Greater Cleveland Conference

cardzfan1234

cardzfan1234

Well-known member
A new look for the GCC this winter. Solon, a member from the beginning of the league, is now in the Suburban League. Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights are added to make the GCC one of the very best big school conferences in Ohio.

Heading into the season, Matt Goul of Cleveland.com ranks the GCC in his top 25 in this way:

#8 Mentor
#9 Brunswick
#13 Cleveland Heights
#14 Medina

The top four teams will really battle this season. Brunswick impressed me last year with their trio, and all of them come back for another season. Mentor had a surprising early end to the tournament, but bring back four starters led by a pair of three year starters and DII commits (Iopollo/Biddell). Cleveland Heights is one of the better programs in NEO and help elevate the league. Their top two players (Lewandowsk and Armstrong) are transfers from Maple and Cornerstone. Medina was a deep team last year and they bring back a couple of their starters as well as some key reserves.

Shaker Heights is not too far off these top four. Their best returning player from last season transferred to SVSM. Strongsville and Euclid are likely to finish in the bottom two.

Top players in the league include:

Trey Drexler (Brunswick)
Quinn Barnett (Brunswick)
Tommy Morgan (Brunswick)
Ian Iopollo (Mentor)
Matthew Biddell (Mentor)
Kobe Frasure-Azzano (Mentor)
Michael Lewandowski (Cleveland Heights)
Carter Armstrong (Cleveland Heights)
Brock Beech (Medina)
Connor Smith (Medina)

The 12 games played amongst the top four teams this year will all be huge toward the chase for the GCC title.
 
 
My take on Mentor this year is that they should be right there in contention for the conference. The games against Brunswick will be tough. Medina and Heights, especially on the road, will also be difficult. I predict the team is anywhere between 16-17 wins depending on if/how they end up with finalizing their 22nd game (which is currently open).

A 10-2 record in the GCC would be very impressive. I think 10 wins is what it will take to win the league. Mentor has some very tough non-conference games this year against Moeller and Lutheran East. It looks like their potential second round game at the Arby’s Classic is against a powerhouse from South Carolina.

Four returning starters, two of which are three year starters and your top two scorers from last year, is certainly a great place to start. Biddel and Iopollo are going to be two of the top players in the area. Kobe could have a big breakout junior season. And it sounds like Calo is primed to do the same. The depth is better, even with Braylon Johnson transferring back to Harvey.

Depending on the draw, I think making a regional final is on the table. Anything less than a district title will be a disappointment.

I have zero inside info, but I have long wondered how long will Krizancic stay coaching? This year or next could be the end. Either way, I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.
 
cardzfan1234 said:
My take on Mentor this year is that they should be right there in contention for the conference. The games against Brunswick will be tough. Medina and Heights, especially on the road, will also be difficult. I predict the team is anywhere between 16-17 wins depending on if/how they end up with finalizing their 22nd game (which is currently open).

A 10-2 record in the GCC would be very impressive. I think 10 wins is what it will take to win the league. Mentor has some very tough non-conference games this year against Moeller and Lutheran East. It looks like their potential second round game at the Arby’s Classic is against a powerhouse from South Carolina.

Four returning starters, two of which are three year starters and your top two scorers from last year, is certainly a great place to start. Biddel and Iopollo are going to be two of the top players in the area. Kobe could have a big breakout junior season. And it sounds like Calo is primed to do the same. The depth is better, even with Braylon Johnson transferring back to Harvey.

Depending on the draw, I think making a regional final is on the table. Anything less than a district title will be a disappointment.

I have zero inside info, but I have long wondered how long will Krizancic stay coaching? This year or next could be the end. Either way, I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.
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I don't follow as much as football so I appreciate your insight. Look forward to contributing more as I see the teams on the court

Will be good to see how it turns out with actual game results mattering ....😀
 
Ranking the Mentor opponents in terms of difficulty:

Tough: Moeller, Lutheran East, Brunswick (2), Dorman*
50/50: Medina (2), Cleveland Heights (2),
Solid: Lake, GlenOak, Shaker (2), Glenville
Locks: Strongsville (2), Euclid (2)

Dorman has won five state championships in South Carolina since 2017, including the most recent one. If Mentor wins their first round game at the Arby's Classic, they will probably play Dorman in round #2. Mentor (if they win the first game) plays the winner of Dorman and the state runner-up from Virginia. Mentor is likely to play one or two teams in this tournament that are probably every bit as good as Moeller and Lutheran East.
 
