BRUNSWICK, Ohio — Defending Brunswick’s 3-point shooting got the better of Mentor for the first two quarters Tuesday night on the road with the Greater Cleveland Conference championship hanging in the balance.
It took those two quarters — and 10 3-pointers by Brunswick — for the Cardinals to figure it out in an 80-66 road win to clinch at least a share of the GCC.
“To defend them is so hard,” Mentor coach Bob Krizancic said. “You have to do stuff that you don’t naturally do.”
Brunswick (14-5, 5-3), ranked 16th in the cleveland.com boys basketball Top 25, forced Mentor’s defenders to make quick decisions: Help defend or stay on their man. The Blue Devils’ passing made for a frantic second quarter, turning a nine-point lead for the visitors into a 34-all tie score at halftime.
“If they keep hitting 3s, they’re going to win the game,” Mentor junior Ian Ioppolo said of his mindset at the midway point.
Ioppolo scored a game-high 30 points, including a tying 3-pointer of his own in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Kobe Frasure-Azzano scored inside for a 60-58 lead, and No. 12 Mentor (14-4, 7-1) took over from there to deny Brunswick a piece of first place with two GCC games left for both teams.
“I think they were 10 of 19 from 3,” Ioppolo said of Brunswick’s first half. “They’re just going to shoot 3s, so if we just eliminate that, play a little tighter on our guy, we’re going to eliminate that.”
Brunswick made more 3s (10) than 2s (two) through the first two quarters. The Cardinals cut the Blue Devils’ outside production in half the rest of the way.
The hosts finished 15 of 34 on 3s.
“We made some mental mistakes, leaving them early,” Krizancic said. “I just thought we got better, especially by the middle of the third and fourth. We didn’t leave them at all.”
The loss stung for a Brunswick team that had won six straight and seven of its last eight since a 72-67 loss Jan. 3 at Mentor. That setback came without freshman point guard Trey Drexler, who scored a team-high 19 points with three 3s and four assists.
Brunswick coach Joe Mackey looked at Mentor’s size — led by 6-foot-6 Ioppolo and 6-4 Matthew Biddell, who added 18 points — as the difference.
“They can go down low and score,” Mackey said. “They just bulldozed us down there and got easy buckets.”
Mentor’s bulldozing style in the fourth quarter turned a 55-52 lead for Brunswick into the final score with a 28-11 run. Maxx Dickinson knocked down a 3-pointer to start the fourth for the Blue Devils, extending their lead to 58-52.
Mentor answered with a 22-3 run.
“I thought it was our best basketball IQ fourth quarter,” Krizancic said. “Passes, taking it at opportune times. Aggressively, we got some cheap buckets, which was really good.”
While Dickinson and junior guard Quinn Barnett each scored 15 points for Brunswick, which travels Friday to Euclid, Mentor got 14 points from Frasure-Azzano. Brunswick junior Tommy Morgan had 11 points and six rebounds with three blocks, but Mentor senior guard Ryan Ioppolo added nine points and nine rebounds. Younger (but bigger) brother Ian Ioppolo also had nine rebounds, while Ryan Calo initiated the offense and drew praise from Krizancic for his improvement at point guard.
Calo finished with eight assists that helped Ian Ioppolo and Biddell celebrate with a jam session down the stretch.
“I thought late in the game, they were shooting from 2 feet and we were shooting from 20,” Mackey said. “It’s a lot easier to shoot from 2, especially when your legs are a little tired there in the fourth.”
Ioppolo and Biddell said the fourth-quarter swing on the scoreboard pushed their adrenaline, which led to them taking turns trying to get higher and more emphatic on their one-handed slams.
“Those get everybody going,” Biddell said. “The dunks, the defense and playing the game. It all came together.”
Ioppolo followed his final blow by dribbling out the clock in transition after one last Brunswick miss. He walked toward his bench, turned around and waved to the home team’s student section.
Mentor has won seven of its last eight games and has a chance to wrap up an outright GCC title Friday at home vs. No. 19 Medina (13-6, 5-3).
“I think this is really going to get us going,” Ioppolo said. “The chemistry is better, and this is a good tone setter going into the playoffs.”
Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on Twitter (@mgoul) or email (mgoul@cleveland.com).
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