by BEREA, OH- On what turned out to be a beautiful day in Berea, Ohio, the Rocky River Pirates and Avon Eagles took the court for a noon tip-off. This was the second game of the action-packed day inside the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium of Baldwin Wallace University.
The game’s first three minutes featured a lot of effort between the two teams’ defenses. Rocky River got out to an early 5-3 lead until Avon’s Abby Owens netted a three to take the one-point lead. Immediately after, Avon swiped the ball from the Pirates and found Owens for the three-point play following the basket and free-throw.
After a competitive first quarter, the Eagles stretched out their lead to 18-10 midway through the second quarter, a Madigan O’Leary triple giving Avon their largest lead of the game.
The teams went into halftime with Avon holding a 23-17 lead.
Rocky River made a strong rally in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter as they cut the lead down from to six, trailing 43-37. As it was in the first half, the physicality on defense was on display again near the end of the game. A lot of loose balls and extra efforts by Rocky River brought them right back into the game.
However, the Eagles stretched the court all game and allowed their selfless offense to propel them to victory. Avon ended up victorious in this one by a final score of 47-37.
“We were ready for an upset.” said Avon Head Coach Maggie Ferrando.
“It was a good test for our girls,” Ferrando added about today’s matchup. “I said ‘Hey, the season starts today, we got a number-sixteen team and they really killed us last year at the end of the season.’ We know how good they are, they’re very well-coached. Ava Patti’s one of the best players in the area in my opinion. So I think they were just excited to get out there and truly just compete.”