Medina 51 Cleveland Heights 49
Mentor 75 Strongsville 73
Brunswick 84 Euclid 63
University 59 Shaker 57

Brunswick’s big three dominates. Medina guts out a close one at home over the Tigers.

I was at Strongsville last night. It was a wild game of runs. Mentor jumped out to a lead as big as 20 points in the 2nd quarter. Forcing turnovers, converting into transition points, lots of action and offensive rebounding. Biddel had a huge first half, the Mustangs had no answer.

Strongsville scored the last seven of the first half and went on to outscore Mentor 34-12 in the 3rd quarter, completely flipping the script. Iopollo had a big 4th quarter to help the team come back and win a tight one.

Besides Euclid, I viewed Strongsville as the next easiest opponent of the season. If that is true, Mentor will have their hands full with the schedule this season.
 
Brunswick beats Cleveland Heights yesterday 82-42 😳

Medina over Euclid and Strongsville over Shaker.

Watch out for the Blue Devils everyone. Their big three is good.
 
cardzfan1234 said:
Brunswick beats Cleveland Heights yesterday 82-42 😳

Medina over Euclid and Strongsville over Shaker.

Watch out for the Blue Devils everyone. Their big three is good.
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Very good, Brunswick had a total of 11 three pt shots,Heights had no answer they were aggressive in the 1st qt and tried to get physical with Brunswick to no avail. I was at the game and I watched the Blue Devils just dismantled the Tigers sort of embarrassing I’m not used of watching that kind Cleveland Heights Basketball . Senior guard Quinn Barnett is phenomenal. That kid had 24 points at halftime. He rain down I just couldn’t count how many threes but very seldom did he miss Yes Brunswick is a team to be reckoned with
Seriously.
 
Mackey has always had the basketball program in a good place but this Brunswick team could actually make a push to a regional final perhaps depending how seeding works out. Imo the only game on the schedule that the blue devils should be expected to lose this season is to ignatius; but Brunswick’s core players will keep them competitive with most teams even on off nights. I don’t think 20 wins is an unlikely outcome for this squad. Furthermore, Brunswicks big 3 compliment each other very well which is nice to see. Barnett is a D2 commit right now but probably won’t be for long the way he is playing right now. Drexler is probably the most important piece on the team and has as much potential as any Brunswick player in recent memory. His continued development will be the key to how far the devils can actually go. Not to mention, the players coming off the bench are not slouches; the depth is what really separates this group from some of the other good Brunswick teams in the past decade or so.
 
Mentor has two really good HS scorers in Iopollo and Biddell. But 3 is better than 2. Reminds me of a few years back when Medina had two really strong players and Mentor had three (Chicone, Floriea, and Rogers). It was always close, but three proved better than two eventually. That is going to likely be the difference in the games with Brunswick and Mentor. In the Cardinals’ case, they have a potential third guy in Kobe, but I don’t know what his injury status is right now.
 
Fwiw I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Brunswick and mentor split this season. Just looking at the rest of the GCC performances thus far mentor seems to be the only team with the kind of shooters to consistently keep scoring pace with them this year. Btw I read today that Barnett scored 18 in the first quarter alone. No clue what the Brunswick record is for points in a quarter but I bet he wasn’t too far.
 
Mentor 91 Medina 79
Brunswick 64 Shaker 58
Strongsville 61 Euclid 57

Mentor jumped out to a big lead behind their big two (Iopollo and Biddell) as well as the hot shooting of senior guard Tanner Toot (eight triples).

After Brunswick’s 40 point win over Heights on Tuesday, that close score with Shaker is a bit surprising. Likely means Brunswick had just a really good game against Heights and came back closer to the norm against Shaker.

Cleveland Heights plays Spire tomorrow.
 
After a very impressive win over Medina, Mentor goes on the road 24 hours later to suffer a surprising defeat to GlenOak, 82-73. Mentor was outscored 46-32 in the second half. That’s a ton of points given up in a half to a team like GlenOak. I wasn’t there so not sure what went wrong. This is the second time in three games the opponent came out strong and dominated the 3rd quarter. Iopollo and Biddell had 52 of the 73 points.

