by The Amherst Comets hosted the Avon Eagles in a an SWC Lorain County thriller tonight that saw a walkoff overtime buzzer beater from Natalie “The Nazz” Pleban as she hit a shot from near midcourt with no time remaining to stun the Avon Eagles 59-56. Avon had called timeout to set up their own game winning shot but the ball was turned over into the hands of Pleban, who lunged one from halfcourt that went in.
This was the capper of a hard-fought comeback from the Comets who trailed almost the entire second half before forcing overtime. The extremely talented Kayla Ferancy had a night to remember for the Comets as she put up 25 to lead all scorers. Her running mate in the dynamic duo, Kristen Kelley also had 10 points. Fellow seniors Bradyn Silvasy had 9 while Ava Darmos had 8. In the case of Darmos, she remains a giant X factor in this program and one to watch for the rest of the season. Natalie Pleban had 7 with the 3 biggest coming at the end.
We’ve been covering those 5 seniors since they were freshmen and they have given Kee On Sports plenty of great moments in coverage, but perhaps none better than tonight. Great job young ladies!
As for Avon, I’ve said it more than once, they are coached extremely well, and are fun to watch. Trust us when we tell you, this loss won’t set them back very far at all, it is a talented squad. The Eagles were led by the sensational freshman Aliana Pagan with 15 and the always steady senior, Molly Drenik with 12. Grace Mangan buried several triples on her way to 9 while Abby Owens came out with 8. Jayla Antrum had 6 while Amelia Holbrook had 5 and Emma Owens finished with 1.
Amherst raced out to a quick 8-1 lead with buckets from Kelley and Ferancy to begin the first quarter with a lead. Five straight points from Aliana Pagan cut the lead to 8-6 however, before a bucket from Silvasy ran it back out to 10-6 in a fun first quarter of action. The first quarter ended with the Comets holding a slim 1-point lead as Avon continued to fire back with big shots from Pagan and Abby Owens.
Avon battled back in the second to take a 30-29 lead into the break. Grace Mangan had two big shots from long range in the frame to help the Eagles on their way. Silvasy and Ferancy stayed hot in the frame with 5 each for the Comets to keep it close.
The Eagles stayed hot to start the second half as they scored the first 6 points to increase their lead to 36-29, which was the largest for either team all night. It was the Eagles defense to start this quarter that was the real story as the Comets didn’t see their first set of second half points until only 2:54 remained in the quarter, with the points coming on a beautiful drive to the basket by Ava Darmos. Abby Owens instantly hit a three ball on the Eagles next possession to push the lead to 8 at 39-31.
Amherst wouldn’t go away without a fight as Ferancy began to will her team back into it once again. The Ferancy layup out of a timeout, was the start of a 9-3 Comet run to end the quarter. The two teams went back and forth from there as the game ended up going to overtime, as previously mentioned.
I’m so happy for my lady comets that’s win comes at such a good time probably the biggest win since Coach Rositano has been here . I know since he’s been here the girls haven’t won a lot but to see them smile after that game says it all!