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Avon pulls away late for road win; Holly breaks Le Roy program scoring record

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By PAUL GOTHAM

LE ROY, N.Y. — With Le Roy’s Merritt Holly, Jr. ready to become the program’s all-time leading scorer, the Avon boys’ basketball team set out to keep the celebrations in check Friday night.

A second-half defensive stand did just that.

The Braves held Le Roy scoreless for 10 straight possessions – a stretch of five-plus minutes – and turned a two-point edge into a double-digit advantage on the way to a 61-46 victory in Livingston County Athletic Association Division II action.

“These guys pride themselves on being able to stop other teams,” said Avon head coach. Rob Fries. “That’s the difference between our team and a lot of teams. We focus on trying to stop people.”

The backcourt tandem of Josh Harter and Trevor Stroud garner plenty of attention for their ability to put the ball in the basket. On Friday night, the junior guards did not allow Le Roy to get comfortable on offense. The duo forced the Oatkan Knights to play at a quicker pace and start their offense further from the basket than they wanted. Mistakes and turnovers followed.

“We wanted to pressure their guards and keep it away from Merritt,” Harter said. “Merritt’s a beast. He’s so big, so strong. We wanted to pressure, speed them up not let them play in the half court and throw to Merritt because he’s a stud.”

Over the last 10 minutes of the game, Avon (15-1/No. 6 NYSSWA Class B) allowed three field goals and forced seven turnovers.

“We’re a good defensive team,” Stroud said. “We’re going to get up and pressure other teams and try to get them to make mistakes.”

Le Roy (12-3/No. 22 NYSSWA Class B) entered play with an eight-game winning streak and had scored 60 or more points in their previous five games.

Avon held the Oatkan Knights 18-plus points under their season average of 64.2 points per game. On only two occasions this season has Le Roy been held under 55 points in a game. Both came against Avon which claimed a 42-34 victory over its league foe earlier in the season.

“Both games, scoring has been really tough for both teams, but that’s how we normally play,” Fries said. “Eventually we held them a few times, and that’s what it came down to.”

With Harter and Stroud putting pressuring on the perimeter, Le Roy shot 1-of-20 from behind the 3-point arc and 14-of-53 (26.4 percent) overall from the floor.

“I give Trevor and Josh an enormous amount of credit,” Fries said. “Where they were as freshmen to where they are now, defensively. They’re physically tougher. They play their guts out. They don’t weigh a lot, but they’re not afraid to throw their bodies out there.”

Michael Rowland sparked the decisive run on the offensive end. The senior guard connected on a baseline jumper then hit a 3-pointer. Harter added two more and forced a timeout with 1:21 remaining in the third quarter and Avon leading 50-40.

Stroud scored twice to open the fourth quarter, and Harter added another deuce. The lead had grown to 16 at 56-40.

“I know those guys can score,” Fries said. “I know Josh and Trevor and Michael. We’re going to have a game here or there where somebody can’t knock a shot down, but for the most part I don’t worry about the offensive end.”

Holly came into the game with 1,554 career points and needing six more to pass former Knight Brendan Fulmer (who played on Le Roy’s 2003 sectional champion) as the program’s all-time leading scorer. He did that early in the second quarter.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” the senior forward said. “I’m really happy that we got it. It’s not a personal goal. It’s a team goal. I’d like to thank all my prior teammates. This isn’t just a personal goal.

With five points on the night, Holly connected for a free-throw line jumper with 5:21 to go in the second quarter to become Le Roy’s all-time points producer. He exhaled after the ball went through the net.

“It was awesome,” he said. “It was a little pull-up J. I missed a free throw. I could have had it with a free throw but I bricked it. It finally went through, so it’s good.

Holly finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and two assists.

“It was a goal of mine, but we’re also here to win games and try to win sectionals, too,” he said.

Merritt Holly, Jr. discusses what breaking the Le Roy program scoring record means to him. (Photo: PAUL GOTHAM)
Merritt Holly, Jr. (Photo: Paul Gotham)

Jake Higgins and Adam Woodworth scored seven points apiece for Le Roy.

Stroud had 19 points, five rebounds and five steals to lead Avon. Harter accounted for 16 points, seven assists and five steals. Rowland had 16 points and five rebounds.

Last season, Harter set the Section V single-game record for 3-pointers made with 14. Stroud, who connected three times from distance on Friday, has hit as many as eight triples in a game previously.

Rowland came into the game with 1,019 career points. He is now six shy of tying the program record of 1,041 held by Zach Colvin.

The win gives Avon (5-0 in league) a two-game lead over Le Roy (3-1) at the top of LCAA II.

“It’s a huge game,” Stroud said. “We got to keep preparing for these guys. We’re probably going to see them down the road (in sectionals). There are a lot of bigger teams out there in our bracket. We got to keep going, keep working, get better on defense and our offense will come.”

AVON
Josh Harter 6 4-5 15, Michael Rowland 7 1-2 16, Kal Dolgos 1 0-0 2, Brody McDowell 0 0-0 0, Trevor Stroud 7 2-4 19, Ryan Hillman 3 0-0 6, Connor Smith 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 24 7-11 — 61

LE ROY
Tommy Condidorio 0 0-0 0, Matthew Hockey 1 1-1 3, Alex Spezzano 0 0-0 0, Aaric Luce 0 0-0 0, Adam Woodworth 2 3-5 7, Jake Higgins 3 0-0 7, Zander Staba 2 0-0 4, Merritt Holly, Jr. 9 3-5 21, Jean Agosto 2 0-2 4 TOTALS 19 7-13 — 46

AVON 17 14 19 11 — 61
LE ROY 8 15 17 6 — 46

3-point goals Avon 4 (Rowland 1, Stroud 3); Le Roy 1 (Higgins 1).

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