Avon High School |
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River girls top the field, win Avon Reynolds Relays
The Rocky River girls track and field team won four events to take the team title in the annual Avon Reynolds Relays Saturday. Host Avon took runner-up honors in the boys’ competition.
Rocky River scored 94 points to top the girls’ 11-team field, with Highland taking second with 77 points and Avon third with 72. Wadsworth amassed 118 points to claim the boys’ title, with Avon winning three events and scoring 106. Avon Lake finished third in the 10-team field with 67 points.
For the Pirates, senior Madi Connelly won the 1600 with a time of 5:18.49 then ran the first leg of the 4x800 relay. She joined Clara Sandu...
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Magnificat overwhelms Avon, reaches district final
For the first four minutes of the game, Avon was right where it wanted to be against top-seeded Magnificat.
But from that point on, it must have seemed like a tidal wave of navy blue was washing away the Eagles’ district title hopes.
Down 8-6, Magnificat quickly showed why it was the favorite to repeat as district champions. The Blue Streaks, bolstered by the hot shooting hand of Sarah Scelza, went on a dominating 30-5 run to close out the first half and buried Avon, 58-29, in a Division I semifinal game Wednesday night at Elyria Catholic’s Coliseum.
Magnificat will now face Elyria, which defeated Amherst 45-32 in Wednesday night’s first semifinal contest. Tipoff is slated for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Coliseum.
Avon, which closed out its season at 14-9, saw things go south in a hurry as the combination of turnovers and Scelza’s shooting proved to be too much to overcome...
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Eagles rally late to turn away Shoregals' upset bid
A quick look in the scorebook showed that Jessica Yurkovich scored a mere three points in Saturday’s Division I tournament game with Avon Lake.
Those may be the biggest three points of her young varsity career.
The Avon sophomore scored those three crucial points in the game’s final 50 seconds to help her team get past the upset-minded Shoregals, 45-41, in a sectional final game at the Elyria Catholic Coliseum.
The Eagles, now 14-9, avoided what would have been their second-straight tournament loss to Avon Lake in the sectional finals. Avon will now play in next Wednesday’s district semifinals against No. 1 Magnificat, a 74-34 winner over North Olmsted in Saturday’s other sectional title game.
“We knew coming into today’s game...
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CHAMPIONS! Avon tops Midview for share of WSC
With just under a minute left and Avon clinging to a 2-point lead, it was still anybody’s ballgame.
As the packed house reached a fever pitch, Eagle guard Brian Kelly found himself getting trapped in the backcourt against the Midview press. But as he looked up, there was Zack Torbert...
All alone.
Kelly fired the long pass to his sophomore teammate, who made the wide-open layup in front of the frenzied Eagles Nest. That bucket, along with some clutch free throws...
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Race for WSC crown tightens as Eagles get by EC
With 2:20 left in the fourth quarter, it was anybody’s ballgame.
For the first 29:40, Avon and Elyria Catholic had battled on even terms. Panther senior Brittney McNamara had just tied the game at 46-all with a long-range 3-pointer from the left wing. Neither team looked like it was willing to budge an inch.
With just under two minutes left, Avon’s Sierra Davidson scored inside with what proved to be the game-winning bucket. But it wasn’t until Alexandra Bjorn rebounded a missed EC shot from point-blank range in the final seconds that the Eagles were able to secure the hard-fought 48-46 win in a West Shore Conference Saturday matinee thriller...
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Eagles take advantage of Pirates' offensive woes
With 5:34 left in the second quarter, Rocky River post player Tom McNamara got the ball inside and scored.
That fact alone wasn’t the big news. The fact that it was the Pirates’ first basket of the game was.
In the previous first 10:25 of the game, a Ricky Bremkamp free throw was all River was able to put on the scoreboard. Avon, despite some offensive challenges of its own, took full advantage and came away with a 36-28 West Shore Conference win Tuesday night.
“I was as puzzled as anybody,” admitted Pirates head coach Michael Murray, whose team...
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Irish onslaught brings an end to Avon playoff run
With 3:26 left in the first quarter, Avon quarterback David Zeh moved away from pressure, tucked the ball under his arm and rambled 15 yards for a touchdown.
