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AVON LAKE, OH— The Avon Eagles took a quick bus ride to visit their cross-town rival, the Avon Lake Shore Gals, for a Wednesday night contest. The Eagles took care of business against the maroon and yellow last month taking that one easily, 54-32. It would be the same song but different verse as this one was more competitive. Avon would add win number five defeating Avon Lake 41-26.
All season, the Eagles have been known for their high scoring prowess in the second half. They are averaging 15 points per third quarter and 17 in the fourth.
This game was a total 180 though. Avon did all of their damage in the first half pouring in 28 of their 41 and leading the way was senior Abby Liber.
Standing at 5’11 she was able to control the pace and run the offense extremely well. Her performance in the first quarter was outstanding.
She rained in three shots from beyond the arc and using her excellent handle to drive to the cup for some easy layups. She went 5/7 from the field with 13 of the team’s 16 points. She capped off the first eight minutes with a huge rejection under the hoop.
Head coach for Avon, Meghan Larrick, had them in man defense while running a full court press and it absolutely terrorized the Shore Gals in the first. There were times where Avon Lake possessed the ball for at least 30 seconds, and they could not find an open look. Three points was all they could muster but, the second quarter saw some huge progression for Dave Zvara’s group.
Avon Lake was able to find some cracks in the defense to get to foul line and just seeing the ball rip through the net can definitely boost confidence going forward. It seemed to help as the home team would match Avon’s 12-point second quarter by cashing in 4/6 free throws and Jane Ritt’s back-to-back three-balls got the crowd and the team back into it.
However, Abby Liber would be able to weather the storm a little bit by carrying the offense again, tacking on seven of the girl’s 12. Even with the improvements made Avon Lake would still have a steep hill to climb being down 13 going into the locker room.
Coach Zvara must have gotten the young ladies motivated during the break because they came out and just outplayed the Eagles right from the jump. What the Eagles did to the Shore Gals in the first would be reciprocated as the defense was airtight.
Liber was held to one shot attempt and the only points in that stretch would come from senior Ryann Clapham on a shot inside the key. Jane Ritt would hit another big three and after all that great effort on both ends of the floor the lead was only seven for the visitors.
The Shore Gals could simply not buy an open look or shot, very reminiscent of the way the first quarter went. Avon did not run away to close it out but, they were very smart with the rock in the last two minutes, simply dribbling out the clock.
With the win the purple and yellow move to 5-4 on the year and they will take on Brunswick at home this Saturday. Meanwhile, Avon Lake drops to 0-9 as the ladies search for their next opportunity for their first win at Hathaway Brown on Saturday as well.
Player of the Game
Avon Eagles: Abby Liber- 10/16 27 points with 5 three pointers
All I have to say is Abby . This young lady torched the Shoregals. What a second half battle but our eagles prevailed. Avon Lake has some good players . Just not sure if old Coach Zvara is getting the best out of his girls . The game has changed and I’m not sure he has changed with it . Good luck to my Eagles the rest of the way
She definitely killed them all night long. Congrats to the Eagles and the fans!