It was mostly ineffective. East Tech was very prepared for the press. They used the same press breaker over and over which turned into some easy baskets for their big man. Even on some nights when the press isn't "working" - it is still working in a sense as it gets the opponent tired and eventually we see those turnovers come. Even that didn't happen. East Tech looked in control of the game.
It was their defense that was the difference. I haven't seen a team run a 1-3-1 zone like that against Mentor. The wings in the zone would rotate toward the ball very quickly, making it so Mentor had very little time to make decisions. With the rotation of the two wings, East Tech was basically following the ball and flexing in between a 1-3-1, 3-1-1, and 1-1-3.
Because it wasn't mentioned in the article that Foreman was hurt, I have to wonder if he sat most of the game for other reasons. Not sure what is going on there, but hopefully all will be good for Saturday as Mentor really needs a strong effort from him.
IMO, the biggest story with last night wasn't the shooting (which was way off), East Tech's defense (which was very good), or even Mentor's defense (which looked uninterested and undisciplined) - it is the growing lack of confidence. I can see it in their play. That is something the state semifinalist team had. Crowe and Cole were confident and in complete control. That spreads to the team. Right now the leaders on this team don't have that type of confidence.
Referring to the Mentor/East Tech game last night, this statement came from the same person. First, East Tech is complimented for its strong inside defense, then Mentor is criticized for not attacking it more. Which is it? If its too difficult to drive inside, what are you supposed to do? Mentor players got stuffed many times when driving to the hoop & were not getting any fouls called. I guess a win is a win, anyway you get it, whether its ugly or smooth. I would not give up on this team just yet, they have a way of bouncing back after an ugly win.
I was complimenting East Tech's D for both guarding the perimeter and switching up quickly inside, but you must have watched a different game than me. The Mentor player's did not even try most of the time to take it to the hole. Brandon Fritts was the only one regularly going there and that is because he can't shoot so he has to. Most of the other guys played scared the entire night avoiding contact to save themselves.
Just because it is hard to drive inside doesn't mean you back down. Mentor settled for jacking up 3's the whole game and clanking them. It played right into East Tech's hands. While East Tech was better than I expected and I am trying to give them credit, that game was a disgrace. The Mentor kids can't be happy with that performance. They were extremely lucky to win and like I said, they seem to peak in January far too much. It is looking like the same old this season.
Fans see games in different ways & have different opinions & I respect everyone's opinion objectively. Obviously, ours differ & I accept yours & hope you accept mine. Enough said on the subject. I look forward to Saturdays game & if I were a betting person, I would still go with Mentor. Keep the faith.
Fans see games in different ways & have different opinions & I respect everyone's opinion objectively. Obviously, ours differ & I accept yours & hope you accept mine. Enough said on the subject. I look forward to Saturdays game & if I were a betting person, I would still go with Mentor. Keep the faith.
I would bet on Mentor too. But that says just as much about Brush as it does Mentor. In the past they haven't really brought in a great game plan to take control of the games with Mentor. This will be the seventh game between the two teams in four years. The Brush coaching staff were all in attendance for last night, but do I really think they will be able to duplicate that defensive approach, effort, and execution? No.
I do however think that Mentor didn't get Brush's best punch in the regular season game. I have to believe a good coach (or even a decent one) saves something for a game down the road. Whether that means a differed approach on offense or defense, I expect Brush to be a better team than the one Mentor saw in January.
Well cardz, Justin Fritts got the District Player of Year award all to himself. Congrats to Mr. Fritts on this honor. He did deserve to win it outright but I thought Rozier or Farmer would end up sharing it with him.
Danny Wallack got 2nd team as well.
Last edited by MentorGrad2002 : 03-09-12 at 03:07 PM.
Obviously, that wasn't Mentor's best game the other night. Then again, it might have just been East Tech's. Whatever the case may be, today is a new day and you can never overlook the Cards. Good luck today against Brush!
Well cardz, Justin Fritts got the District Player of Year award all to himself. Congrats to Mr. Fritts on this honor. He did deserve to win it outright but I thought Rozier or Farmer would end up sharing it with him.
Danny Wallack got 2nd team as well.
Hopefully, this will propel Fritts to Mr. Basketball. He is a lock for first-team all-state.
