EATON TWP. — Avon Lake coach Eric Smith had the perfect game plan for Southview at the Division I sectional opener Monday night.
Clog the middle, force the Saints to shoot from the perimeter and make shots and free throws.
It all added up to a Shoremen victory, 53-42, sending Southview to the sidelines for the second year in a row. Both teams own 12-9 records but Avon Lake advances to Friday’s sectional championship against Olmsted Falls.
“The game plan coming in, if they were going to beat us,” said Smith, “they were going to have to go through the heart of our defense on every single possession. We were going to try to force them out to the perimeter, keep them off the glass, and every time they caught the ball anywhere near the paint, they were going to see two or three maroon jerseys.”
Jeff Ickes, who missed three games earlier in the year with pneumonia, led the way with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Tommy Kuzniar and Brian Mielcusny each scored 10 points with Mielcusny adding seven rebounds.
“We’re happy to get out of the first round,” Ickes said. “Second year in a row we’ve played them in the first round. We were a little scared they would be looking to get back at us.”
Avon Lake got off to a 9-0 start — another factor that helped it pack in its
2-3 zone the whole night. The Shoremen were very efficient on offense — hitting 50 percent from the floor — and cashed in from the free throw line (23-of-31).
“Huge,” Smith answered when asked how important the start was. “We had some nice shots. We had some easy looks — got a couple things in transition. (Southview) missed some shots. It was huge.”
“I thought we did a good job attacking the zone,” said Southview coach Andy Bastock. “We had trouble finishing inside. We attacked the zone hard enough and good enough — we should have been rewarded with some more fouls called. We should have been to the line a lot more than we were.”
Avon Lake was called for just nine personal fouls for the game to 25 for the Saints, and the Shoremen outscored Southview from the foul line, 23-5. Avon Lake simply dominated and intimidated inside with a number of blocked or altered shots. Southview made only 25 percent of its 63 attempts from the field and was just 5-of-18 from beyond the 3-point arc.
“We didn’t finish around the basket because of their size,” Bastock said, “and (the Shoremen) did a good job of extending their zone out to our shooters, but we knew they would do that. That’s why our game plan was to attack the inside. We know we can’t live and die with the three.”
No one on the Saints finished in double figures. Junior Josh Biber was the closest with nine points and nine rebounds. Quinton Ezell — with a trio of
3-pointers — also had nine points.
Avon Lake built a nice lead — 28-13 at one point in the first half — and maintained it. The Shormen weathered Southview’s best run when it sliced the lead to just 40-37 with 3:33 to play on a
3-point basket by Mike Anderson but Mielcusny converted a three-point play on the other end and Avon Lake was not threatened again.
Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135
or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

Avon Lake 53, Southview 42

AVON LAKE (53): Tommy Kuzniar 1-8-10, Nick Firment 1-3-5, Brian Mielcusny 2-6-10, Jeff Ickes 8-5-21, Mike Herrilko 2-1-5, Bryce Alurovic 0-0-0, Mark Homenik 0-0-0, Tim Daniels 0-0-0, Parker Russell 1-0-2. Totals 15-23-53.
SOUTHVIEW (42): Drew Laurenti 1-0-3, Mike Anderson 2-0-5, Quincy Ezell 3-0-6, Josh Biber 4-1-9, Montrell Elliott 2-2-6, Tony Sanchez 1-2-4, Marshall Crum 0-0-0, Quinton Ezell 3-0-9, Angel Gomez 0-0-0. Totals 16-5-42.
Avon Lake         14    14    8    17    —    53
Southview        7    8    15    12    —    42
Three-point goals: Avon Lake 0-4, Southview 5-18 (Quinton Ezell 3, Laurenti, Anderson). Field Goals: Avon Lake 15-30 (50 percent), Southview 16-63 (25 percent). Free Throws: Avon Lake 23-31 (74 percent), Southview 5-10 (50 percent). Rebounds: Avon Lake 37 (Ickes 11), Southview 30 (Biber 9). Turnovers: Avon Lake 19, Southview 10. Fouls: Avon Lake 9, Southview 25. Fouled Out: Anderson, Elliott. 

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