Basketball Recap: Saturday's Win Is Mentor's Ninth in Last 12 Outings

Mentor won the last time they faced Lakewood and things went their way on Saturday too. The Mentor Cardinals walked away with a 79-66 win over the Lakewood Rangers. Given the Cardinals' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 41st, while the Rangers are ranked 127th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Mentor to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kobe Frasure-Azzano, who almost dropped a double-double with 20 points and nine boards. Frasure-Azzano has been hot for a while, having posted eight or more rebounds the last 12 times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Ayo Olulami, who on his way to 16 points in addition to seven boards and six assists.

Cardinals

Previous 3 Games

02/22/25 vs Lakewood	79-66
02/21/25 @ Medina	63-59
02/15/25 vs Glenville	76-66

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 48 consecutive contests dating back to last season.

Mentor has been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 12 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 15-7 record this season. Lakewood's defeat ended a five-game streak of away wins and brought them to 16-6.

Mentor and Lakewood are set to take part in some playoff action in their next matches. A feisty cat fight will be fought as the Cardinals duke it out with the Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Whitmer will roll in looking for their seventh straight victory, something Mentor surely won't give up without a fight. As for Lakewood, they will take on North Ridgeville at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. North Ridgeville knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past seven matches -- so hopefully Lakewood likes a good challenge.