By PAUL GOTHAM
AVON, N.Y. — Two teams averaging 63 and 61 points per game respectively figured to engage in an up-and-down affair, Wednesday night.
Familiarity of league rivals dictated a stingy battle, though.
Michael Rowland finished with a double-double and scored eight of his game-high 17 points during a seven-minute stretch in the second half when Avon took a lead it did not surrender.
“That’s old-school Avon-Le Roy right there,” said Braves’ head coach Rob Fries after the 42-34 victory. “I thought it would have been 40 to 40 at half the way they score and we score.”
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In a game where neither team led by more eight, Rowland took a Trevor Stroud pass and finished in traffic for a 28-27 edge late in the third quarter.
“This is a huge win for us,” Rowland said. “That’s a team in our sectional bracket. This gets us going with a real strong start to the season.”
Michael Rowland has back-to-back buckets to start the fourth. @avon_central 35-29. pic.twitter.com/mvwpwIh9Oj
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 21, 2023
The senior forward opened the fourth quarter with baskets on consecutive possessions. Avon, which trailed by as many seven points in the first half, had a six-point lead at 35-29. The Braves did not allow Le Roy to make it a one-possession game for the remainder of the contest.
“That’s a senior leader right there,” Fries said.
Rowland also drew the task of guarding Le Roy big man, Merritt Holly, Jr. who he held to 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting. His effort was part of an overall defensive performance that saw Avon force 14 turnovers while limiting the Oatkan Knights to 13 field goals for the game.
“I kept waiting for them to get tired, but they just wouldn’t,” said Le Roy head coach Matt Weinman. “They’re all on the same page defensively. They made it difficult for us, for sure.”
Avon held Le Roy to one point over the first 5:49 of the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t have it tonight on offense,” Weinman said. “A big part of that was Avon’s defense, but we didn’t execute as well as we normally do.
“We missed a lot of shots tonight that we normally make. Avon doesn’t turn the ball over very much, so it was hard for us to get out in transition. We got to do a better job getting out on misses, pushing the ball and beating them down the court and not letting them set up. We got some things to clean up.”
Avon struggled as well to string together productive trips down the floor. The Braves scored on consecutive possessions just once in the first half.
“Both teams played well defensively,” Fries said. “They (Le Roy) are physical. They’re big and physical. They’re tough.”
Avon junior guard Josh Harter, who last year set the Section V single-game record with 14 3-pointers, struggled to find enough space to shoot from the perimeter. So too did Stroud who connected for eight triples in a game last season. The pair combined for two treys in Wednesday’s game.
Instead, the backcourt running mates found seams in the Le Roy defense and attacked off the dribble.
Coming out of a timeout, Josh Harter gets baseline. The @avon_central lead is 7 at 37-30 with 3:18 remaining. pic.twitter.com/LxLXvZcPo8
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 21, 2023
“They’re going to get me the ball where I can score,” Rowland said. “Shots will come to us. If I get it inside and don’t have shot, I kick it to them and vice versa. We’ve been working a lot on filling behind the guards. I just stepped into those spots, and they were getting the ball to me at the right time.”
Avon also was able to convert defense into offense getting layups in transition off ballhandling mistakes.
“In the second half, we did a better job of putting pressure up the floor and wearing them down a little bit,” Fries said. “That’s kinda our motto now because we don’t have much size. We’re trying to pressure all over the place if we can and wear them down. Josh did a great job getting inside of their defense and getting a couple easy ones.”
Avon (5-0) entered play scoring 63 points with a scoring margin of 24.2 per game. Le Roy (4-1) is the first team this season to stay within single digits of the Braves.
Merritt Holly hits a jumper in the lane to give @LeRoy_CSD a 24-22 lead early in the third. pic.twitter.com/KpiuS7DXWO
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 21, 2023
“I’m extremely proud of our guys for the defensive effort and holding them to 42 points,” Weinman said. “That’s a really good team that we guarded and were able to keep them at bay. We gave ourselves a chance despite how poorly we played offensively.”
Rowland grabbed 11 rebounds. Harter accounted for five rebounds and five assists.
The two squads, in the top three of the current unofficial Class B2 standings, will meet again at Le Roy on January 26th.
LE ROY
Matt Hockey 3 0-0 9, Adam Woodworth 1 0-0 2, Jake Higgins 2 0-1 4, Zander Staba 1 0-0 2, Merritt Holly, Jr. 4 5-11 13, Jean Agosto 2 0-0 4 TOTALS 13 5-12 — 34
AVON
Josh Harter 5 3-4 13 Michael Rowland 5 5-6 17, Brody McDowell 0 0-2 0, Trevor Stroud 4 0-0 10, Ryan Hillman 0 0-0 0, Austin Lattuca 0 0-0 0, Connor Smith 0 0-0 0 TOTALS 15 8-12 — 42
LE ROY 12 8 9 5 — 34
AVON 8 12 11 11 — 42
3-point goals — Le Roy 3 (Hockey 3); Avon 2 (Stroud 2)
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