Sophomores help Avon Lake get first win of year

Avon Lake got its first win of the season in a big way Dec. 8, dominating North Olmsted in a 68-33 victory to open Southwestern Conference play.

The game was tied, 2-2, within the first 30 seconds after a couple of quick transition baskets from both teams. At that point, it seemed the game could become a high-scoring affair, but the Shoremen asserted themselves early and built a 21-10 lead to end

the first quarter and forced poor North Olmsted shot selection the rest of the way.

Senior Jordan Ball led all scorers with 14 points and added five rebounds for Avon Lake (1-1, 1-0 SWC), but even he was impressed by the effort of the Shoremen underclassmen.

The five sophomores on Avon Lake’s roster combined for 36 points with Nate Sidloski leading the way with 11.

“It felt so great. Everyone was where we needed

them to be,” Ball said. “We played a great game (and) our sophomores played well today . ... They didn’t play like sophomores.”

North Olmsted (0-3, 0-1) shot a dismal 11 of 48 from the field and turned the ball over 17 times compared to Avon Lake’s four turnovers, and where the Eagles struggled with control and composure, the Shoremen excelled beyond what Coach Eric Smith had hoped.

“What I liked was we looked to run in transition and if we got something we got it. But they didn’t come down and take bad shots in transition,” Smith said.

“If we didn’t get a shot we wanted we came out and ran the offense and we ended up getting a good shot.

“That’s the sign of a team that’s maturing a little bit. A lot of times you just try to come down there and get something quick in transition because you’ve gotten a lot of them and (then) you start taking bad shots. Even when we built the lead a little bit, I thought we still played with some composure and got good shots every time down the floor.”

That composure will certainly be crucial as SWC play heats up, and with a date with rival Avon looming

next week,

Ball said it was important for him and his teammates to maintain the same level of play all game no matter big the lead had grown, considering the number of close games the Shoremen played last season.

“We didn’t let up because in this conference, the SWC is a tough conference every year. You can’t let up,” Ball said.

“North Olmsted, they have a good program. They won the SWC two years ago so they’re a good program and we have to keep pushing. We can’t get comfortable. That’s the biggest thing.”