Despite slow start, Eagles roll to 51-29 victory over Amherst

Early in Saturday’s Southwestern Conference girls basketball matinee at Amherst, it was difficult to tell which was colder, the Amherst gymnasium or the Avon Eagles. But while the gym never really heated up, Avon certainly did.

After spotting the hosts an 8-0 lead while going scoreless in the game’s opening 6 minutes, Avon finally got things turned around, forcing the Comets into 35 turnovers—including 24 in the middle two quarters—and eventually pulling away to an easy 51-29 victory. The Eagles are now 8-13 overall and 7-7 in SWC action, while Amherst falls to 3-15 and 1-13.

The game was scheduled to start at 12:30, but because of a quick junior varsity game, the opening tip went off closer to 12:15. As far as the Eagles were concerned, it might as well have been 6 a.m.

“Essentially, it’s a Saturday morning,” said Avon coach Adam Castrilla. “It’s always hard to kind of get things going. I just think we kind of knew that once we started to get our footing, we could get into the full court and start to turn them over a little bit. That starts to get everyone going.”

Avon depends heavily on its full court trapping pressure, but if you don’t score, you can’t press. So, while freshman Morgan Lymer scored four of her team-high eight points and Amalee Caldera and Sarai Hussein-Bey also added baskets to give the hosts an 8-0 lead, the Eagles appeared listless, turning the ball over eight times in the opening 8 minutes.

The spark that Avon needed was provided by senior Emma Fitch, who came off the bench and swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1 minute, 55 seconds left in the period, cutting the margin to 8-3.

“Emma Fitch had a big three that kind of got us going with our first points of the game,” Castrilla said. “And I think it just helps, like when you look at the scoreboard at that point and it’s 8-0, then it’s 8-3. It just looks and feels a little better.”

Avon’s new energy level was immediately apparent, as Ava Mitchell split two free throws and freshman Chloe Colins added a 3-pointer in the first minute of the second quarter. But the real dagger came a few minutes later, when Alaina Pagan hit consecutive 3-pointers 45 seconds apart.

“I’m always looking to shoot,” Pagan said. “My teammates give me the ball exceptionally well, and I know if I miss, there’s multiple people that will go and get the rebound.”

Pagan’s first bomb tied the game at 10, and the second gave the Eagles a lead they would never relinquish. Less than 10 seconds after the second 3-pointer, Molley Kennedy added a fastbreak layup, giving Avon a 15-10 lead and completing a 15-2 run.

“Some of it is just making shots,” Castrilla said. “I mean, it’s as simple as that. You put the ball in the basket, good things happen.”

Amherst, which started a lineup of all underclassmen, eventually settled down, but things certainly got worse before they got better. The half ended with Avon on top, 21-12, but the beginning of the third quarter was more of the same, as the Comets committed six turnovers in the first 2 minutes, allowing the Eagles to score 13 consecutive points to take a 34-12 lead. Avon’s full court pressure obviously took its toll.

“That’s how we would like to play, and it doesn’t matter who we’re playing,” Castrilla said. “I think that’s to our strength. Right now, I think that’s when we’re at our best. Your half court stuff is hard to run because they know it. So, the easier baskets you can get going up and down in transition, the better.”

Pagan was Avon’s top scorer with 12 points, followed by Abby Owens with 11 and Colins with 10. For Amherst, Lymer was backed by Caldera with seven points and Hussein-Bey and Libby Vidovich with six each.

Avon’s final game of the regular season will be Thursday at Rocky River in a game that was postponed in late January because of severe weather.