WESTLAKE, Ohio — In a neighborhood rivalry game between teams fighting for second place in the conference, why would you need any extra motivation?
Then again, why not?
Still stinging from being seeded behind Westlake in the Division I District tournament at Elyria Catholic, Avon Lake came into Westlake's gym Wednesday and took a hard-fought 40-37 victory over the Demons. The Shoregals, ranked No. 13 in the cleveland.com girls basketball Top 25, are now 17-3 overall and 13-3 in the Southwestern Conference. Westlake, ranked No. 12, falls to 15-3 and 12-3.
“That definitely was on our minds,” Avon Lake coach Dave Zvara said.
The truth of the matter is that the difference between the teams is razor-thin. In their first meeting the Demons took a 34-33 victory. While that game was close from start to finish, the second meeting was more about building and blowing leads and fighting through long scoring droughts.
In the first quarter, Westlake had all the energy and used an 11-0 run to jump to a 15-5 lead. The margin could have been bigger, but the Demons missed some high-percentage shots that coach Karen Swanson Haan thought had a huge impact on the outcome.
“I feel like to a degree we beat ourselves today,” Haan said. “If we make those bunnies in the first quarter, then it doesn’t matter if you go 11 minutes without scoring.”
That’s right, after building a 10-point lead, the Demons went more than 11 minutes without scoring — 11:31, to be exact. Avon Lake used a 19-0 run between the second and third quarters. It turned a 17-7 deficit into a 26-17 lead. Westlake eventually righted the ship late in the third quarter, but the Shoregals still held a 28-22 lead after three.
“I think we just came out flat,” Zvara said. “I felt like they were outhustling us. I just told them, ‘Get your butts going.’ We picked up the pace a little bit and tried to make them rush instead of us rush. Defense has been one of our keys this year. I thought we got them to rush a little bit and into panic mode.”
Offensively, much of the damage was done for Avon Lake by two players: senior Elizabeth Murdock and junior Arianna Negron. The two combined for 31 of the team’s 40 points (Negron had 16 and Murdock had 15), and they had 14 of the points during Westlake’s scoring drought.
“I think we just let them take us out of our game,” Haan said. “We came out strong. I thought we started well. But then we sort of got in our own heads a little bit. We missed a couple of bunnies and then the wheels started coming off. That’s their game. We knew it was coming. We just didn’t handle the pressure in that stretch.”
As Avon Lake picked up its intensity, the Demons suddenly started throwing the ball all over the gym. After committing a tolerable three turnovers in the first quarter, Westlake had 15 in the middle two quarters and finished the game with 22. In the third quarter, the Demons had nine turnovers and Avon Lake never relinquished its lead.
“It was a point we stressed all week,” Haan said. “We had a lot of time to prepare for this game, and it was always, ‘Take care of the ball. Take care of the ball.’ We just didn’t do it. They’re very active and they’re constantly switching it up. We have to be able to adjust, but I don’t think we made the adjustments that we needed to.”
Murdock hit consecutive baskets to start the fourth period as Avon Lake opened its biggest lead of the night, 32-22.
“Murdock gave us a hell of a spark,” Zvara said. “She’s been a plus for us all year. She doesn’t always show up in the scoring column, but her defense is always a plus.”
Despite being down by 10 with less than six minutes to play, the Demons didn’t roll over, going on an 11-2 run that was sparked by two 3-pointers from junior Abby Carrington. She was Westlake’s lone player in double figures with 14. Carrington helped narrow the margin to one point, 34-33, and the momentum was with the home team.
Avon Lake handled the situation like a veteran team and never let the Demons take the lead. First, it was Negron hitting four consecutive free throws. Then, it was Amber Achladis and Emma Knick hitting key free throws in the game’s final moments. The Shoregals hit 6-of-9 free throws in the final two minutes and made 9-of-15 for the game.
“That was key,” Zvara said. “I just told them nice job on the foul shots. You know in a game like that, it makes a big difference.”
If all goes according to the tournament seeding, these teams could meet again in a district semifinal Feb. 25.
“I sure hope we do,” Haan said. “I’m sure they do, too.”
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