Mentor had to find an edge when it took on Villa Angela-St. Joseph on Jan. 25. The Cardinals and Vikings run very similar up-tempo offenses and press defenses. The answer came on the boards and from the charity stripe for Mentor. The Cardinals recorded 37 team rebounds and made all but seven free throws to pull away down the stretch in the 81-68 victory. Mentor improved to 9-5 on the season, while VASJ fell to 8-7. Early on, Mentor struggled to generate any offense, connecting on one field goal in the first few minutes. But then they were able to generate second- and third-chance looks or drew fouls going up on those looks. A 14-5 run ended the first and built up a nine-point advantage. Coach Bob Krizancic knew with the size and length Mentor has, it needed to establish itself more inside. Mentor’s Kobe Frasure-Azzano shoots Jan. 25 against VASJ. (Brian Fisher – for The News-Herald) “When we had those two cold days, where there was no snow, we came in,” Krizancic said. “I really appreciate the administration for letting us do that. I thought we had two of the better practices definitely of the year. We ran, worked hard just to get in great shape. Marcus (Sierputowski) and Kobe (Frasure-Azzano), the captains, did a great job. We talked about how important this weekend was, ranking wise in the state and the conference. They have great leadership.” Ayo Olulami was one of those voices inside, as he finished with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds. Paired with Tony Katava and Kobe Frasure-Azzano in the front court, Olulami understands they need to start crashing more inside. While Frasure-Azzano averages nearly 10 rebounds a game, he can’t be the only one on the glass. “This past week we, especially the bigs, worked on driving, finishing in the paint and through contact,” Olulami said. “Rebounding, boxing out, sometimes you have to go back to the fundamentals. So we emphasized that tonight.” Katava finished a rebound short of a double-double as well, with 14 points and nine boards. Frasure-Azzano had a team-high 17 points and six rebounds. But VASJ kept finding ways to battle back into the contest. Late in the second, the Vikings tied the game at 26 and were down by two at the break. They took the lead in the third with a Julian Council 3-pointer as well. Mentor went on another run, this one of the 9-3 variety to lead 51-43 late in the frame. But a Jeremiah Martin 3-pointer seemed to shift momentum back to the Vikings. But on the Cardinals’ next possession, Bernard Gnjatic went under a block attempt and sunk a 3-pointer of his own from the top of the key to put the advantage back to eight. With Marcus Sierputowski out with an injury, others will need to step up. “It shows great poise for a sophomore,” Krizancic said. “Confidence is everything right now. We’re going to have a new rotation. Dominic Baroni had six steals last night, seven boards. Him and Peter Kennedy, I think, are good enough to start on many other teams. We’re getting the depth and you can see the confidence in guys like freshman Jack Kennedy. And now we have Wade Simmons, so it’s two sophomores, a junior and freshman all in the rotation now.” Gnjatic finished with 10 points, while Jack Kennedy had 15 and was 7-for-7 from the free-throw line in the second half. While they stepped out of conference, the door was left ajar for the Cardinals in the GCC race. But Olulami and the team aren’t looking too far ahead. “It all matters for March,” Olulami said. “As long as we’re good then, that’s the goal. With us being good now, it’s one game and one day at a time. We want to just get like five to 10 points better per game.” While VASJ didn’t walk away with the win, Coach Ashen Ward is pleased with how his team battled back into the game after a slow start. He is also impressed with the performance of Jayveon Roe. With a different rotation than normal, Roe was able to impact the game in a multitude of ways, creating turnovers and working in the paint. He finished with eight points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. They will need effort like that from everyone to turn close contests into wins. “I think it all starts with effort and following through on the game plan,” Ward said. “We did an OK job of it for most of the game, other than starting slow. But we have to find a way to finish the game out. Overall, the effort was there. That’s where we start defensively and have to follow it through.” VASJ also had Jeremiah Martin finish with a game-high 24 points, while Antonio Brown had 20 and eight rebounds. The Vikings aim to snap their two-game skid when they host Cleveland Central Catholic on Jan. 31. Mentor returns to GCC play the same day with a trip to Shaker Heights. THE SCORE Mentor 81, VASJ 68