Mentor started slow from beyond the arc in the first half against Stongsville in its GCC matchup Jan. 7. The Cardinals connected on just four first-half 3-pointers. That cold streak continued into the second half, as the only 3 came from Chase Williams with under two minutes in the fourth. The Mustangs ran away with a 98-65 victory to move to 10-0. Mentor fell to 6-3. Mentor did make its first 3 of the contest, from Tony Katava, but missed the next five. The Cardinals carried a rough shooting performance from their Cleveland Heights contest into the game with Strongsville. Coach Bob Krizancic knows the speed Mentor wants to play helps the looks from deep, but they have missed both parts of the 3-and-D mindset the past two contests. “That’s why we want to press and run, it negates the size,” Krizancic said. “You neutralize it if you’re not playing a halfcourt game. But tonight they controlled everything. The shooting has been an Achilles for us. Against Cleveland Heights we were 6 of 30 and lost by eight. We were 3 of 28 against Shaker, we were 5 of 39 — we just can’t shoot the ball at times, and it’s something we need an answer to.” The Mustangs also did a strong job of limiting Mentor to one look per possession. Nolan Beard did a good job on the glass for Strongsville. He recorded 18 rebounds, 12 in the first half, and led the transition looks for Strongsville with many deep outlet passes. Kobe Frasure-Azzano was able to challenge Beard but was a part of the rotation for Mentor after he left the Cleveland Heights game early with an injury. He finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. But Krizancic knows when he’s out, Mentor needs todo a better job on the glass as Peter Kennedy had seven rebounds but many came on loose balls off misses. “It’s not a youngness thing anymore. We just couldn’t put the ball in the hoop,” Krizancic said. “We were 7 of 18 from inside. Their big guy intimidated us, caused problems, however you want to say it. Either our press has to work like it did in the beginning of the year, or we have to knock down some shots.” Ayo Olulami was also in double figures with 14 points to lead Mentor, while Dominic Baroni had 10, all in the second half. But Strongsville’s guards were able to take advantage of the transition looks. Josh Byers had several transition looks to finish with a game-high 31 points, with just one 3-pointer. Brayden Wypasek had 26 points, 16 in the second half. Matthew Heffke (16 points) and Ameer Nemeh (12 points) were also in double figures for the Mustangs. While Mentor did well in the defensive frontcourt, its backcourt portion of the press was challenged all contest. Strongsville used two deep threats, along both sidelines, to push the transition. “We don’t want to give up the layup,” Krizancic said. “You can’t get beat deep or to your hoop and we did. We’ll work on that tomorrow, but when you’re the last guy back or the last two, you can’t give up space at the hoop and we did. You have to learn from it. This is a brutal stretch and we have to get better. We have to be smart, good basketball IQ.” Mentor returns to the court Jan. 10 with a trip to Brunswick. The Blue Devils are coming off a win over Cleveland Heights, which just beat the Cardinals. THE SCORE (JAN. 7) Strongsville 98, Mentor 65