by It was a good one tonight between the Avon Lake Shoregals and the Amherst Lady Comets. In what was a tight, physical battle Avon Lake came out on top by a final score of 39-37.
The Shoregals stormed out to an early lead, starting the game on a 13-2 run. Their defense early on was shutting down everything the Comets tried on offense. The Comets did not make a field goal the entire first quarter. Avon Lake had a commanding 13-4 lead after one, as all of Amherst points came off of free throws. Overall it was a sloppy first quarter with a lot of turnovers from both teams.
First year coach Paul Appel had the them Shoregals running a man to man defense with no switches, which Amherst could do nothing against early on. It wasn’t until there was just over 5 minutes left in the 2nd quarter when Amherst made their first field goal, which was a mid range jumper by Ava Darmos.
The Comets offense starting hitting their stride a little bit as the first half winded down, as junior Kayla Ferancy started hitting some shots. At the half Avon Lake still held a strong 25-13 lead, with sophomore Izzie Polinko leading the way for them offensively.
To start the second half Amherst came out on fire offense, carrying over some of the momentum they had from the end of the first half.
Back-to-back 3s had the Shoregals lead down to just 5 points. At one point the Comets were on a 11-0 run and the lead was cut to just 1 point at 25-24. Kayla Ferancy and Kristen Kelly were the driving force behind this comeback by Amherst.
In the 3rd quarter the game began to get really physical, as there were a ton of battles for loose balls and also 5 jump balls in the quarter alone. The rest of the 3rd quarter was back and forth, and Amherst took their first lead of the game with just under a minute left in the quarter. Avon Lake quickly regained the lead and held a 34-32 lead after the 3rd.
The 4th quarter featured great defense and big shots from both sides. Kayla Ferancy hit a go ahead shot with 1:15 to go to put Amherst up 37-36, but that lead didn’t last long as Courtney Borland responded with a layup to put Avon Lake back in front with under 40 seconds remaining. After a miss the next possession Amherst started fouling.
Unfortunately for them, twice in a row after missed Avon Lake free throws they failed to secure a rebound. Eventually Izzie Polinko hit one to put the Shoregals up 2 with under 5 seconds remaining. That was enough for Avon Lake to hold on, as the ensuing inbound pass by Amherst was tipped away by Courtney Borland, securing a 39-37 win for the Shoregals.
Courtney Borland was looking for redemption after fouling a girl that led to the game going to overtime in the final seconds of the game between these two teams last year. Coach Paul Appel said after the game “Courtney deserves a ton of credit, I told her if she tips the ball the game is over, and she remembers what happened here last year, so credit to her for making that play.”
It was huge win for the Shoregals as they now are 5-4 on the season.
Nick Tarorick
