NORTH OLMSTED — With the game all but in hand Friday night, North Olmsted may have been guilty of losing a bit of its focus at the end.
But who could blame the Eagles? What lies ahead for them is about as big as it gets as far as they’re concerned.
Thanks to a 64-58 victory over Avon Lake, which trailed by as many as 17 points before producing a furious fourth-quarter charge, North Olmsted is in position to play for the Southwestern Conference championship.
Opportunities such as this haven’t come often for anyone lately outside of perennial league power Olmsted Falls, and especially not for the Eagles, who haven’t worn the SWC crown since 1973.
“Would we have liked to have been more poised down the stretch? Yes,” said North Olmsted coach Tim Schmotzer of his team’s fourth-quarter hiatus. “But the bottom line is this is a good win. We’re in position that no matter what happens (Tuesday against Amherst), we’re playing (Friday at Olmsted Falls) for an outright or co-championship.”
With identical 10-2 conference marks, North Olmsted and Olmsted Falls each play Tuesday before a regular-season-ending showdown in Bulldog Country that is guaranteed to have SWC title ramifications.
Falls overcame a big early deficit the first time around, routing the Eagles
74-57 on Jan. 18 at North Olmsted.
The Eagles (14-4 overall) took the court Friday looking every bit a conference-title contender, closing the opening quarter on a 13-0 run to lead 23-9. They were aided by hot-shooting senior forward Chris Arlinghaus, who nailed three of his team’s five first-quarter 3-pointers.
But as they did in the final quarter, the Shoremen came back, slicing a 17-point deficit to single digits (32-24) at the half. Avon Lake scored the last eight points before intermission, capping the run with a one-handed runner in the lane at the buzzer from senior guard Tommy Kuzniar.
Climbing back was an ongoing theme for the Shoremen, who were in the thick of the SWC race before dropping six straight conference games.
“I like the fact that we don’t give up, but we’re not about moral victories,” said Avon Lake coach Eric Smith, whose team fell to 10-8 and overall, 6-6 in the conference. “We play in spurts. You can’t play good basketball teams and play in spurts.”
It nearly worked against the Eagles.
Down by 14 after an Arlinghaus
3-pointer with 3:15 left, the Shoremen got serious.
Forcing a plethora of turnovers with their full-court pressure, Avon Lake capped a 14-2 run with consecutive threes from Jeff Ickes and Brian Mielcusny that brought the Shoremen within 60-58 with 32 seconds remaining.
North Olmsted senior Kevin Kilbane’s two free throws with 28.9 seconds popped Avon Lake’s balloon, with the Shoremen missing a meaningless three as time expired.
Kilbane was one of three Eagles in double figures with 16 points, joining Arlinghaus (17) and Matt Roman, who scored nine of his 13 in the opening half.
Ickes led the Shoremen with 17 — 13 in the second half — while Mielcusny added 13.
Though North Olmsted has work to do before setting its sights on Olmsted Falls, the Eagles are on the verge of their biggest game in years, with the potential prize a long-awaited one.
“We don’t want to talk too much about it, but it’s a true backyard rivalry and it’s big,” Schmotzer said. “It’s going to be fun.”
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136
or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.  

North Olmsted 64, Avon Lake 58

AVON LAKE (58): Tommy Kuzniar 2-4-8, Jeff Ickes 7-1-17, Nick Firment 1-0-3, Brian Mielcusny 3-6-13, Mike Herrilko 1-0-2, Bryce Alurovic 2-1-7, Parker Russell 2-0-4, Tim Daniels 1-1-4, Pat England 0-0-0. Totals 19-13-58.
NORTH OLMSTED (64): Matt Roman 6-0-13, Nick Brown 1-0-2, Kevin Kilbane 4-7-16, Chris Arlinghaus 6-0-17, Pat Hanrahan 3-0-6, David Hall 0-1-1, George Bloomfield 1-1-3, Cory Benkowski 3-0-6, Eric Smith 0-0-0, Cameron Burson 0-0-0. Totals 24-9-64.
North Olmsted    23    9    13    19    —    64
Avon Lake     9    15    10    24    —    58
Three-point goals: North Olmsted 7-17 (Arlinghaus 5, Kilbane, Roman), Avon Lake 7-16 (Ickes 2, Alurovic 2, Mielcusny, Firment, Daniels). Field goals: North Olmsted 24-54 (44 percent), Avon Lake 19-45 (42 percent). Free throws: North Olmsted 9-17 (53 percent), Avon Lake 13-17 (76 percent). Rebounds: North Olmsted 32 (Hanrahan 8), Avon Lake 26 (Ickes 6). Turnovers: North Olmsted 17, Avon Lake 19. Total fouls: North Olmsted 16, Avon Lake 18. Fouled out: none.
Junior varsity: Avon Lake, 44-31 

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