Injuries, line up changes, and new defensive strategy promise success: Green v. Mentor District Semifinal Preview.
Despite numerous changes due to injury, Green's adaptive strategy has carried them into the district semifinal against Mentor. Here's what you need to know.
In tonight’s playoff Division I - Northeast 3 district semi-final at Euclid HS between Green (18-5) and Mentor (17-7), both teams have considerably large contrasting styles of play. Green, co-champion of the Federal League, and Mentor, the champion of the Greater Cleveland Conference, promises to be a fascinating contrast of overall game flow.
Here’s all you need to know before tonight’s contest.
The sixth seeded Green Bulldogs lost depth early in the season after senior PG Lucas Bitong went down with a hand injury, and took another blow after junior Antonio Martin went down late in the season. The loss of depth has led to Green playing a more conservative style of play, posting lower final scores. Mentor, seeded 14th, boasts an impressive scoring average of 88.6 points per game, scoring over 215 total points in their two playoff games thus-far.
Mentor's Ian Ioppolo, a six-foot-five senior, averages 26.6 points and 8.8 rebounds a game while shooting 35.5% from beyond the arc; he has 77 total threes made this season. Matthew Biddell, a six-foot-four senior, adds 23.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 5.7 assists a game making 55 total 3-pointers this season on 40.4%. The 132 total threes combined between Ioppolo and Biddell boast a higher number than Green’s entire team add up to.
“Obviously we have to slow them down offensively. I think there’s a couple ways…” Green head coach Mark Kinsley said in regards to Mentor’s offensive prowess.
As seen in almost every game played by Green, their offense will run through seniors Brady Rollyson and Jarrett Taylor. Rollyson, the six-foot-four senior and Ohio State baseball recruit, averages 18.7 points and 7.1 rebounds a game while shooting 52.6% anywhere on the court. Taylor, a six-foot-six point guard/forward blend, contributes 11.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game.
Regardless of Green’s total three-ball count, they’ve still shot the ball effectively thanks to snipers like junior Anthony Fortunato. The six-foot-one shooting guard has had multiple games with five or more made threes, notably Green’s Federal League championship sealer against McKinley (six); Fortunato needed a heat-check.
Green’s defense-focused style of play came about fairly late in the season, where head coach Mark Kinsley switched his team’s defensive strategy to a two-three/man-chase hybrid. The hidden zone has made up for his team’s loss of guards, and shuts down opposing offensive efforts.
“[We’ve] always bought in to playing defense, that’s where our program starts. We had a couple games where we needed to ‘junk’ it up a little bit, play a little triangle-two…it gave us a chance to win.” Kinsley said.
Green's defense-oriented strategy, combined with Mentor's impressive scoring ability, has the potential to create an exciting display of strategic skill and athletic prowess. With both teams having a lot to prove: spectators will see either a high scoring matchup or a defensive slugfest, no in-between.