I would bet on Mentor too. But that says just as much about Brush as it does Mentor. In the past they haven't really brought in a great game plan to take control of the games with Mentor. This will be the seventh game between the two teams in four years. The Brush coaching staff were all in attendance for last night, but do I really think they will be able to duplicate that defensive approach, effort, and execution? No.
I do however think that Mentor didn't get Brush's best punch in the regular season game. I have to believe a good coach (or even a decent one) saves something for a game down the road. Whether that means a differed approach on offense or defense, I expect Brush to be a better team than the one Mentor saw in January.
I did not go to the first meeting or to the East Tech game. I would be shocked if Brush doesn't try to make someone else beat them besides Justin Fritts. Going forward, teams are going to make him work extra hard to score.
Probably the most disappointing win I have seen our program have since I started following them completely while in high school. Feels a lot more like a loss and that Mentor is in a double elimination tournament now.
East Tech did play better than I thought they would. They have the athletes for a 1-3-1 zone that most teams do not have. They made it very hard to drive inside. They also made seemingly every one of their free throws and had a lot of nice rebounds.
That being said, Mentor played about as bad as I have seen them play. Ball movement was stagnant and slow, the 3 point shooting was piss poor and it seemed like everyone on the team was afraid to drive inside. I haven't seen so much hesitation and lack of confidence when driving to the paint in a long time. It is as if everyone was looking to someone else instead of trying to step up.
Foreman for some reason didn't play most of the game. His replacements couldn't hit a shot to save their lives. I was at least happy that Potter showed confidence in shooting them even though he made only 1 out of 10 it seemed. Most of the others were too busy avoiding contact and passing off trying to have Justin Fritts and Wallack save them. Wallack has been off for a month and we need him to get back to normal. Even Justin didn't have a great game.
The turnovers have been piling up and the team is playing as if they haven't played together until a week ago. The ball movement is horrid and the shooting is even worse. Instead of driving inside which is what a team should do on a cold night, they kept jacking up stupid 3's. Was driving me crazy. We have more size than any team at Mentor in a decade and it is the same old thing. I have same sense of dread that we will keep jacking up 3's no matter how many are missed badly.
Sadly it is the same old thing. This team peaked in January like so many in the past. They should be thanking God they came back yesterday despite being outplayed for 3 + quarters. Unless they can turn it on quickly as they did on their final 4 run, this team won't even sniff Columbus and may lose to Brush.
Most teams never get a "sniff of Columbus". Keep in mind that three of the five starters played primarily JV last year. Foreman, the 6th man, was the 6th man last year. In fact, five of the top eight -- Krizancic, B. Fritts, Trubisky, Potter, Morris -- played JV. They are not used to playing a game with pressure. If they play loose, pressure-free basketball tonight, they can win going away. This will depend on the play and leadership of Justin Fritts and Danny Wallack, along with Coach K. They need to have the mind-set that this is exciting and an opportunity to advance to regionals rather than being scared or nervous.
Is Cade McClure a major prospect to go pro out of high school?
Caleb is playing 18U Summer Travel (2012) Baseball and is also invited to the East Coast Showcase where the best in the country get invited to perform (workouts, games) in front of scouts, colleges. He is also gone for nearly 10 days for the final round of cuts to make the USA National Team. Those three things with baseball are all in June with little time at all for basketball. I know he was getting worn down by playing multiple basketball games and baseball tournaments during the Summer with some even on the same day.
The Summer and Fall baseball (tournaments, showcases) are where most of the elite players get noticed by colleges & MLB Scouts. Caleb putting alot of time into basketball scrimmages last Summer cut into his baseball preparation. Now mix in football which I know he would like to do, but is it possible for him to reach his goals? He doesn't like the fact if he played football he would miss football Summer workouts. He doesn't feel it's fair to the guys who put the work in during the Summer.
I know he has been asked to play for a number of Fall teams that are run by MLB Scouts. He has many things to think about before he decides to play basketball again in 2012-13 or plays football which I know he would like to do. He knows baseball is where he could be special at a higher level with the right preparation.
I would love to see him play football, basketball and baseball, but know way do I see that happening for him. It just wouldn't be smart physically for him when he has so much potential with baseball. A major injury could derail and slow his baseball developement.
