The Mentor Cardinals are without starting point guard Andrew Valeri (thumb injury) for at the least the next month, and Coach Bob Krizancic recognized it would be a challenge to fill the talented junior’s spot with just one player.
Kyle McIntosh impressively welcomed that challenge with a career-high 30 points in a 69-46 whipping of visiting Medina on Jan. 23.
McIntosh, who has played some point guard in the past but primarily plays a wing with Valeri on the floor, hit six 3-pointers and had two other three-point plays. The junior had 15 points in the first half as Mentor (9-4, 3-1 NOC Valley) roared out to a 34-14 lead at the break. McIntosh put an exclamation point on his evening with 13 points in the third quarter as the Cardinals increased the advantage to 60-29.
“My shot really wasn’t falling all week, but in warm-ups I felt good and was able to keep it going in the game,” McIntosh said.
“With Andrew out we all have to step up and do our part. I want to be consistent in how I play. Getting used to playing point guard again was a little bit of a challenge, but overall not bad. This was a big win for us.”
Jack Korsok continues to be a pleasant surprise for Mentor as he started his first game of the year with Valeri out and chipped in 11 points.
“I thought we played hard the whole game, which was great to see, and to get a convincing win in the league is always big for confidence for the young guys, especially with Garfield Heights coming up next week,” Mentor coach Bob Krizancic said.
“I thought the two guys who played extremely well were McIntosh and Korsok. Kyle controlled the game and he is capable of that kind of performance, he just needs to be consistent. Korsok is a kid who plays hard on every play and gives you everything he has. He has been huge for our depth. And now he will see increased minutes as a starter.”
Krizancic also lauded the effort off the bench of Adam Smith and Ian Tenkku. Overall, Mentor had 11 players score in the lopsided win over Medina.
The 46 points allowed were the second lowest given up by the Cardinals this winter.
“I thought we did a very good job getting back on defense in transition,” Krizancic said.
The Bees were led by Michigan recruit Jon Teske, who finished with 11 points.
