Second-quarter burst seizes district title for Mentor in 77-73 win vs. Brush

EUCLID, Ohio — Mentor coach Bob Krizancic never saw Luke Floriea cry until Saturday night. Floriea, his 5-foot-10 junior point guard, said he just wants to keep playing.

He gets his wish.

Floriea scored a game-high 30 points in the Division I Euclid District championship, playing to the pace his coach desired and steering the top-seeded Cardinals to the next round of the OHSAA boys basketball tournament with a 77-73 win vs. Brush.

The guard in command all night let out a scream as he took the trophy with fellow starters and captains Chad Rogers, Alex Edwards and Mason Trubisky. They all yelled in jubilation for the effort it required to triumph.

"Coach K said he's never seen that out of me," Floriea said. "I just love these guys and I just want to keep playing one more game with them. One more at a time, and hopefully we can get down to Columbus because these guys are my best friends and my brothers."

Mentor (23-2) played for its 11th district title in the last 12 years. It has won eight in that stretch.

Floriea was a freshman on the 2017 team, which last reached Cleveland State for the regional semifinals. He will return there to face Green — a 65-45 winner vs. Massillon Jackson — at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Wolstein Center. It will be part of a doubleheader that concludes with St. Edward vs. Euclid, with the winners meeting Saturday afternoon for a trip to Columbus.

Krizancic last took his program there in 2013, when it won the state title. He is in his 39th season as a coach and 26th at Mentor.

"This is the most stunning year," he said, "but I've never felt this good at this time of year. These kids have proven so much. Next week is going to be tough, but these two games I thought if we got by them, we'd have a great shot."

His Cardinals took down Solon, last year's district champ and state finalist, then Brush (21-4). Solon had four starters back from last year and the Arcs boasted potential college players up and down their roster, led by Wright State recruit Andre Harris and 6-9 junior center John Hugley.

Krizancic said he hoped to pull Hugley out defensively if Mentor could hit its outside shots, opening up high-percentage shots closer to the basket.

The plan worked, as Mentor hit 10 shots behind the 3-point arc. Floriea had four.

Inside of a gym packed through the upper-level bleachers, the top two seeds answered each other for the first 16 minutes. Mentor struck first, then Brush jumped to an 11-6 lead. Mentor again responded and led 19-18 after the first quarter.

The Cardinals never trailed after the first eight minutes, seizing control with a relentless pace that gave them a 12-point lead in the second quarter. The lead was just four until Floriea found Rogers under the basket. Second later, sophomore Luke Chicone's steal led to a 3 from Floriea. The lead was nine. Moments later, it grew to 36-24 on another 3 by Floriea.

"We've never played with so much energy before like that," Chicone said. The 5-8 sophomore — sometimes the smallest player on the court — scored nine points with a team-high six rebounds. Rogers added 18 points.

Chicone thought the environment brought out the energy in his team. During the stretch, Floriea clapped his hands before defending Brush point guard D.J. Dial and took a deep breath.

"I was pretty gassed, but I didn't want to show it to him," Floriea said.

Brush pulled within six to start the third quarter, but not any closer until the final minute.

Hugley led Brush with 20 points, Dial had 19 and Harris added 16. Dial and Harris leave the program as four-year starting guards since Chet Mason took over as coach.

"I thanked them because they're the ones who created this," said Mason, who added seniors Andree Franks and Trent Harper to that bunch. "Brush is a known program statewide, and that's because of the work they put in."

They just could not get close enough to Mentor after that second-quarter run. Dial pulled them within four points on a late 3-pointer, but the game turned into an extend-the-clock situation by sending the Cardinals to the free-throw line.

Floriea made all eight of his free throws, including six in the fourth quarter. Krizancic said Floriea struggled three weeks ago at the line, but has turned it around in the postseason.

"He's just a gamer," Krizancic said.

"I told ya, I'd take our guards over anyone in the state of Ohio," he added. "I said that early and nobody believed me, but I'm telling you right now: I'd take them guards over anyone in the state of Ohio."

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