In Football he would have the athletic (Speed, Strength, Size, Arm, Leg) ability to play many positions in my opinion. Backup QB, RB, TE, WR, DE, LB, S, P. If he did go out for Football I would tell him to go out for backup QB and Punter. He could be groomed a year behind Trubisky. The kid has a cannon for an arm.
Carl Crawford played three sports in H.S. He had offers in all three -- Nebraska (football), UCLA (basketball), baseball (anywhere!) -- before getting drafted to play pro baseball. If your good enough they'll find you. Caleb is good enough to pull it off. Also, fair of not, Mentor wants to put the best players on the field -- whether you go to workouts or not. Even though it helps, workouts are not mandatory -- only practices once the season starts. I'm sure they would find a place for him. There is a Caleb Potter (same spelling) in Tennessee. He is a junior and plays baseball for Haywood High School. I am thinking that he is not as accomplished as the one from Mentor.
Good luck to mentor tonight. Going off of the game Thursday night, they need to really turn it around if they want to win tonight. This Brush team might not be as good as past years when they had dynamite guards and bigs as well, but they want revenge. If they play the way they did against East Tech, Brush will have a good shot at this game.
This is Justin Fritts's team and everyone knows it. He needs to step up tonight and so on if this team wants to make a run to win it all. Not sure how to even describe his play Thursday but it was not good enough for him or the team. Something needs to change and I hope it does.
Brush boys basketball team falls to Mentor in district final
Brian Lavrich, Sun News, March 10, 2012 9:05 p.m.
EUCLID – Despite a magnificent effort by Pharaoh Brown, the Brush boys basketball team lost, 76-72 in a Division I district final on Saturday night at EuclidHigh School.
Brown had 26 points and 24 rebounds as he helped lead the Arcs to a 63-50 lead late in the third quarter. Unfortunately for Brush, the Cardinals rallied for the victory.
Curtis Oakley added 19 points for Brush (19-4).
Mentor (22-2) was led by Justin Fritz with 24 points and Danny Wallack with 20 points.
Brush boys basketball team falls to Mentor in district final
Brian Lavrich, Sun News, March 10, 2012 9:05 p.m.
EUCLID – Despite a magnificent effort by Pharaoh Brown, the Brush boys basketball team lost, 76-72 in a Division I district final on Saturday night at EuclidHigh School.
Brown had 26 points and 24 rebounds as he helped lead the Arcs to a 63-50 lead late in the third quarter. Unfortunately for Brush, the Cardinals rallied for the victory.
Curtis Oakley added 19 points for Brush (19-4).
Mentor (22-2) was led by Justin Fritz with 24 points and Danny Wallack with 20 points.
Mentor advances to a regional semifinal.
Brush helped out Mentor's cause last night by going 10 for 26 from the free throw line. Mentor was 6 for 23 from three -- and they took a few bad ones. Most of the three-point shots were off to the left or right -- not long or short -- a bad sign. Wallack was the only one that shot the three well. Justin Fritts had several uncharacteristic turnovers off the dribble and passing. Justin forced a few drives instead of pulling up for the short 10- to 15-foot jumper. He did pull up twice and made both. It was a physical game and the refs allowed Pharaoh Brown to push Brandon Fritts around under the basket, but Brandon hung in there. Both teams missed layups and put backs from point-blank range. Justin Fritts and Danny Wallack showed senior leadership and came up big in the fourth quarter. Brandon Fritts also made some big free throws in the fourth. Justin made a great defensive play and driving layup at the end.
With Northland and LaSalle losing, is Mentor the top-ranked Div. I left in the tourney? Columbus looks a lot more promising.
Unfortunately, rankings don't mean much at this point. All teams are very good in the regionals. With all the talk of the Euclid district being easy, they felt some pressure to win. Hopefully, they will at least play more relaxed this Wednesday at CSU at 6:15 pm.
It was by far the closest of the four district title games with Brush. I was even more worried Mentor's season was coming to an end in this game then the previous game against East Tech. Brush up 13 late in the 3rd quarter and up 11 going into the 4th. It didn't look good. The defensive intensity picked up and the senior guards (Fritts/Wallack) really stepped up.
The past two games, Danny Wallack and Brandon Fritts have played really well. They are the only two regulars averaging more than their season average during these critical games.
