Basketball Game Preview: Mentor Cardinals vs. Brunswick Blue Devils

Cardinals

Points

02/11/25 vs Lutheran East	57
02/07/25 vs Cleveland Heights	67
02/04/25 @ Strongsville	53
01/31/25 @ Shaker Heights	86
01/25/25 vs Villa Angela-St. Joseph	81
+ 13 more games

Mentor is 8-2 against Brunswick since January of 2020 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Mentor Cardinals will be playing at home against the Brunswick Blue Devils at 7:30 p.m. Mentor is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 77.9 points per game this season.

Mentor is headed into the match out to prove that what happened against Lutheran East on Tuesday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Mentor lost 83-57 to Lutheran East. While losing is never fun, the Cardinals can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 45th, while the Falcons are ranked tenth).

Despite the defeat, Mentor saw an underclassman step up: freshman Jack Kennedy went 9-for-16 on his way to 21 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals. Kennedy is also on a roll when it comes to shooting accuracy, as he's posted one of at least 45% in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Dominic Baroni, who posted four points along with six boards and six blocks.

Even though they lost, Mentor smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive boards in 44 consecutive games dating back to last season.

Meanwhile, Brunswick waltzed into their contest on Friday with nine straight wins... but they left with ten. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Battling Bees, sneaking past 42-39. The 42-point effort marked the Blue Devils' lowest-scoring matchup of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.

Brunswick pushed their record up to 16-3 with the win, which was their 18th straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 72.2 points over those games. As for Mentor, their loss dropped their record down to 12-6.

Mentor suffered a grim 85-65 defeat to Brunswick when the teams last played back in January. Will Mentor have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.