Young Eagles struggle against defense-minded rival Avon Lake, 47-31

Avon’s girls basketball team faced one of the better defensive teams in the state Wednesday in their Southwestern Conference opener against visiting Avon Lake. The Shoregals rode a suffocating defense all the way to the Division III state finals last year, and that defense was on display once again. Using a 10-player rotation that included three sophomores and three freshmen, the Eagles scuffled on the offensive end the entire evening, finally ending up on the short end of a 47-31 score. Junior Molley Kennedy led Avon, now 0-2, with 10 points, while sophomore Kaylee Zurawski added eight. Avon Lake’s shut-down defense left its mark from the opening whistle, as Avon missed its first 21 shots of the game. In fact, the Eagles only made one field goal in 22 attempts in the opening half and were only able to trail, 20-9, at halftime because of making 7 of 9 free throws. “I wasn’t aware that it was 21, but I knew it was a lot,” said Avon coach Adam Castrilla of his team’s shooting woes. “That’s pretty incredible. Let’s hope that never happens again, because I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that before.” Things got a little better for Avon in the second half, as the Eagles hit 8 of 28 shots. However, for the game Avon connected on just 9 of 50 shots (18%). The Eagles won 17 games last year and finished as district runner-up, but the team’s top two returning scorers, Alaina Pagan and Abby Owens, are out with injuries. According to Castrilla, Pagan, who averaged nearly 13 points per game last year, is out for a while, but Owens should be returning soon. Without those two veteran returners, Avon had to turn to some young, raw talent, including freshmen Chloe Collins and Janelle Antrum, who handled the majority of the point guard minutes against Avon Lake. “We have two girls who are doing a fabulous job, and both of them were playing eighth-grade basketball last year,” said Castrilla. “We asked them to handle the ball against the state runner-up. I’m so proud of them.” What’s unclear is whether Avon’s shooting woes were strictly a result of Avon’s Lake’s defense or Avon’s inexperience. The truth of the matter is that it’s likely a combination of the two. “That’s a tough one, because I don’t want to take away from their defense,” said Castrilla. “But a lot of it, I think, was our inexperience. Those were pretty young kids taking those shots. Some of those shots were on the rim. They were good shots and we’ll take them. I feel like we left a lot of points out there, but the credit goes to Lake.” Being forced to play so many young players could make things difficult early in the season until the veterans are able to answer the bell. Already playing in what Castrilla calls the best public girls basketball league in the state, the youth movement is made even more difficult by the fact that the coach decided to upgrade Avon’s non-conference schedule this season. “We scheduled it purposely that way with having a pretty good team coming back,” he said. “There’s not an easy game. But I think it’s great for these kids. It’s accelerating their growth. What you would want to do in a perfect world is put those veteran kids in there and put the young kids in spots where it’s not all on them. But the silver lining is that they’re going to be so much better for it.” Castrilla said he is seeing benefits already. “Some of our kids are starting to step out of their comfort zone,” he said. “They are talented, and they are doing things in practice that now we want to see it translate into the game, to see them step out of their comfort zone and just do it. We’re starting to see that with some of them.” Avon hosts Walsh Jesuit Saturday and plays at Elyria on Wednesday.