Mentor, Ohio- Both Brunswick and Mentor came into the matchup 9-2 in the GCC. Brunswick came in winners nine of their last ten games. Mentor came into the game fresh off of a dominant 90-32 win over Garrett Morgan. Ian Ioppolo’s 30 point performance pushed Mentor ahead of Brunswick to win the GCC conference.
I got to speak with Head Coach Bob Krizancic about the win.
“All week we talked about it was a pressure game, it would be like tournament type atmosphere," said Kriancic. "We did a really good job of executing on the offensive end.”
Both teams came out looking to run and fire from three. Brunswick got multiple three point makes, Quinn Barnett and Matt Morgan both hit one a piece.
Makel Harrison knocked one down for Mentor about midway through the first. Mentor led 12-6 after the bucket. Both teams continued to trade buckets and Mentor ended the quarter up 19-13.
The second quarter Ian Ioppolo started to get going. He hit a three about a minute into the quarter, as he continued to score down low for the Cardinals. As less shots from three were falling for both teams, Mentor started to find success around the basket. Aidan Shaker’s three was the last bucket of the half. Mentor led 33-29.
In the third Brunswick started to take control of the game and Barnett was a huge part of that. Brunswick started to get stops and look for paint opportunities in transition.
Barnett scored eight straight during the quarter and gave Brunswick a 42-40 lead. Buckets from Trey Drexler and Shaker gave Brunswick a 53-49 lead to end the third.
The fourth quarter was back and forth. Tommy Morgan and Ioppolo traded buckets around the halfway point to tie the game at 62.
A couple of minutes later Mentor found themselves trailing 67-66 with around two minutes to go. Kobe Frasure-azzano and Morgan traded layups, Mentor trailed 67-66. Azzano scored again down low to give Mentor a 70-69 lead with 40 seconds to go.
Morgan earned himself a trip to the foul line and split the pair. The quarter ended 70-70 forcing an overtime period.
Makel Harrison set the tone for Mentor early in the period with two coast to coast layups. Mentor seemed to have put the game away down the stretch but Brunswick kept fighting.
Trailing 80-75 with about 30 seconds to go Barnett knocked down a three. Brunswick forced a turnover and then capitalized with a bucket from Morgan around the rim. The period ended 80-80 which forced a second overtime period.
The second overtime period was all Mentor. In the last two minutes Mentor got multiple buckets from Biddell and free throws from Azzano to help them put the game away. Mentor ended on top 89-84.
Quinn Barnett led all scorers with 32, Trey Drexler finished with 22 points and Tommy Morgan added 13. Ian Ioppolo ended with 30, Mathew Biddell finished with 19 and Makel Harrison finished with 13 for the Cardinals.
Mentor will be back in action at Lake Highschool 7:15 PM February 24th in the Sectional Semi-final.