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Avoca/Prattsburgh outlasts Lyons in battle of state-ranked teams

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Avoca/Prattsburgh’s Sawyer Devoe (0) and CyQuire Norvell (25) of Lyons battle for rebounding position during Wednesday’s game. (Photo: DENNIS JOYCE)

By PAUL GOTHAM

VICTOR, N.Y. — In a game with seven scoring in double figures, it was a five-possession sequence from a player off the bench that tipped the scales late in the fourth quarter.

Evan Campbell scored all eight of his points in less than three minutes of game time as Avoca/Prattsburgh (No. 1 NYSSWA Class D) outlasted Lyons (No. 1 NYSSWA Class C), 82-79 in non-league action, Wednesday night.

With 1:39 remaining in the contest Campbell staked Avoca/Prattsburgh to a 76-75 lead.

“I had to bring the energy off the bench,” Campbell said. “I just came in and did what I had to do for the team to win.”

After 11 lead changes and seven ties in the fourth stanza, the junior guard’s second triple in as many tries gave A/P a lead it did not surrender.

“For him to come in and make a shot like that, it just shows we have confidence in him and he has confidence in himself,” A/P head coach Brian Putnam said. “It just worked out.”

VIEW MORE DENNIS JOYCE PHOTOS HERE. 

Campbell took a pass from teammate Macoy Putnam and buried a shot from the right wing.

“During warmups, my jump shot felt pretty good,” Campbell said. “It came game time and it showed.”

With that, the longest winning streak in the state continued to 28 games.

“We haven’t been challenged like that all year long,” Brian Putnam said. “That’s a great basketball team (Lyons). That was just two good basketball teams going head-to-head. I wish we could play them like that every night.”

Pacey Hopkins finished with 23 points to lead A/P (17-0). Sawyer Devoe added 20, and Macoy Putnam handed out 10 of career-high 16 assists in the second half.

“We talked about win, lose or draw this is great for us just to be in a game like this, just to be in an environment like this,” Brian Putnam said. “Our kids stepped up, and I’m so proud of them.”

Hayden Abbott scored 11 points including six in the opening moments as A/P sprinted to a 10-2 lead and kept the advantage throughout the first half.

A pair of Devoe free throws gave A/P its largest lead of the game at 29-18 with 6:22 remaining in the second quarter.

Jacob Sides had nine of his game-high 31 points in the second quarter to keep Lyons in striking distance.  The junior guard finished an and-one in the open court to make it a one-possession game, and Lyons trailed 40-38 heading into halftime.

JC Walker fed Sides early in the third to give Lyons its first lead of the game at 43-41.

For A/P, the challenge was in dealing with a Lyons team that starts four players standing 6-foot-3 or taller. Putnam’s squad used its speed in the open court.

“We tried to go with it,” Putnam said. “We sent everybody to the boards on their offensive end.

“We tried to counter their size by out-running them a little bit. I think they got a little tired toward the end of the first half. The getting up and down the floor neutralized their size a little bit because they didn’t have their bigs down there to block shots all the time.”

Foul trouble sent Walker to the bench for five minutes from late in the third quarter to early in the fourth. Lyons also lost Jaylen Battle late in the third when the junior point guard landed awkwardly after blocking a shot in transition. Battle did not play the final 10-plus minutes of the contest.

Despite the setbacks, Lyons led 70-66 after Tony Pierre and Sides converted two free throws apiece on back-to-back trips down the floor.

Sides finished at the rim for a 75-73 edge with 2:05 left on the clock.

It was the last lead for Lyons.

Campbell hit on the next trip down the floor.

“It certainly didn’t help them when the Battle kid went down,” Putnam said. “That was really unfortunate.”

Hopkins collected six assists, five rebounds and four steals in the win. Devoe had eight rebounds. Macoy Putnam scored seven points and had four steals. Jamel Crowder scored nine off the bench, and Caleb Johnson contributed four points.

Walker scored 23 points for Lyons (16-1). Lopez hit three 3-pointers all in the second half and finished with 13 points. Pierre had 10. Battle chipped in with two points for the Lions.

The game, a home contest for Lyons, was moved to Victor High School to accommodate the crowd size.

“That atmosphere was awesome,” Putnam said.

Avoca/Prattsburgh finished 11-0 and won Class D1 in the Covid-shortened 2021 season.

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  1. Outstanding article of the showdown between 2 #1 NYSPHSAA teams in their respective classifications🏀

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