Next up is the challenging Arby’s Classic tournament in Bristol, TN. Hope the team has a great experience and lots of success!
 
cardzfan1234 said:
Mentor 91 Medina 79
Brunswick 64 Shaker 58
Strongsville 61 Euclid 57

Mentor jumped out to a big lead behind their big two (Iopollo and Biddell) as well as the hot shooting of senior guard Tanner Toot (eight triples).

After Brunswick’s 40 point win over Heights on Tuesday, that close score with Shaker is a bit surprising. Likely means Brunswick had just a really good game against Heights and came back closer to the norm against Shaker.

Cleveland Heights plays Spire tomorrow.
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Shaker 65
Glenville 64
OT

Cleveland Heights 70
Spire Academy 41
 
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Mentor begins playing in Bristol, TN today for the infamous Arby’s Classic. It is the 40th edition. Most teams in Ohio play an out of state tournament at some point, but this one is incredibly unique. It involves 18 teams from serval different states, including a team from The Bahamas that comes every year.

Mentor plays Sullivan East (TN) at 5:30 today, one of the local teams. I am assuming a victory today, but I obviously know nothing about them except that Mentor usually has a lot of success against the local teams at Arby’s over the years.

After this first round game, things will get tough. If you’re a Mentor fan and want to listen to PBP, the local radio guys always did a fantastic job. I loved listening to them over the years.

www.ESPNTriCities.com should get you there
 
cardzfan1234 said:
Mentor begins playing in Bristol, TN today for the infamous Arby’s Classic. It is the 40th edition. Most teams in Ohio play an out of state tournament at some point, but this one is incredibly unique. It involves 18 teams from serval different states, including a team from The Bahamas that comes every year.

Mentor plays Sullivan East (TN) at 5:30 today, one of the local teams. I am assuming a victory today, but I obviously know nothing about them except that Mentor usually has a lot of success against the local teams at Arby’s over the years.

After this first round game, things will get tough. If you’re a Mentor fan and want to listen to PBP, the local radio guys always did a fantastic job. I loved listening to them over the years.

www.ESPNTriCities.com should get you there
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Big win yesterday against a very good team. Good luck tonight. Hope the Cards win this Tournament.
 
cardzfan1234 said:
Mentor has two really good HS scorers in Iopollo and Biddell. But 3 is better than 2. Reminds me of a few years back when Medina had two really strong players and Mentor had three (Chicone, Floriea, and Rogers). It was always close, but three proved better than two eventually. That is going to likely be the difference in the games with Brunswick and Mentor. In the Cardinals’ case, they have a potential third guy in Kobe, but I don’t know what his injury status is right now.
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It doesn’t appear they got any transfers this year. That is an interesting turn of events and could be why they have some depth issues.
 
Mentor made a wild late comeback to knock off a small school power from Virginia, 96-95. They advance to the semifinals of the Arby’s Classic today where they will play Kell (GA), state champs in Class 5A (third biggest division out of 7) in 2023. They are led by CJ Brown, a South Florida commit.

Honestly, I don’t think Mentor will win today. But maybe they will surprise me.
 
cardzfan1234 said:
Mentor made a wild late comeback to knock off a small school power from Virginia, 96-95. They advance to the semifinals of the Arby’s Classic today where they will play Kell (GA), state champs in Class 5A (third biggest division out of 7) in 2023. They are led by CJ Brown, a South Florida commit.

Honestly, I don’t think Mentor will win today. But maybe they will surprise me.
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Thanks for the updates on these. Great tournament to get more big game experience
 
Mentor loses 93-67 in the semifinal. The team has given up a lot of points in Bristol. They play tomorrow in the 3rd/4th place game. The team has finished 2nd or 3rd on on a few occasions. Never have been able to win this very difficult tournament. Even the state championship team did not win.
 
cardzfan1234 said:
Mentor loses 93-67 in the semifinal. The team has given up a lot of points in Bristol. They play tomorrow in the 3rd/4th place game. The team has finished 2nd or 3rd on on a few occasions. Never have been able to win this very difficult tournament. Even the state championship team did not win.
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Good opportunity to learn and get more experience. Really good team they played today so not surprised
 
cardzfan1234 said:
Mentor loses 93-67 in the semifinal. The team has given up a lot of points in Bristol. They play tomorrow in the 3rd/4th place game. The team has finished 2nd or 3rd on on a few occasions. Never have been able to win this very difficult tournament. Even the state championship team did not win.
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Mentor loses 105-90 in the 3rd//4th place game against Mater Lakes (FL). Mentor gave up 95, 93, and 105 in the final three games. Not a good path to winning high school basketball games.
 
