Big Fourth Quarter Propels St. Edward Over Mentor

March 10, 2022

Copley, Ohio

 

OHSAA Boys Division 1 Regional Semifinal

 

Mentor                                   12        20        15        13   =   60

Lakewood St. Edward             3         22        19        25   =   69

 

St. Edward, featuring a breathtaking performance by senior guard Michael Bova, put the clamps on Mentor in the fourth quarter and emerged with a 69-60 victory on Thursday evening. The Eagles will advance to Saturday’s regional championship game vs. Akron Archbishop Hoban at Copley High School.

 

Mentor got off to a strong start, forcing three early St. Ed turnovers and holding a 12-3 lead after one quarter. But the Eagles righted the ship in the second. Junior forward Danny Lavelle gave them a spark off the bench with 7 points, and Bova connected for 10 points in the period. Meanwhile, Mentor senior forward Sean Collins paced the Cardinals’ offensive production with 10 first-half points.

 

The third quarter was evenly played, but St. Edward scored the last four points to cut the Mentor lead to 47-44. Eagles senior guard Zyion Freer-Brown scored the final basket of the third, and then led off the fourth quarter with two more buckets to give St. Ed their first lead at 48-47.

 

Following Freer-Brown’s heroics, the Eagles’ defense took over. Mentor’s prolific offense struggled to score as St. Edward forced 7 fourth-quarter turnovers. The Cardinals got within 3 at 63-60 on a 3-point shot by sophomore guard Ian Ioppolo with 1:30 to play, but the Eagles went 6-for-6 at the foul line to close out the scoring.

 

Bova scored 28 points, going 11-for-12 from the field and 6-for-9 at the line to lead the Eagles’ offense. Freer-Brown added 13, and Lavelle finished with 9. Junior forward Cam Grant canned 3 important baskets in the third quarter and scored 9 points.

 

Ioppolo with 17 and Collins with 16 led the scoring for Mentor. Sophomore guard Matthew Biddell added 13.

 

Mentor

Ioppolo, I.       6 – 0/0 – 17

Collins             8 – 0/2 – 16

Biddell            5 – 2/2 – 13

Ioppolo, R.      3 – 0/0 – 8

Ferritto           2 – 2/2 – 6

 

Field Goals:  24/52, 46%         3-Point Shots:  8/22, 36%       Free Throws:  4/6, 67%

Rebounds:  31                         Turnovers:  14

 

Lakewood St. Edward

Bova                11 – 6/9 – 28

Freer-Brown   4 – 4/4 – 13

Grant              3 – 2/2 – 9

Lavelle             4 – 0/0 – 9

Knight             3 – 0/0 – 6

Henry              1 – 0/0 – 2

Solomon         0 – 2/2 – 2

Reynolds         0 – 0/0 – 0

 

Field Goals:  26/54, 48%         3-Point Shots:  3/13, 23%       Free Throws:  14/17, 82%

Rebounds:  30                         Turnovers:  8

 

By: Don DiFrancesco               @MayorNEOPrep