby's Classic in Tennessee
Dec. 30 vs. TBD at Arby's Classic in Tennessee
Jan. 3 vs. Elyria
Jan. 7 at Solon
Jan. 10 vs. Shaker Heights
Jan. 17 at Strongsville
Jan. 21 at Eastlake North
Jan. 24 at Brunswick
Jan. 28 vs. Euclid
Jan. 31 vs. Medina
Feb. 1 at Lakota East
Feb. 4 at Euclid
Feb. 7 at Elyria
Feb. 11 vs. Strongsville
Feb. 14 at Shaker Heights
Feb. 17 vs. Villa Angela-St. Joseph
Feb. 21 vs. Solon
Feb. 22 vs. Lake Catholic
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