Eagles use big second quarter to down Bay on Senior Night

Although his career at Avon High School has been less than a full season, Gavyn Kittelberger certainly knew how to take advantage of his Senior Night.

The 6-foot guard returned to Avon from Lutheran West for his final year of high school, and he has gradually been growing into the boys basketball program. On Feb. 17 he reached new heights, scoring 26 points to lead all scorers as the Eagles defeated visiting Bay, 67-52, in non-conference action. Avon is now 16-5, while Bay falls to 7-14.

“Sadly, he’s only been here for a year,” said Avon coach Mike Fitch. “He knows that I’m happy as hell he came back. I love the kid. He’s an Avon basketball player, and I know he’s happy to be here. He’s been playing his best basketball the last four or five games. It’s pretty awesome to see what he can do for us. Having him back has been a pleasure.”

What Kittelberger can do is use his athleticism to get to the basket seemingly at will. He also is a demon on defense, as he had five steals in the first half alone. And when he also hits from the outside, he’s going to have a night like he did against the Rockets.

“After the first couple of shots went in, I was feeling it,” Kittelberger said. “Over time, my confidence has just been growing. I’m more confident in taking shots and I have a better connection with my teammates.”

His first made shot was actually a fast break layup, helping the Eagles jump to a lead of 10-3. However, Avon was somewhat out of sorts in the first half, as Fitch started all three of his seniors, with Caden Clapham and Shane Carty joining Kittelberger in the lineup. The Rockets went on an 11-2 run in just 1 minute, 40 seconds, including three 3-pointers, to take a 14-12 lead after one period.

“It was our senior night, so we had a lot on our mind to start,” Kittelberger said. “We started off fast, but we kind of slowed down because we had a lot of emotions in our mind. But then we just locked in.”

As Fitch put it, “We were out of our groove. When you start different guys it kind of throws you. Senior nights are tough. We are definitely a team that likes its grooves. When we get out of whack, I think our focus gets a little off. But we pulled together, and that’s what they do.”

Kittelberger opened the second quarter with a breakaway dunk after a steal, one of two slams for the senior and one of six for the Eagles. After a Bay free throw, Avon then went on a 13-0 run, with Kittelberger scoring 10 points and Joey Ziegler adding a 3-pointer. Dean Abdul added a dunk later in the period, and when Preston Johnson hit a 3-pointer from the right wing, the Eagles had a 32-18 halftime lead after outscoring the Rockets, 20-4, in the period.

“I think we went four-for-six from three in the first quarter, and then in the second quarter we got cold,” said Bay coach Cale LaRiccia. “I think we had four points in the second, and you can’t do that against a 15-win Avon team.”

Avon didn’t make a radical change to its defense in the second quarter, the Eagles just turned up the pressure. Taking advantage of their length while employing a full court man-to-man, they forced eight Bay turnovers in the period and held the Rockets to just 1-of-7 shooting from the floor.

“It was the defensive end,” Fitch said. “I mean, they hit four threes in the first quarter, and that was our game plan. We can’t let them shoot threes, and in the second quarter they didn’t. That was the big difference.”

The game was basically even in the second half. Avon held a 14-point lead at halftime and won by 15. Junior guard Ryan Miller helped keep the Rockets in the contest by scoring 17 of his team-high 20 points in the second half. He was backed by Emmitt Naughton and Ethan George with nine points each.

“Avon’s a great team,” LaRiccia said. “We respect the heck out of them. But our guys battled. They could have pulled away multiple times, but we kept ourselves in it. Good first quarter, good second half. Just can’t have the second quarter happen like that.”

While the story of the second quarter for Avon was the defense, in the third period the offense put on a show. The Eagles hit seven consecutive shots during one stretch as they built the lead up to 20 points at 44-24 and 46-26. Of course, when three of those made shots are dunks, that’s going to help your shooting percentage.

First Sam Griffiths had a flying left-handed dunk on a fast break, and the sophomore added another when the Eagles sliced through Bay’s press. Kittelberger then had a breakaway dunk, giving the hosts three slams within a span of just 1:05.

“We had some nice ones on some good passes,” Fitch said. “That’s pretty awesome.”