Pharaoh Brown had a monster game with a Dwight Howard-like 26 and 23. Oakley also had a nice game. Brush's talented 1-2 punch nearly knocked Mentor off, and they outplayed the Cards in 75-80% of the game.
Mentor looked better last night than they did in the previous game, but it still won't be enough to get out of the Cleveland region if they play and shoot like they have been at Euclid. WGH didn't exactly light it up against Green, so that is some good news.
BTW, for all of my negative talk about the NOC in basketball (at least in comparison to the LEL), half of the NOC Valley is in the sweet sixteen. If you told me that a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn't have been shocked with Mentor, Garfield, and possibly Brunswick (No. 2 seed). But Elyria and Medina (with Kaminski) end up puling it out. Now they play eachother, meaning there is a chance two teams from our six-team division make the regional final.
It is great to see the NOC doing well. It is only going to get better. Mentor and Garfield Hts have been good for years and Shaker Hts is coming in next year. Brunswick has a few good young players as well. Strongsville has to get back to normal in both football and basketball but you know that they should get there in time.
As for last night's game, well Pharaoh Brown was a monster. I did think the refs took a couple of his fouls and passed them onto other players, but the kid was aggressive and did everything he could for his team. 20+ rebounds in a 32 minute game is ridiculous. Part of that is Mentor forgetting how to box out all of a sudden. Better learn it again quickly because WGH has a few bigs inside.
Curtis Oakley is a class act. While a few Brush players threw temper tantrums after the game (including one talking trash as he got his medal and having his hands down in the shake line), Oakley had his head up and was respectful. Him and Justin Fritts were last in line and embraced after the game. Oakley talked to him for awhile and looked to wish him luck. You can tell he has been raised right and I am sure his uncle taught him some things. Kid is a complete class act and played great.
If this team gets back to January Mentor then they can beat anybody left on a given night. If this team plays like they have the last 3 games, they won't even get past WGH. But the good thing is that they are alive. Better than losing like Lasalle in the District Semis and Northland in the District Final. Mentor could have lost either of those games, but winning by 1 accomplishes the same as winning by 100 this time of year.
I am hoping the ball movement in the 4th quarter continues. Thought it has been way too stagnant before that point. We also have the wrong players taking 3's. Potter and Foreman need to go with their strengths and drive inside instead of bricking 3's. Krizanzic needs to take the 3 if he is wide open and be more aggressive. He has been way too passive late in the season.
Both of the Fritts brothers and Wallack have really stepped it up lately. The rest of the team needs to shoot their shots and not force ones that they aren't comfortable taking.
Tim Warsinskey, Plain Dealer Reporter, March 10, 2012 11:22 p.m.
EUCLID, Ohio -- Leave it to the little brother. No one can push a brother's buttons like the younger sibling.
Mentor senior Justin Fritts has been unflappable all season and no one, it seemed, could get in the 5-11 guard's head. But Brandon Fritts did Saturday night, and Mentor's season continues because of it.
"My brother said it felt like we're all playing scared," Justin Fritts said. "Coming from a sophomore, that was pretty big. I didn't want to go down with my younger brother thinking I played scared."
Displaying nothing but confidence, Fritts gambled defensively, and his steal and layup with 7.8 seconds remaining clinched a 76-72 victory over Brush in a Division I district championship in front of 3,200 fans.
Mentor trailed by 13 points late in the third quarter, and for the second straight game rallied for a dramatic victory. The Cardinals (22-2) play Warren Harding in a regional semifinal Wednesday at Cleveland State. Harding knocked off Green, 71-69, in overtime.
Brush (19-4) was eliminated by Mentor for the fifth straight year, and the past four were district finals.
Fritts' 3-point play with 3:11 broke a 70-70 tie. After a Brush miss, Mentor went into a stall. Brush standout Pharaoh Brown stole the ball and drove for an easy layup and a 73-72 deficit. It was part of a memorable performance by Brown, an Oregon football recruit. He scored 26 points and grabbed 23 rebounds.
Fritts split a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left. The Arcs went for the last basket and, after their final timeout, inbounded from the sideline with 7.8 seconds left. Fritts, who has played in all four district final wins over the Arcs, said he heard Brush call a switch before the inbound.
"As soon as they said that, I over-played a little bit and just made an athletic play to go get the ball," he said. He intercepted the pass and raced to the other end for the final bucket, touching off a wild celebration on Mentor's end and stunned disbelief among the Arcs.
