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Brunswick sophomore guard Ryan Badowski, pictured here at home against Stow, had 15 points in Friday's 100-70 loss at Mentor.
MENTOR, Ohio – Yawn. Mentor’s boys basketball team scored 100 points for the sixth time this season.
With a team like the Cardinals, who average 85.4 points per game, seeing Mentor put up a C note on Brunswick wasn’t that much of a surprise on Friday.
It’s what the Cardinals did without the ball in a 100-70 Northeast Ohio Conference Valley Division win that was impressive.
Mentor (10-1, 5-0) hit its 3-pointers – the squad had 10 in the game and eight in the first half.
But it was the Cardinals' defense that gave the Blue Devils (11-2, 3-2) fits as Mentor forced a season-high 25 of them.
That most turned into layups or uncontested 3-pointers was just a byproduct of a team that looked more incredible on defense.
“They force a lot of turnovers,” said Brunswick forward Zach Parker, who led Brunswick with 17 points. “They jump a lot of passes and force you into a lot of mistakes.”
They force a lot of teams into mistakes, but what they did against Brunswick was downright silly.
A 10-point lead after one quarter begat a 16-point lead after two quarters and then it turned into 25 points after three quarters.
All of it because of Mentor’s defense.
Justin Fritts (24 points, 8 assists), Mitch Trubisky (18 points), Brandon Fritts (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Connor Krizancic (15, 3 assists) had themselves a day because of it as the sixth-ranked team in the Associated Press Division I poll stayed undefeated in the league.
“They’re good on both sides of the ball,” Brunswick coach Joe Mackey said. “They’re very athletic and they have a lot of skill.
“If they play like they did tonight, they can go real far. They made us pay on both ends of the court. They shot the ball well. They moved the ball well and we didn’t play very well, but a lot of that had to do with them.”
The third quarter is what did in Brunswick as Trubisky (8 points in the frame), Brandon Fritts (6) and Justin Fritts (6) turned mistakes into easy points.
According to Mackey, it was the first time in his 14-year career with the Blue Devils that he allowed a 100-point performance by an opponent.
What was almost as impressive as the Cardinals’ defense was the way they distributed the ball.
Of their 34 baskets, 22 came with an assist. Of the 13 players Mentor put on the floor, 11 scored.
That Parker, Ryan Badowski (15 points) and Kyle Wheeler (11) were the only factors for Brunswick was a byproduct of how good Mentor is.
So where do the Blue Devils go from here?
Not back to the drawing board according to Mackey as the squad still has 11 wins in 13 games.
“It’s frustrating, but we’ll learn to get better,” he said. “The coaching staff is frustrated and I think the players are frustrated and I’m glad they’re frustrated. They should be. The big picture is we’re 11-2 and have a good chance to be a high seed (in the Copley District).”