Eagles drop physical boys basketball game to Olmsted Falls, 55-41

There’s a reason the Olmsted Falls boys basketball team sits atop the standings in the Southwestern Conference. “That was a good defensive team that we played tonight,” said Avon coach Mike Fitch. “They’re just a good team, a really good team.” The two met Tuesday night at Avon, with the visitors eventually pulling away to a 55-41 victory. Olmsted Falls is now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in SWC play, while Avon falls to 1-1 and 0-1. The Olmsted Falls program is known for its outside shooting ability, but in this game the Bulldogs were all about the inside game. Olmsted Falls scored 22 field goals, with only two coming from outside the paint. “I wouldn’t call it the game plan,” said Olmsted Falls coach Chris DeLisio. “We were trying to react to what they were doing. They were out, playing us physical, pressuring us and playing us physical away from the ball. We talked about it at halftime. Logan (Connelly) said, ‘Coach, they’re just extended so much, we have to drive it a little bit more.’ So, the guys did a much better job of that.” In fact, 17 of their made baskets were outright layups, with the first 16 coming before Cole Odon hit a 3-pointer 50 seconds into the fourth quarter. “They’re very patient,” said Fitch. “I don’t know if we were getting beat off the dribble, but they do it at the right time because they’re very patient. They’re experienced. They do the right thing. That’s where we want to be.” Throughout the game, the Bulldogs were able to withstand the physical play of the much-bigger and longer Eagles, which DeLisio said was a key to the victory. “In our league, you’ve got to play D every night, and you better be ready to play physically every night,” he said. “If you think you’re going to finesse your way to victories in our league, you’re just not. We knew it would be tough and physical, and our guys put the work in to try to prepare for that, and they stepped up to the challenge.” Although Olmsted Falls never trailed, the game was relatively close until the middle of the second quarter. Late in the first period the score was tied at 10, but Chris Tenn scored two baskets in the final 42 seconds to put the score at 14-10 entering the second quarter. The Bulldogs went on a 14-6 run to open a 28-16 lead, but Joey Ziegler, who led Avon with 18 points, hit a 3-pointer and Holden Krugman added a power layup to put Falls up by seven at halftime, 28-21. Avon battled back to within three, 30-27, less than 3 minutes into the third quarter, but Connelly scored five consecutive points in a span of just 14 seconds to give the Bulldogs some breathing room, 35-27. “He’s quick,” said Fitch of Connelly, who finished with 11 points. “He’s tough to stay in front of. He’s tough to keep in front of you, and then you can’t really help much because they’re going to pass it down.” From there on, the Eagles never got closer than six points and were outscored for the remainder of the game, 20-14. “This was a good learning experience,” said Fitch. “I mean, we don’t have film on ourselves, really, to watch. We haven’t had a scrimmage with the full team, and Saturday night (a 60-25 victory over North Olmsted), that’s not the best film to watch. But tonight is a good film to watch. We challenged the guys to watch the film and see what we can do. We know we have to move the basketball and create better opportunities for us to score.” In addition to Ziegler’s game-high points, senior guard Gavyn Kittelberger added eight points and Krugman had six. Fitch said that of the problems on offense were the result of the team playing out of character. “I think some guys tried to get us to score more points, and that’s not who we are,” he said. “If you watched us, you would think we were an iso (isolation) one-on-one team. I think we just got pressured and flustered, and that’s what happens. Our spacing wasn’t good, but defensively, they’re a really good team.” Avon’s next game is Friday at Berea-Midpark as part of a girl-boy varsity doubleheader.