Boys basketball: Avon rides sophomore to win over Brookside
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AVON — Avon was finally on the winning end after opening the season with three close losses, and what did it was a near-perfect 65-43 non-conference victory over visiting Brookside on Tuesday night.
The Eagles got their first win with red-hot shooting (55 percent), better rebounding, ball handling and a monster game by 6-foot-4 sophomore Claude Gray.
Gray led in scoring with 23 points, five assists, and tied for tops in rebounding with Marvin Coleman (eight each).
Brookside (0-2) hung tough in the first quarter despite nine turnovers to only trail by four, 12-8. But Avon took control in the second, outscoring the Cardinals 20-12 and never looked back. The Eagles ended all hopes for a Brookside comeback by hitting their first six shots in the third and finished the period making 9-of-14 field goal attempts. They were a perfect five of five from the field in the fourth.
“Tonight the guys really pulled together, passing and rebounding well,” said Gray, who scored his season high and just one off his career high, which came against Brecksville last season.
Gray used a solid personal solution for dealing with a weak left hip, wearing a shoe lift on his right foot to balance his body.
“I felt good tonight,” he said. “I just focus on not thinking about my hip and that works. We did well tonight by finding the open man for good shots with great passing.”
“We needed that,” said Avon coach Jim Baker of his team’s first win. “Tonight, we wanted to share the basketball, and did it well, having 17 assists. Claude played really well. He had a really strong basketball game.”
Baker’s only disappointment was 13 second-half turnovers.
“You don’t want to have turnovers when you have the lead,” he said. “So we still have something to work on. But after a win like this, practice is going to be fun.”
“We gave up too many points,” Brookside coach Brent Schremp said. “But despite all the turnovers in the first quarter we still had a chance to stay close in the second quarter. But (Avon) made a run and we fell too far behind. Learning to handle adversity is something we’ve got to work on.”
The Cardinals connected on only 29 percent from the field, including only seven of 22 in the last half.
Avon 65, Brookside 43
BROOKSIDE (43): Nick Jackman 4-4-14, Mike Harrison 4-2-10, Kyle Stump 2-1-5, Chris Matthias 1-0-3, Hunter Skolnicki 1-1-3, Art Howell 0-2-2, Keyonte Francis 1-0-2, Stefan Moody 0-2-2, Matt Gorta 0-2-2, Luke Ackerman 0-0-0, Andy Thomas 0-0-0, Justin Lopez 0-0-0. Totals 13-14-43.
AVON (65): Claude Gray 11-1-23, R.J. Kauffman 6-2-15, Marvin Coleman 4-2-11, Brandon Mahaffey 4-0-9, Mike Maloney 1-0-3, Matt Trnian 1-0-2, Alex Isaac 0-2-2, Ryan Carge 0-0-0, LaVelle Robinson 0-0-0, Connor Friss 0-0-0, Ryan Ladegaard 0-0-0, Matt Haney 0-0-0, Jordan Musser 0-0-0. Totals 27-7-65.
Brookside 8 12 12 11 — 43
Avon 12 20 19 14 — 65
3-point goals: Brookside 3 of 10 (Jackman 2, Matthias). Avon 4 of 16 (Kauffman, Maloney, Mahaffey, Coleman); Field goals: Brookside 13 of 44 (29 percent), Avon 27 of 49 (55 percent); Free throws: Brookside 14 of 22, Avon 7 of 14; Rebounds: Brookside 30 (Stump 7, Jackman 6), Avon 34 (Gray 8, Coleman 8); Turnovers: Brookside 23, Avon 17; Fouls: Brookside 14, Avon 14.
Junior varsity: Avon, 53-38.
Contact Jerry Rombach at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.
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