Eric Sumislawski made the conversion kick, and the Eagles were tied with Toledo Central Catholic at 7-7 in the Division II Region 6 championship game. Avon’s defense followed up with a six-play stop, further steering the momentum in the Eagles’ favor.
At that point, nobody on either sideline...
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Video: Maloney, defense shine as Eagles advance
Avon, sparked by the defensive play of Kevin Maloney, advanced to the OHSAA Division II Region 6 championship game with a 24-14 win over No. 1 Tiffin Columbian Friday night in Fremont.
Maloney had a hand in four turnovers, three of which led directly to the Eagles’ three touchdowns on the night.
His first-half interception resulted in quarterback David Zeh’s 9-yard touchdown run that pushed Avon’s lead to 10-0. Later in the second quarter, Maloney recovered a fumble that led to Ross Douglas’ 8-yard scoring...
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Give me five: Douglas' TD outburst thwarts Pirates
With 11:12 left and the game hanging in the balance, Rocky River’s Keelan Boettcher ran a quarterback sneak from two yards out. Xhuljo Harunaj nailed the conversion kick, and the Pirates were all tied up at 21-all with West Shore Conference leader Avon.
What happened next could be summed up in two words:
Ross Douglas.
The University of Michigan recruit, who had already scored three...
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Brown's goal keeps Rockets on pace in the WSC
Bay’s Alex Brown knew that her team needed to “get their mojo back,” so she took matters into her own hands.
Scoring at the 35:23 mark of the second half on a perfect pass from teammate Eva Rezek, Brown not only got the Rockets’ mojo back, but helped Bay to a 1-0 win over visiting Avon in West Shore Conference play Wednesday night.
With the win, the Rockets improved to 4-0 in the conference and 8-1-1 on the season. The Eagles, who suffered a 1-0 loss to WSC co-leader Rocky River in their last outing, slipped to 1-2-1 in the league and...
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Week Four: Defending champs open with big wins
High school football picked it up another notch Friday night as league play began throughout Ohio. Here in the Westshore area, that meant both Avon and Avon Lake began defense of their respective conference crowns.
Both squads got off on the right foot.
Avon Lake, behind the rushing performances of Collin Lucas and Wyatt Ohm, scored 26 unanswered points in the second half. The Shoremen rallied to stun North Olmsted, 33-13, and put a damper...
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Avon's Eagles get the better of North Olmsted, 2-0
This one was for the birds…literally!
The Eagles of Avon, behind first-half goals from senior Fredrik Troupe and sophomore Daniel Minotti, knocked off the visiting Eagles from North Olmsted in non-conference play, 2-0, Monday night.
It was the first time the two teams have met on the soccer field, according to Avon head coach Chris Dore. He also said beating one of the area’s tradition-rich programs could turn into...
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Eagles take control early in 3-set sweep at River
After a big win last week at Midview, Rocky River head coach Kelly Bennett was looking for more of the same Tuesday night as Avon paid a visit.
As it turned out, the Eagles had other ideas.
Avon took advantage of numerous Pirate mistakes in the first set and left town with a three-set sweep in handing River its first loss of the season. The 25-13, 25-17, 25-22 Eagle win put both teams at 2-1 in the West Shore Conference, one game behind front-running Lakewood and Elyria Catholic.
“Our offense has really picked up a lot,” said Avon head coach Jenn Larrick...
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WSC Wrapup: Avon bounces back against Dukes
It didn’t take long for the Avon Eagles to get back on the right track.
Avon’s defense pitched a shutout while Austin Bevins ran for 159 yards to help the Eagles to a 33-0 win over Wellington Friday night in their 2012 home opener.
They Eagles, now 1-1, held the Dukes to 100 yards of total offense for the game and scored the only touchdown they needed late in the first quarter. That’s when quarterback David Zeh found Bevins with an 11-yard scoring strike.
Wellington’s defense played well early on, and had some momentum going when it forced...
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Eagles planning to pick up right where they left off
After winning 13 games and coming up just short of a state championship in your school\'s first-ever trip to “Week 15.” what could the Avon Eagles possibly do for an encore?
Head Coach Mike Elder believes you pick up right where you left off.
