PITTSFORD, N.Y. – As Josh Harter walked toward the Avon bench at the end of regulation time on Tuesday night, the senior guard gave himself a pep talk.
“I just told myself, ‘Don’t be afraid to fail,’” Harter said. “I didn’t want to have any regrets and once we got going in overtime something just took over.”
Make that two somethings.
Harter and fellow senior Trevor Stroud combined to score all of Avon’s 11 points in the extra session to lift the top-seeded River Hawks to a 64-60 win over fourth-seeded Lyons before a packed house in a Section V Boys’ Basketball Class B2 semifinal at Pittsford Sutherland High School.
Avon (18-4), the defending Class B2 champion advances to play No. 2 East Rochester at Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester Community War Memorial in the championship game on Saturday.
After Jamire Johnson scored on the opening possession of overtime to give the Lions their first lead since the first quarter, Harter responded with two baskets and two free throws to give the River Hawks a 59-57 advantage.
Stroud, who scored a game-high 38 points, buried his fifth three-pointer of the game with 42 seconds remaining to put Avon up five, but Lyons, which rallied from a 15-point third-quarter deficit to force overtime, came back again.
Contrell Parker scored three points to bring the Lions within 62-60 with 21.7 seconds left before Stroud converted two free throws with 15.6 seconds remaining to give Avon a four-point advantage and complete the scoring for the night.
“That’s what those guys do,” Fries said of Harter and Stroud. “They have been doing it all year.”
More like the last five years.
Harter and Stroud are cousins and have been a part of three Section V title teams (2021, ’22 and 24) as Avon has won a boys’ basketball crown in four of the last five seasons.
Lyons (16-6) also has a championship pedigree. The Lions won the Class C1 title last season and the program has won 22 in boys basketball, which is second only to East in Section V history.
Avon rode the hot shooting of Stroud, who scored 23 points in the first 16 minutes, and a sagging 2-3 zone defense dedicated to containing Johnson, Lyons’ 6-4 junior center, to take a 33-28 lead at the half.
“We had two guys guarding him the whole time,” Harter said. “He is definitely a nightmare of a matchup for everyone he plays. You can’t stop him, you can only hope to slow him down.”
Johnson, who scored 12 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked 5 shots in the game, had seven points and six rebounds at the break.
“He is just incredible and so hard to deal with,” Fries said.
Harter, who was limited to two points in the first half, scored the first six points of the third quarter to lead a 10-0 Avon run that gave the River Hawks a 43-28 lead with 4:39 to play.
Lyons regrouped and cut the deficit to seven points entering the fourth quarter as Stephen LeBrecht, who paced the Lions with 18 points, scored six points during a 13-5 spurt.
Lyons continued to battle and pulled within a point, 51-50, on a basket by JaJa Smith with 1:05 to play. Stroud converted two free throws with 16.4 seconds left to put Avon up 53-50.
Lyons coach Dean Schott II called time out with 11.8 seconds remaining and Smith, who is a freshman, drained a clutch three-pointer from the right corner to tie it with 9.6 seconds on the clock.
Lyons forced a late turnover by Avon to send the game to overtime tied at 53.
“They did a great job defensively,” Fries said of the Lions. “We had a hard time scoring in the fourth quarter, but we hung on and Josh and Trevor knocked down a few shots in overtime.”
Harter finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists and Stroud added 5 rebounds, 7 steals and 3 assists. Kal Dolgos finished with 6 rebounds and was one of several Avon players charged with the task of guarding Johnson.
Parker and Smith both finished with 10 points for Lyons.
Stroud, who was named Class B2 Tournament MVP after Avon defeated Marcus Whitman in the 2024 final, said the River Hawks spent a great deal of time preparing for Lyons and were determined to find a way to extend their season.
“We had to come out and get to work,” Stroud said. “I did not want to wake up tomorrow and not have practice.”
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