Early run sparks Berkley over Avondale
AUBURN HILLS » The Berkley Bears closed the first quarter on a 13-1 run and rolled to a 56-33 win over the host Auburn Hills Avondale Yellow Jackets in an Oakland Activities Association crossover Tuesday night.
Avondale built an early 6-3 lead, but then the Bears got their offense going. Isaac Schultz came off the bench and immediately grabbed three rebounds and drained a pair of threes to help spark a 16-1 run that extended into the early part of the second quarter and give Berkley a 19-7 lead they would never relinquish.
The Bears would get hot from 3-point range, canning six 3-pointers by halftime. Tamir Runinkevich went off in the second quarter, scoring 13 of his game high 21 points in the period as Berkley slowly pulled away, building a 19-point halftime lead at 34-15 that was never really threatened in the second half.
“We’ve got a really good shooting team. That wasn’t a one-off there tonight. We made eight threes against Troy in our first game,” Bears head coach Joe Sermo said. “Everyone can shoot, and they’re very confident in themselves in shooting, and a fair amount of them have the green light to take those shots. That definitely got us going.”
Avondale had a run in them in the third quarter. Trailing 4118, the Yellow Jackets sent their three freshmen — Isaac Gordon, Dequarius White, and Justin Greer-Sykes — and sent to a press. It worked for a while. Avondale quickly sliced six points off the lead, getting the deficit down to 17 at 43-26.
“Those three freshmen are up on varsity for a reason. We can’t keep them on the bench, so we gave them a shot and they brought some energy,” Avondale head coach Pat Clancy said. “They’re the core for the future, and they showed some good things tonight, the three of them
out there together. They’ll definitely be in the mix as the season goes on.”
But once Berkley settled into their press break, the Bears were able to re-establish their lead. The Bears came into the game shorthanded, but hustling efforts from Jacob Sheriff and Zach Vigliotti led a “next man up” mentality that carried Berkley all night.
Sheriff just missed a double-double with 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals in a stellar all-around effort while Vigliotti led everyone with a game-high 10 rebounds as one or the other of them seemed to be around nearly every loose ball.
“They (Sheriff and Vigliotti) are our leaders. Without them, we don’t have leadership. They’re our glue guys that keep us together on the floor. They work real well in tandem. It’s interesting we were off four guys tonight. Two of them were starters; one of them was our starting point guard.
“Sheriff comes off the bench, but he filled that role real well tonight,” Sermo said.
Avondale had 10 different players score on the night, led by five points each Dequarius White, Denzel White, and Justin GreerSykes. Denzel White also led the Yellow Jackets with eight rebounds.
With the win, Berkley improves to 3-0 on the season. The Bears head to Plymouth on Thursday for another non-conference match up.
Avondale is off to an 0-3 start. The Yellow Jackets will try to get in the win column on Thursday when they travel to Birmingham Seaholm for another OAA Crossover.
“We’re struggling right now a little bit, three games in,” Clancy said. “You’ve got to give Berkley credit. They took it to us right from the start, and we couldn’t do anything against them.