Boys basketball pulls upset of league-leading Berea-Midpark, 63-57

Host Avon jumped to a 17-4 lead after one period and never looked back, taking a 63-57 decision Friday over Berea-Midpark, which entered the game with a one-game lead in the Southwestern Conference but now finds itself in a first-place tie with Olmsted Falls. The Eagles are now 11-5 overall and 5-5 in SWC play.

The Titans cut the Avon lead to 26-21 at halftime, but the Eagles held them off in the second half, scoring 37 points to Berea-Midpark’s 36.

That’s not to imply that there weren’t some tense moments. Twice in the third quarter the Titans cut the Avon lead to two, the second time coming when Reid Braaten hit his third 3-pointer of the night to make the score 42-40. Berea-Midpark again made it a two-point game when Nick Reese scored after a steal in the backcourt to make it 57-55 with 1 minute, 8 seconds to play.

However, the Eagles maintained their lead by doing something they struggled with earlier in the season—they made their free throws. Ten of Avon’s final 12 points came from the free throw line, led by Joey Ziegler, who made all four of his attempts in the final 2:25 of the game on his way to a team-high 17 points. The Eagles made all six of their attempts from the line in the game’s final minute and connected on 15 of 18 (83%) for the game.

Ziegler was backed by Brooks Good with 14 points, 12 in the second half. In addition, Dean Abdul and Sam Griffiths each had eight points for the Eagles and Preston Johnson and Trevor Sykora each had six.

Avon. which snapped a three-game losing streak earlier in the week when it defeated 12-2 Gilmour Academy on the road, will host Midview Tuesday in an SWC encounter. About a month ago, the Eagles rolled past the Middies, 87-57.