The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Eagles top Comets on senior night
In front of a sold out crowd on senior night, Avon turned it on in the second half and downed a depleted visiting Amherst for 61-48 win on Feb. 21 to end the regular season on a high note.
With purple and gold streamers scattered across the Avon gym and a white out student section roaring in the Eagle’s nest, Avon pushed the tempo in the third quarter and drained some big shot to break out of a 26 all tie at the half and controlled the Comets for just seven points in the third quarter.
One of the first thing anyone in the gymnasium would notice was the fact that the stands behind the Amherst bench were taken up by several Comet starters still in street clothes. Tipping off with a very different look than it had all season long, Amherst had several JV players in the starting rotation for the matchup.
Looking to mesh quickly against an experienced Avon squad on an emotional night, Amherst head coach Pat Bray had his team ready to go in the season finale as the Comets played tough and hit some deep 3-pointers to keep the Eagles on their heels.
Ultimately, the Comets shooting struggles in the third would be too much to overcome as Avon hit some big shots of its own with senior Cole Warren leading the way late in the game to help seal the win.
“In the first half, we were hitting shots and when you hit shots, good things happen,” Bray said. “The thing is, a couple of these guys have been forced into a role that they haven’t played in all year and it took a little time and we got a wind in the second half and then third quarter, we didn’t make shots and scored seven points. Then all of the sudden in the fourth quarter and we start getting a little bit.”
When asked about the change in lineup, Bray’s only comment was a violation of team rules that led to the move and would not comment on if this effects the team’s second round game less than a week away, but did have this to say on the upcoming matchup as they wait for the winner of Westlake and Elyria.
“Now we have six days to prepare for our next game, so we’ll be prepared for our tournament game.”
Running out of steam in the second half, Bray said he was proud of the effort put forth by everyone on the court, especially junior Ty Weatherspoon and sophomore George Fayer who were on the court for almost the entire game.
“For us to compete like we did tonight in the short amount of time we had to get prepared, it’s very encouraging,” Bray said.
Going out and representing his school and his teammates, Weatherspoon put forth a huge effort without any complaints and competed to get his team one more win in a season that has spelled a lot of success for the Amherst.
“I just try and go out and perform my hardest every single night and today required playing a little bit harder, so I tried to put in as much work as I could” Weatherspoon said. “Fatigue set in a little bit in the second half, but we’re going to go in and practice and try and make sure we’re ready for the next playoff game.”
Earning a win over Amherst this season hasn’t been something many teams have done, no matter the circumstance, now Avon has some wind behind its sail headed into an eight vs. nine matchup with rival Olmsted Falls on the road and has something big to work off of.
“It’s an emotional night with senior night to get those guys an opportunity to play, Amherst comes out and they have nothing to lose and we know that’s a good team and Weatherspoon and Fayer, they were taking some big shots,” Avon head coach Kevin Sapara said. “Second half I think we did a better job just pushing the ball, moving the ball and playing better defense.”
Ready for one more fight with his teammates that have become a brotherhood, an amped up Warren said they are ready to keep fighting.
“We just kept pushing, we’re all family moving the ball together, it’s fun,” Warren said. “It helps, everyone’s happy now, we’re moving the ball great. We’ve got Olmsted Falls next, a good team, we’re ready for them.”