Brush made 10 of 26 free throws. Mentor made 21 of 27.
"We came out slugging," said Brush senior Curtis Oakley, who scored 19 points. "We did a lot of good things. We had a big lead in the third quarter. We fell short on a couple plays and shot bad from the free-throw line.
"Nobody is going to win shooting 10-of-26, no matter what game you're playing."
Brown and Oakley combined for 19 third-quarter points to give Brush a 63-50 lead.
"I felt if they got one more basket, that could have been the dagger. I wanted to keep it going for as long as I could," Fritts said. "Something gave when [Brown] got three or for fouls."
Mentor opened the fourth quarter on a 15-4 run, during which Brown picked up his fourth foul.
Just as he did in a fourth-quarter rally against East Tech on Thursday, Mentor senior guard Danny Wallack keyed the fourth-quarter run, scoring eight of his 20 points.
"It wasn't the best game; it actually wasn't a good game," Fritts said. "I'm glad I didn't go out on this one."
FWIW I maintain my stance that I would be all in for a "super district" format, even though that would negatively effect the team I follow. Combine Euclid/Solon, Brecksville/Grafton, and Alliance/Canton/Copley into three super districts. Move St Ignatius over to Brecksville/Grafton to give it a little more balance. Let the teams at these three super districts all be seeded and coaches can decide from there how to weigh out their options (location vs. competion).
This year the top seeds would look like this:
Brecksville/Midview: St Edward, St Ignatius, Midview, Westlake, Brecksville, Lorain, Elyria, North Royalton
Solon/Euclid: Mentor, Garfield, Cleveland Heights, Shaker, Brush, JFK, Kenston, Bedford
Canton/Copley/Alliance: WGH, Timken, Stow, McKinley, Brunswick, Lake, Hoover, Barberton, Nordonia, Firestone, Massillon, Youngstown East
For Mentor's perspective, Euclid would probably have something like Mentor, Shaker, Brush, and Kenston as the top four while Solon would have Cleveland Heights, Garfield, JFK, and Bedford as the top four. Much more reasonable than the current system.
I took a look as far back as I could (1999), and looked at St. Edward's tourney results. In 2006, they won the Berea District, which was moved to Brecksville in 2007. They won the Brecksville district every season (2007-2012). Prior to that, they were at Grafton from 1999 to 2005 (actually, they were there for a few years before 1999 too, but I can't find those results) and won the Grafton District in 2002, 2003 (both by 2 points) and 2005. They were beaten in the district final in 2000, 2001 and 2004. They lost a sectional final in 1999.
The Brecksville District has been very, very kind to St. Ed's. At least a super-district with Grafton might make them work a little harder. Brecksville alone hasn't done it, as they win it by a blowout almost every season. Move St. Ignatius out there to Brecksville/Grafton, too.
For all the critics of Mentor's performance in the playoffs, I don't believe they appreciate the fact that Mentor's starting line-up has 2 seniors, 1 junior, 2 sophs & rotating with 1 sr, 1 jr & 1 soph. That is a pretty young ball club, which will make mistakes in playoff games. Both E.Tech & Brush were senior laden, very experienced & outsized Mentor in height & strength. Also, everyone is playing their best game when competing against the #1 team in the area & have nothing to lose & everything to gain. Give Mentor the credit they deserve for beating those teams in crunch time, comming back from double digit deficits in the 4th quarter. Don't you think that the full-court pressure the first 3 qtrs had something toi do with the opposition's performance in the last quarter, where Menter outscored them by 15 or more points. What they lack in physical elements, thay make it up with determination, conditioning, team play & poise. WGH is in the same category as E.Tech & Brush, with the majority of their players being seniors, huge in size & experienced, so it will prbably be another nail-biter. Anyone that's ever played the game knows that come playoff time, it only takes one loss & every team is going to come after you with all they have to beat you & will play the best game of their career. All you have to do is look at all of the favorites throughout the state to find that some of the top teams have been beaten by unknowns. After all, it's tournament time & anything can happen.
Take away the easy shooting night against a completely overmatched Riverside team and Mentor shot a combined 25.9% on their three-pointers since the Garfield regular season game on 2/17. During the first 18 games of the season, Mentor shot below 30% on their three-pointers just once...naturally it was the only game they lost. In the past six games, four have been below 30%.
