Three Stars: Mentor vs. Green

<p>We've reached the Sweet Sixteen in OHSAA's tournament. Wednesday night featured a double header in Cleveland State's Wolstein Center. In the first leg of Cleveland's Regional Semis, Mentor came in following a huge win against Brush, led by 30-point game from Luke Floriea. Their opponent, Green High School, came in winning their previous 3 postseason games all by double digits.</p> <p>Mentor went into the break up 2, but following Halftime, Green out ran and out worked Mentor en route to a 77-60 victory. Here are the 3 Stars for each side in this game:</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>MENTOR CARDINALS</strong></span></p> <p><strong>#3 - Alex Edwards - 6'2" - G - 2019<br /> </strong>Mentor's leading scorer and best shooting threat, Edwards shot 4/7 from 3 on the night. The only knock on Edwards is that he was unable to get much going inside. On the contrary, Edwards' performance and numbers indicate he can be a knockdown shooter if put in the right situations, and Mentor likely would have fared better getting him more clean shot opportunities.</p> <p><strong>#2 - Mason Trubisky - 6'5" - W - 2019<br /> </strong>Trubisky's advantage coming into this game was going to be his size advantage, and he did a fairly good job utilizing it cutting backdoor on the baseline a number of times, looking for quick pass from one of his teammates. One play in particular that stood out for Mentor was Trubisky making a pass to the right wing, moving to the weakside, and immediately making a 45 cut and catching a quick pass from teammate Chicone through traffic and finishing on the fly. On the defensive end, Trubisky again effectively used his length, blocking two shots at the rim. Trubisky was Mentor's leading rebounder with 6 boards.</p> <p><strong>#1 - Luke Chicone - 5'10" - PG - 2021<br /> </strong>Serving as Mentor's primary point guard and one of their primary scorers, the sophomore guard had to have known he'd be in for a challenge matching up with Kaleb Martin. Chicone can shoot it and from range, and Green knew that, which made it even more impressive when he was able to bury a 25-footer to send Mentor into the half with a 2 point lead. Chicone also made a great play in the 1st Half guarding Kaleb Martin, sliding his feet to stop the ball on the drive and take a charge in the chest.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>GREEN BULLDOGS</strong></span></p> <p><strong>#3 - Donovan O'Neil - 6'3" - F - 2020</strong><br /> You'd be hard pressed to find a more efficient player all night than Donovan O'Neil in the post. Someone who admittedly is not overpowering in terms of strength or freakishly athletic, O'Neil just about had his way with his back to the basket or the ball in his hands around the rim, a very smart player with good post instincts and technique, O'Neil rattled off 19 points on 8/9 shooting added with 3/3 from line. Early on, he showed good footwork, backing down Mentor with a drop step and easy hook. Any time he'd receive a dump off from the post, Mentor seemed to bite on every pump fake before finishing off an easy 2. O'Neil was one piece of a puzzle that led to the perfect storm for Green in this one. </p> <p><strong>#2 - Garrison Keeslar - 6'4" - G - 2020<br /> </strong>When building the perfect team, say someone that could take down a top seed like Mentor, everyone is going to want at least one knock down shooter. Garrison Keeslar was exactly that for Green. Keeslar erupted for 13 second quarter points, converting a pair of triples that were crucial to keeping the 1st Half a close game going into the break. His final shooting numbers were 4/6 from 3-point land and a perfect 5/5 from the charity stripe. The mere presence of a shooting threat like Keeslar did wonders for Green's spacing, allowing more room for the formerly mentioned player to work in the post, and the following player room to penetrate and move the ball around. </p> <p><strong>#1 - Kaleb Martin - 5'10" - PG - 2019<br /> </strong>The overall leading scorer in this game with 24 points, Martin was a menace to Mentor in the 2nd Half. In fact, 13 of those 24 points came in 4th Quarter. However, in that same time frame, Martin only made one FG. How did he do this? Aggressively attacking the basket down the stretch, Martin shot 11/12 from the FT line - in <em>just the 4th Quarter</em>. That stat alone will give your team a great chance at a victory. Martin also proved to be more than capable initiating Green's offensive sets as a true Point Guard, ending the game with 8 assists. One play in particular that stuck out was making an entry pass at the elbow, moving off-ball to the weak side, and making a quick cut towards the basket where he caught a pass on the money for an easy layup. A smart player, and a grinder on defense, stopping the ball on numerous 1-on-1 drive attempts by Mentor. Green will need a similar showing out of Martin if they are to make the Final Four this weekend.</p>