The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Game-winner lifts Avon Lake over Avon
Murtaugh finishes with teamhigh 14 points for Avon Lake
It played out just like expected.
Bitter rivals Avon Lake and Avon exchanged body blows all night long but when it was all over, after missed free throws, a ton of scrambles for loose balls and much back and fourth, Avon Lake was able to come away with a 60-59 double overtime win on its home court.
Senior Nate Murtaugh got free for a layup with just 9.3 seconds left in the second overtime to score what turned out to be the winning points for Avon Lake, who improved to 4-6 with the win, its second straight.
Avon had a shot attempt
that would have won it, but senior Michael Corbo slid in front of a driving Dominic Rini and drew the offensive foul with just 1.3 seconds left in the second OT.
From there, Avon Lake was able to run out the clock.
“It was a good pass and a good finish” Avon Lake coach Eric Smith said of the play that turned out to be the winner and one that he drew up coming out a timeout
The Avon Lake bench burst out onto the floor to celebrate with the players on the floor after time ran out.
“That’s an Avon LakeAvon anything,” Smith said of the intensity the two teams played with. “It don’t make any difference if you are playing football, basketball baseball, I don’t care what you are playing. That’s what this game is going to be. It’s going to be physical, it’s going to be a grind-it out. It’s going to be ugly and we came out on top.”
The teams were tied at 44
at the end of regulation and tied again at 54—54 at the end of the first OT.
Avon senior guard Mike Matlak tied the game at 54 on a driving lay up with just 5.7 seconds left in the first OT. However, he missed what could have been a game-winning free throw. Avon was able to collect the rebound but missed a 3 at the buzzer that could have won the game.
Murtaugh led Avon Lake with 14 points. He got plenty of help from the sophomore duo of Collin Stewart and Matthew Stuewe. Stewart scored 13 points and Stuewe
added 11. Both of them asserted themselves in the first OT when they scored five points each.
Avon was led by Rini, who scored 19 points. His 3-pointer with less than a minute left in the second overtime gave the Eagles a 59-58 lead. Matlak added 14 points for Avon. Connor Allomong and Jacob Siegert added 13 each.
Avon coach Mike Fitch, in his first year as varsity coach, is no stranger to the rivalry. He was the long time JV coach until moving to varsity this season when the job opened up.
“That’s what we expect when we come here. I’ve been a part of this for 11 years sitting on the bench and it’s never a dull game. It’s what we expect,” said Fitch.
Murtaugh was effective early as he scored 12 first half points and was active on the boards.
“It’s a big boost,” Murtaugh said of pulling out the win. “It gives us a lot of confidence playing as a team and trusting each other.”
Avon dropped to 5-7 and 4-5 in the league after the loss.