By PAUL GOTHAM
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Avon boys’ basketball erased a seven-point deficit late in the fourth quarter, but the Braves could not regain the lead in a 56-52 loss to Section VI champion Salamanca in the NYSPHSAA Class B Far West Regional, Saturday at Buffalo State College.
Coming out of a timeout with 3:25 remaining in the game and trailing 50-43, senior Michael Rowland beat a pair of defenders along the right side and slipped into the lane for a basket. Next trip down the floor, junior Josh Harter took an inside-out feed from Kal Dolgos and connected from 3-point range. Rowland followed with a rebound and putback to tie the game 50 with 55.7 seconds left on the clock.
“We’re never out of a game with the guys who can shoot the ball,” said Avon head coach Rob Fries. “We just talked about focusing on the next possession. Never look ahead, play that one possession.”
After Avery Brown scored to give Salamanca a 52-50 edge, junior Trevor Stroud hit a contested jumper along the left baseline to tie the game with 22.3 remaining.
Salamanca (20-5) scored the last four points of the game.
“I’m really proud of them,” Fries said of his squad. “We got down at halftime. We battled back.”
Michael Rowland pic.twitter.com/6FpSMtIkYH
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 9, 2024
Michael Rowland rebound and putback ties the game at 50 with 55.7 to go. pic.twitter.com/Kh4LhptvWA
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 9, 2024
Trevor Stroud. Tied at 52 22.3 to go. pic.twitter.com/y6U2zQJ1xf
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 9, 2024
Salamanca (20-5) held Avon (23-2), averaging more than 64 points per game, to 16 in the first half.
“I didn’t think we got great shots in the first half,” Fries said. “I would have liked us to get a little bit more dribble penetration, but you got to credit Salamanca. They’re very good defensively. They’re hard to get inside of. They’re physical, and we missed some easy ones.”
Lucus Brown, a Second Team All-State performer a season ago, led all scorers with 24 points including six over the final eight minutes of the game.
“Rebounding hurt us tonight,” Fries said. “You’re overplaying Lucus Brown so much that guys lose their rebounding assignments. We had some chances. We just couldn’t get a stop when we needed it.”
Avon scored the first five points of the game.
Salamanca took the lead at 8-6 when Avery Brown hit a runner. The Warriors did not trail again in the contest.
Cory Holleran finished in the lane to give Salamanca its largest lead of the game at 24-14 with 3:19 to go in the second quarter.
The Warriors led by nine at half, but a Stroud triple cut the deficit to two at 40-38 heading into the fourth quarter.
Lucus Brown connected three times from the floor, and it looked like Salamanca was going to pull away when Payton Bradley hit a jump hook in the lane for the seven-point lead.
Lucus Brown showing his touch around the basket for @SalamancaBB pic.twitter.com/1Le1dMgOT0
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 9, 2024
“We knew they were going to make a run,” said Salamanca head coach Adam Bennett. “They’re too good. Coach does an unbelievable job with them, and we got a ton of respect for who they are. But at the end of the day, thankfully we were able to defend and rebound a little bit better. That’s the name of the game this time of the year.
“We’ve been in these moments before. We’ve got guys that are experienced, and they don’t get caught up in the moment or what’s on the scoreboard. They just get to work possession by possession.”
Salamanca took a 61-59 decision when the two teams met in the 2022 Class C Far West Regional.
“I came here thinking how are we going to stop them?,” Fries said. “They only scored 25 at half. I felt pretty good about that. It was that we only scored 16. I didn’t really expect that. I thought we did better in the second half. We just came up a little short.”
Rowland finished with 18 points for Avon. Harter scored 17. Stroud had 13. Dolgos and Ryan Hillman accounted for two points apiece.
Maddox Isaac scored nine for Salamanca. Avery Brown had eight. Bradley (7), Holleran (5) and Jake Herrick (3) rounded out the scoring.
Salamanca will play Section III champion Marcellus in the state semifinals on Thursday at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls.
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