Is this a trend? Better defenses? I know defense has a lot to do with it. Garfield, East Tech, and Brush made Mentor work hard for most of their shots.
If it just a matter of better defenses bringing Mentor to a realistic shooting clip, the defenses are only going to get tougher. WGH, Shaker, and Eds know Mentor very well. Any regional opponent will make Mentor work hard for every shot.
Take away the easy shooting night against a completely overmatched Riverside team and Mentor shot a combined 25.9% on their three-pointers since the Garfield regular season game on 2/17. During the first 18 games of the season, Mentor shot below 30% on their three-pointers just once...naturally it was the only game they lost. In the past six games, four have been below 30%.
Is this a trend? Better defenses? I know defense has a lot to do with it. Garfield, East Tech, and Brush made Mentor work hard for most of their shots.
If it just a matter of better defenses bringing Mentor to a realistic shooting clip, the defenses are only going to get tougher. WGH, Shaker, and Eds know Mentor very well. Any regional opponent will make Mentor work hard for every shot.
Yeah, I'll be rooting for Mentor to win the region, but I just don't like what I've been hearing about them the past couple weeks. When I saw them play at Elyria, I was pretty sure they would get out of CSU. Lately, though? I have a bad feeling.
Personally, I believe the game turned when Mentor was fouled and went to the free throw line with 1.5 seconds remaining in the 3rd...Then the Cardinals started the 4th with the ball. Before you know it the big lead that Brush had built over quarters 2 and 3 evaporated as the momentum turned against the Arcs...In a couple of minutes time that lead was sliced in half and the comeback was on.
The stealing of the inbounds pass with just seconds to go was a fitting end as the Arcs squandered the game long before that point.
The free throw shooting for Brush was horrific...I don't know how many times I have witnessed teams blow up in big games as a result of lousy free throw shooting...Not just at this level, but, in college and pro also! Too many times that is for sure.
Congrats to Mentor...However, (this is my only time seeing the Cardinals this season and I know historically they have great teams) can this team win at the regional level and beyond...Especially, after the two close encounters at Euclid?
They will have to improve in moving the ball and shooting to win mustangfan. They had a terrible weak doing both last week. One has to hope that it was just a horrific shooting week and they can bounce back.
The D is improving in the tourney though as many have said on the board. East Tech and Brush did very well defending Mentor. Mentor still did get plenty of good shots though. They are just in a funk and bricking them. Mentor is their own worst enemy now with the shooting slump that they are in.
Hopefully they can work on boxing out and the ball movement/shooting return to form before the Regional Tourney starts.
Although Mentor is noted for its ability to shoot lots of treys, they also have found different ways to win. I believe most Mentor teams are overachievers & win many of their games utilizing basic fundamentals, defense, conditioning, shooting skills, playing a strong schedule, playing smart & great coaching. This years team is no different & is very young, with only 2 seniors that start. They have achieved more than anyone could have expected prior to the season & have developed into a very competetive group of young players. Regardless of what happens from hereon, Mentor has come much further than anyone could have expected. It seems like some are starting to panic because of the recent poor shooting of the trey, however, they keep finding a way to win, but are still constantly critized for shooting too many 3's & not going to the hoop more often. As far as I & most Mentor fans that I know are concerned, we will leave it up to the coaching staff & the players to play the game that suits them the best & go with what got them there. Mentor coaches adjust game situations very well & come out winners more often than losers in close games. I trust that they know better than us as to what game plan they feel most comfortable with.
I don't know about the come out winners more than losers in close games or big games stuff. In the regular season I agree. In the playoffs, Mentor is often shown to have peaked in January. Have had bad losses like the North Ridgeville one in the past and also too close for comfort wins like Avon Lake. I mean we have won the Regional only one time. It isn't like this team is a perennial state title contender
Anytime a team makes it to the sweet 16, they are considered a valid state title contender. You don't get to that point by default.
Come on let's be real here. Our District is a joke many of years. Brush is the only team Mentor had to fear at all and even they are 15 points or more worse when Mentor is on. It isn't a big accomplishment to win that District most of the time and this year is no different. And Mentor is certainly not a state title contender whenever they get to this point.
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