From tonight:

Cleveland Heights beat Shaker Heights, 82-72. The Tigers had four players in double figures, and have won four in a row, including the Cactus Jam championship in Phoenix, where they beat Stow, another local team.

Mentor trounced Euclid, 104-70. Looks like the Panthers will have to get their legs under them quick, after having a long layoff. They beat VASJ and Gilmour Academy before the break.

Strongsville beat Brunswick, 73-64, and looks as if they'll take first place in the GCC. I plan on seeing the Blue Devils on Sunday against Saint Ignatus in the PBP Classic.

Medina ended up beating Walsh Jesuit, 53-42 on Wednesday night.

Additional updates that may have been missed:

Shaker Heights won 57-56 over Revere on December 30th. Brunswick thumped Normandy and Loveland over the post-Christmas break, and Strongsville won their holiday tournament defeating Brooklyn 79-63, and a vastly improved Warrensville Heights team, 79-70.
 
Cleveland Heights is slowly improving from there lopsided lost at Brunswick earlier this season, they held off a very athletic Brush Arcs team 66-62 for their fifth win in a row at The ELB (Everything Leads Back ) Saturday. There toughest game this season will be this Tuesday as they host the Cardinals of Mentor. Heights will be facing a team who won’t be in a great mood after giving up a lot of points at the Arby’s Classic. Mentor is looking to get back on the winning track in a big way at Heights expense. Tigers travel to Euclid Friday.
 
St. Ignatius 76 Brunswick 59 Brunswick could not hit a three. According to people I spoke to.
 
GCP441 said:
St. Ignatius 76 Brunswick 59 Brunswick could not hit a three. According to people I spoke to.
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I watched the game. At the quarters, Ignatius led 18-11, 40-29, 59-41, had the lead up to 24 and then Brunswick brought it down to 17 points at the end. Ignatius' size and length was a factor and the Wildcats had 10 players score, with 4 in double figures. Tommy Morgan led Brunswick with 17.
 
GCP441 said:
Cleveland Heights is slowly improving from there lopsided lost at Brunswick earlier this season, they held off a very athletic Brush Arcs team 66-62 for their fifth win in a row at The ELB (Everything Leads Back ) Saturday. There toughest game this season will be this Tuesday as they host the Cardinals of Mentor. Heights will be facing a team who won’t be in a great mood after giving up a lot of points at the Arby’s Classic. Mentor is looking to get back on the winning track in a big way at Heights expense. Tigers travel to Euclid Friday.
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I plan to be there on Tuesday. This will be my first time back at Cleveland Heights' gym since Mentor left the LEL in 2011. Two memories of watching some fun LEL clashes between Mentor and Heights stand out. One is watching Travis Kelce play. He was a really good HS basketball player and he brought a lot of excitement to the atmosphere in his four years of playing varsity. The other is the night that Mentor's Joe Meyer erupted for a 40ish point night in a game where the scoreboard at Heights was not working. Back then the atmosphere at those games in the Heights gym were really great.

Is it best to just park at the school and walk in the gym?
 
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GCP441 said:
Cleveland Heights is slowly improving from there lopsided lost at Brunswick earlier this season, they held off a very athletic Brush Arcs team 66-62 for their fifth win in a row at The ELB (Everything Leads Back ) Saturday. There toughest game this season will be this Tuesday as they host the Cardinals of Mentor. Heights will be facing a team who won’t be in a great mood after giving up a lot of points at the Arby’s Classic. Mentor is looking to get back on the winning track in a big way at Heights expense. Tigers travel to Euclid Friday.
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Our Boys team is definitely down this year but our Girls team is a must watch!
 
Mentor came into the Tigers lair tonight and took no prisoners as I figure they would
after the Arby’s Classic, Mentor was running on all cylinders as they overwhelmed the Tigers 105-83
 
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