Boys basketball: Size prevails as Mentor beats Brunswick

MENTOR — You can't teach size. Either you have it or you don't. Mentor has a lot of size and used that to take down Brunswick 72-67 in a big early-season Greater Cleveland Conference showdown Tuesday. The Cardinals' (6-2, 2-1) are loaded with height and bulk, while the Blue Devils (7-3, 2-1) feature just one player over 6-foot-1. Mentor has an entire starting five over 6-foot-3. "We did enough to stay in the game," Brunswick coach Joe Mackey said, "We pulled ahead, but we still have to rebound the ball. We are small — very small. It's not a secret. We try to spread you out, but we are going to have to get a little bit tougher on the defensive end and rebound the ball." With a big size differential, Mentor dominated the glass on both ends and took advantage with 13 more shot attempts. The rebound margin skewed 39-22, including 15-4 on the offensive end. "We just got ripped on the glass," Mackey said. "They're bigger, they're stronger. That was disappointing. It is going to be a long trip home." The Blue Devils shot the ball better from the floor, hitting 51% (26-of-51) to 48% (31-of-64), but the big edge on the glass nullified a great shooting night. "We have to do a better job being out and finding our man," Brunswick forward Quinn Barnett said. "We knew they were way bigger than us. We had to find our man and rebound to win this game, and unfortunately we didn't get it done." Barnett remained the hottest player in Medina County with 24 points on 60% shooting (9-of-15), including 55% (6-of-11) from 3-point land. Despite the lack of rebounding, Brunswick took a 65-63 lead on a layup from Tommy Morgan (16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists) after a defensive stop with 3:16 left. The 6-5 center also assisted on the previous basket, finding Maxx Dickinson (22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assist) for an open 3-pointer to tie the game. Mentor center Ian Ioppolo (27 points, 10 rebounds) keyed a 9-2 run, scoring all of the Cardinals' points over the next 2:44. The 6-6 junior did most of his damage inside, including a pair of dunks, but made his only 3-pointer with 1:16 left from 5 feet behind the arc that seized momentum and put his team up 68-65. The extremely clean game moved quickly with just seven total fouls called in the first half and only 12 combined turnovers. Ryan Ioppolo (17 points, 9 rebounds) and Matthew Biddel (17, 8) joined Ian Ioppolo to combine for 27 rebounds (8 offensive). Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com. Mentor 72, Brunswick 67 BRUNSWICK&emsp;&emsp;16 14 23 14 — 67 MENTOR&emsp;&emsp;16 17 20 19 — 72 Brunswick — Quinn Barnett 9-0-24, Ethan Jean 0-0-0, Tommy Morgan 6-4-16, Maxx Dickinson 9-2-22, Mikey Mog 1-0-3, Drew Dodds 0-0-0, Caid Som 0-0-0, Matt Horton 1-0-2. TOTALS: 26-6-67. Mentor — Ryan Calo 2-2-7, Ryan Ioppolo 7-0-17, Ian Ioppolo 13-0-27, Kobe Frasure-Azzano 1-0-2, Matthew Biddell 7-2-17, Tanner Toot 0-0-0, Makel Harrison 1-0-2, Franjo Wilson 0-0-0. TOTALS: 31-4-72. 3-point goals — Barnett 6, Dickinson 2, Mog, R. Ioppolo 3, Calo, I. Ioppolo. Rebounds — Brunswick 22 (Morgan 8), Mentor 39 (I. Ioppolo 10). Assists — Brunswick 12 (Morgan 4), Mentor 8 (Calo 4). Records — Brunswick (7-3, 2-1), Mentor (6-2, 2-1). Junior varsity — Brunswick 72, Mentor 58 (B: Shawn Grabowski 16).