Avon seals district tournament spot

Sometimes after a lackluster first half, there’s frustration in the locker room.

Instead of letting emotions boil over, Avon’s players knew exactly what they had to do in the second half to come out victorious.

After a shaky second quarter put the Eagles in an eight-point hole at halftime, they responded with a 16-0 run to open the third in a 48-39 win over Twinsburg in a Division I sectional final March 2.

No. 20 Avon (17-7) is making its first district appearance since 2019. It will take on (11) St. Edward in the Copley District semis at 7 p.m. March 7.

“I’ve said this before: They go in there and talk and put stuff on the board. They knew exactly what we had to do,” Avon coach Mike Fitch said. “They knew we were passive and we weren’t back cutting or being aggressive.

“The only thing I said was that you’re willing the ball in instead of going to finish and believing in yourself. They went out there, and obviously a 16-0 run to start, is awesome.”

Instead of playing its own game, Avon played Twinsburg’s game in the second quarter. The Eagles built an early 11-6 lead, but didn’t have that same aggressiveness.

The Eagles are at their best when they’re driving to the rim and seeking out contact. That wasn’t happening in the second, as they gave up a 10-0 run and were outscored over the eight minutes, 15-4.

The style of the game started playing right into the Tigers’ hands as they took a 23-15 halftime lead. Coming out of the break, Avon played their own game like they know how.

“Basketball is a game of strategy and taking advantage of things helped propel us forward to get that win,” Avon junior Nolan Good said. “Just going in there and making adjustments, the adjustments obviously worked as we came out in the second half a different team.”

Zane Austin got the scoring started for the Eagles to begin the third, and Good converted a steal into an and-one on the other end. In the first 33 seconds of the half, they scored more points (five) than in the second quarter alone (four).

Good kept it going with a pullup jumper, and Tyson Ziegler drove in for a layup to give Avon the lead for good, 24-23.

During Twinsburg’s first half run, Nate Farley was forced to watch from the bench in foul trouble. He was able to impact the game during Avon’s run, including a triple to increase the lead to four. Austin later made an and-one, and Farley cleaned up his missed free throw with a putback to extend the lead to eight, completing the 16-0 run.

“When I sit on the bench with foul trouble, it sucks a lot,” Farley said. “But I know that my teammates have my back on the court. Just going into halftime, I knew that I had to step up in the second half.”