Basketball Preview: Mentor Cardinals vs. Euclid Panthers
Mentor is 10-0 against the Panthers since February of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Mentor Cardinals will head out on the road to challenge the Euclid Panthers at 7:30 p.m. Mentor has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 1,280 points over their last 15 matches.
A well-balanced attack led Mentor over the Scarabs in every quarter on their way to victory on Saturday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Mentor blew the Scarabs out of the water with a 85-47 final score. Given Mentor's advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 58th, while the Scarabs are ranked 346th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Mentor's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Matthew Biddell led the charge by scoring 15 points along with eight rebounds and six assists. Another player making a difference was Ian Ioppolo, who scored 18 points along with seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, Euclid's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their seventh straight defeat. They ended up on the wrong side of a tough 83-60 walloping at the hands of Strongsville. Euclid has not had much luck with the Mustangs recently, as the team's come up short the last six times they've met.
Mentor pushed their record up to 9-6 with that victory, which was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 91.1 points per game. As for Euclid, they have been struggling recently as they've lost eight of their last nine matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-14 record this season.
Everything came up roses for Mentor against the Panthers in their previous meeting back in January as the team secured a 104-70 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Euclid's Thai Duncan, who scored 24 points. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Mentor still be able to contain Duncan? There's only one way to find out.
