Boys basketball wins third game in a row by defeating Midview

It was a stretch that could make or break the Avon boys basketball season.

The Eagles have been somewhat streaky this year, with an eight-game winning streak sandwiched between losing streaks of two and three games. It’s the three-game slide between January 16 and January 23 that got the attention of coach Mike Fitch, as it involved losses to Southwestern Conference teams Elyria, North Ridgeville and Olmsted Falls.

“We played Elyria, and they whooped us, and we played North Ridgeville, and they whooped us,” he said. “Then we went to Falls. We played hard. They were just the better team that night.”

Those games were followed by a trip to Gilmour Academy, which at the time was 12-1 and was ranked as one of the top Division III teams in the state, and a home contest with Berea-Midpark, which held a one-game lead in the SWC standings at the time. Despite the consecutive losses, Fitch said he saw something in his team during and after the 59-50 loss to Olmsted Falls.

“The guys didn’t give up,” he said. “They actually practiced harder that following Monday. They bought into practice. Then we went on the road to win a big game and then we won one here.”

The Eagles continued their new winning streak on Tuesday, romping past visiting Midview, 80-48, to move to 12-5 overall and 6-5 in SWC action. Avon defeated the Middies by a similar margin earlier in the season, which gave Fitch some worries about a letdown in a trap game, as the Eagles host Amherst on Friday.

“I was worried about a letup tonight,” he said. “You know, that happens a lot. But they didn’t. They kept going, and they’re starting to really trust and believe in each other.”

The Eagles quickly took control of the game, as a 10-0 run midway through the opening period turned a 2-2 tie into a 12-2 lead for the hosts. The run was punctuated by a breakaway dunk by junior Dean Abdul following a steal. The lead got up to 13, 30-17, early in the second quarter before the Middies hit three 3-pointers within 2 minutes, 30 seconds to cut the margin to 35-27.

But all that did was ignite another Avon run, this time a 14-0 gusher that put the lead at 49-27. Joey Ziegler, who led all players with 23 points—18 in the first half—had six points during the run and Gavyn Kittelberger had four of his 20 points as the Eagles turned up their full court pressure and their running game.

“That was on purpose,” Fitch said. “Some said, maybe you don’t press tonight. But you’ve got to. You’ve got to create chaos in that game where we have the athletes and we filled it up.”

Halftime lasts 10 minutes in a high school game, and teams generally return to the court with about 3 minutes remaining on the clock in order to loosen up. However, Avon came out of its locker room with just under 5 minutes remaining, a sure sign that the Eagles were playing well because there wasn’t much to talk about during the break.

As if to prove the point, the Eagles opened the third quarter with another 14-0 run, making the score 63-30 and putting the game away for good. A few minutes later the lead was up to 68-32, which activated the running clock for the remainder of the game.

“It was just stick with the game plan,” Fitch said of the short halftime talk. “We wanted to focus on the first four minutes of the half, and in the first two minutes we went on a 14-0 run. That was it. We just wanted to be focused on continuing what we were doing.”

No other players reached double figures for Avon, but Abdul and Brooks Good each had seven points, Preston Johnson and Shance Carty each had six and Sam Griffiths had five.

“I thought Sam Griffiths played his butt off,” Fitch said. “I thought Gavyn Kittleberger did a great job of getting to the basket, setting the tone, getting the energy. He shared the ball when he should, and, obviously, Joey filled it up pretty early for us.”