By PAUL GOTHAM
AVON, N.Y. — Last March the Avon boys’ basketball team saw its season end with a 61-59 loss to Section VI champion Salamanca in the New York State Class C Far West Regional.
The Braves fell victim that afternoon to an early long-range attack that even a late rally couldn’t overcome.
Rob Fries and his squad made the necessary defensive adjustment in preparing for Saturday’s rematch of that regional championship.
And the Braves’ defense held Salamanca to a season-low output in a 49-38 victory.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM CAROLE VOLPE HERE.
“Last year we started out in zone,” Fries said referring to the 61-59 loss that saw Salamanca’s Lucus Brown score 24 points and Andy Herrick add 15. “We were a lot bigger team. I think we lost him (Brown) a few times in the zone.
“Today we decided we were going to play them man. We just overplayed him and Herrick. We planned to overplay them and try to keep them from beating us. Make somebody else beat us. We did as good a job as you can on them.”
Sophomore guard Trevor Stroud finished with a team-high 14 points. Senior big man Hudson Volpe added 11 points, and the Braves improved to 8-1 with their fourth straight win.
“I got a great group,” Fries said. “They really are focused. They come to get better every day.”
After falling behind late in third quarter, Avon closed the game with a 23-11 advantage.
Fries credited Volpe and Michael Rowland as the Braves solved Salamanca’s half-court zone over the final 11 minutes of the game.
“I give Hudson and Michael a lot of credit. They played their guts out underneath trying to get us freebies, second-chance points because it was so hard to score.
Trailing 27-26, Volpe drew contact going to the basket and converted 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game. Next trip down the floor, Lee Hartke connected on a 3-pointer to give Avon a lead it did not surrender. Rowland added his own from distance and then went to the line after getting fouled looking to finish a putback.
The senior forward extended the lead to 37-31 with less than five minutes remaining.
“The key for us like any zone, you got to get the ball in the middle of the floor,” Fries explained. “Hudson’s got to touch it. Michael’s got to touch it inside and then it opens up all kinds of guys.”
Getting clean looks, though, into the post didn’t come easy for the Braves.
“They were quick on the perimeter,” Fries said. “They closed ground. When I thought we had it to the spot we wanted, they closed on it and it was like ‘oh my God we didn’t get a shot there.'”
And-one Hudson Volpe. Avon 39-32. pic.twitter.com/pvdm0MB72o
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 8, 2023
Similar to their counterpart, Avon scored nearly 18 under its season average of 66.4 points per game.
“I thought our legs were a little tired from chasing guys around on the defensive end,” Fries noted. “Guys that usually knock shots down didn’t knock quite as many down tonight, but that’s what happens.”
Volpe’s and-one pushed the lead to seven at 39-32. Hartke found space along the baseline for a basket, and Josh Harter’s triple from the left wing gave the Braves their first double-digit lead of the night at 45-34.
Josh Harter connects to push the lead to double digits for the first time tonight. Avon 45 Salamanca 34. @SecVBBasketball pic.twitter.com/cpjrGdMfcJ
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 8, 2023
“We haven’t seen a lot of it,” Fries said of the zone. “So we struggled a little bit early on. We didn’t attack it in the places we should have.”
Stroud converted 5-of-6 free throws over the final three minutes to put the game away.
Last March, Salamanca connected for seven 3-pointers in the first half. On Saturday night, Avon’s defense limited the Warriors to six treys for the game and nearly 17 points under their season average.
“You learn about yourselves after a loss,” Salamanca head coach Adam Bennett said. “This is an outstanding team. They’re well-coached. I thought we did a lot of really good things. I didn’t think that we were very good late in the game which we need to fix. Credit them. It’s their home floor.
“They really stretch you out defensively. They can get to the basket. We haven’t seen a big as good as (Volpe). They’re really smart. They played outstanding defense which is going to force us to execute a lot better against man-to-man offensively. It’s all good stuff that we can learn from.”
Brown finished with a game-high 17 points. A First Team All-State performer last season as a sophomore, Brown hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter. The third of which gave Salamanca the lead at 27-26.
Herrick had 10 points. Jaxson Ross (4), Tayoni Galante (3), Avery Brown (2) and Maddox Isaac (2) also scored for the Warriors (6-2).
“The result doesn’t matter; it’s the process,” Bennett said. “It’s coming up here and get a lot better, and we got better. It was a really good game. They pulled away in the last three minutes, and that’s a credit to them. Now we have to get to work and make sure that get better out of it.”
Trevor Stroud dishes to Hudson Volpe to start the third-quarter scoring. Avon 22-16. pic.twitter.com/k8iu0nQfKF
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 7, 2023
Hartke and Rowland scored nine apiece. Rowland grabbed six rebounds. Harter added six points along with five rebounds and five assists. Volpe had seven rebounds in the win.
“I said to our guys beforehand, ‘no matter what happens you can’t undo last year,'” Fries said. “‘You don’t get to go to Glens Falls if you win,’ but they’re good. We knew even if we lose, just playing teams like that makes you better down the road.”
Avon (No. 18 NYSSWA Class C) hosts Rochester Academy CS (10-0) in a rematch of last year’s Section V Class C1 championship game.
Leave a Reply