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It was a battle of the Eagles as North Olmsted traveled to Avon Wednesday night for SWC hoops. Avon was short handed but still managed to win big, 58-21 with a total team effort that saw 7 of the 9 players dressed, score. Leading the way for Avon was Abby Liber with 13, 12 of which came in the first half.
Also coming up big for Avon was Ryan Clapham with 8, Brooke Laub with 10, Natalie Santoro with 7, Alyssa Peganoff with 6, Grace Santee with 8 and Alyssa McLellon with 7. Leading the way for North Olmsted was Morgan Dangerfield and Jenna Cvijovic with 6 each.
After Abby Liber scored 4 points in the first 20 seconds of the game, it appeared it may be a long night for the North Olmsted Eagles. Liber had 6 in the quarter which saw Avon use a little bit of everyone in uniform in the opening quarter.
With several players out, head coach Larrick made the most of what she had and got everyone some touches. The Purple and Gold Eagles spread it out as Ryan Clapham, Brooke Laub, Natalie Santoro and Santee had buckets in the first, to give Avon a 15-0 lead after one quarter.
North Olmsted came out aggressive and hungry in the Second quarter and went on a 5-4 run to start the quarter. It was Amber Thomas making an immediate impact with a block, steal and assist during this stretch that also saw Jenna Cvijovic score all 5 for North Olmsted. The Avon Eagles countered the North Olmsted switch to a zone with four points from Grace Santee as the lead held at 19-5.
Avon would continue to push their way though the North Olmsted zone as they would finish the second quarter on a 14-2 run, taking a commanding 33-7 lead into the half. Leading the way for Avon in the half was Liber with 12, Laub with 5 and Santee with 6.
The third quarter saw Avon attack the zone some more by constant pressure in the lane. Alyssa McLellon had a great third quarter as she drew plenty of contact but continued to make the shots. She had four in the quarter but it can have easily been more, the officials swallowed their whistles on both of her makes in the lane that easily could have been “and 1’s”.
Peganoff excelled with the fast break points in the quarter as well, scoring 4 along the way. This helped Avon grow their lead to 45-12 heading into the final quarter.
It was Alyssa Rollins of North Olmsted showing some nice hustle late in the Fourth Quarter. With her Eagles down 53-18, she hit a foul shot, missed the second, but then got her own rebound and put it back up, going back to the line for two more. That is a hustle play if I have ever seen one. Her team was down 30 plus points, and she was playing like it was Game Seven of the NBA Finals. You always like to see that! She would go on to drain both foul shots.
Avon would go on to win 58 – 21.