“We graduated a lot of great players from a state championship runner-up team, but I was very pleased with our off season, and I like our junior class and believe that they will step up with our current seniors,” said Elder, who enters his sixth season as head coach. “I think we are right where we want to be.”
Gone are 13 players from last year’s...
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DI Baseball: Demons nip Eagles for district crown
It has been said that pitching is the number one component to winning a championship in baseball.
If that is indeed the case, the Westlake Demons are feeling pretty good about their chances this week.
The Demons have advanced to this week’s Division I regional semifinals on the strength of stellar back-to-back pitching performances last week. On Wednesday, Ben Neumann went the distance and out-pitched Kentucky recruit Eric Lauer in a 4-2 win over Midview at The Pipe Yard in Lorain.
Then on Thursday, his cousin Kevin threw a four-pitch shutout as the Demons blanked top-seeded Avon, 1-0...
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Schuerger, Watterson help Rockets shock Eagles
Through six innings Monday afternoon, Avon senior Anders Mahon and Bay sophomore Marty Schuerger were engaged in a classic pitchers duel. The hits were few and far between, with both teams coming up empty in their limited scoring opportunities.
Then came the bottom of the seventh inning, with the biggest hit of the game coming from the youngest player on the field.
With the bases loaded and nobody out, freshman Griffin Watterson jumped on the first pitch he saw and drilled it to right field. That brought home Scott Pailes with the game-winning run as the Rockets prevailed, 1-0, to stun the Eagles and end their West Shore Conference win streak...
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No mercy: Lee's arm, Avon bats overwhelm River
Last spring, the Avon baseball team swept through the West Shore Conference schedule without a loss in claiming the outright championship.
Wednesday afternoon, the Eagles showed why they are again the team to beat in the WSC.
Avon scored seven runs in the first two innings and never looked back in a convincing 12-1 win at Rocky River. The Eagles remained undefeated on the season at 9-0 and ran their WSC record to...
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Video: Shoremen shut down Eagles, grab OT win
Avon Lake shut down Avon’s 3-point shooting and used a 12-2 run in overtime to take down the Eagles, 55-45, Tuesday night in the boys Division I sectional basketball tournament at Midview.
Senior Claude Gray of Avon had a monster game, scoring 27 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. But it wasn’t enough to offset the scoring duo of Avon Lake’s Eric Stuczynski and Brandon Murway, who combined for 39 points with 19 and 20, respectively.
Defense was also key for the Shoremen as they shutout Avon’s vaunted 3-point attack. The Eagles did rally to tie the game late in the fourth quarter and force the extra period, but could not sustain the rally from there.
With the win, the Shoremen moved over the .500 mark at 11-10 and advanced...
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DI Girls: LeDuc, Shoregals do it again, stun Eagles
With the score tied at 49 and less than 14 seconds left in regulation, Avon Lake’s Lacy LeDuc took the ball in the backcourt and quickly made her way up the floor.
As the clock ticked down, just about everybody in the Elyria Catholic Coliseum was on the edge of their seats.
Weaving her way through the Avon defense as if it were an obstacle course, LeDuc made her way to the basket. The senior kissed the ball off the glass and got the shot to fall with five ticks left, giving Avon Lake...
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Avon blanks Redmen for first district tourney win
With 5:53 gone in the first period, center Eric Novakovic flicked the puck past Parma goaltender Nate Tracy from close range to give Avon a 1-0 lead.
That goal will go down in Avon hockey lore as the Eagles’ first OHSAA tournament game-winner in program history.
Novakovic went on to score three more goals and goaltender Kory Carter registered a shutout as Avon topped Parma...
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Avon bounces back with win over North Olmsted
After getting knocked out of the West Shore Conference race on Friday, Avon head coach Jim Baker had a challenge for his Eagles squad Tuesday night.
“We talked about character. I mean really, nobody’s going to feel sorry for us,” said Baker, whose team was coming off a tough 54-51 loss at Bay that was settled on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Eagles accepted the challenge, regrouped and came away with a 63-59 home court win over North Olmsted’s Eagles in a non-conference game.
“This was huge. This was absolutely huge,” Baker said after the game...
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Wrestling: Scoring error clouds overall WSC title
When is a championship not a championship?
When a non-correctable scoring error says so, evidently.
Last Saturday, the Avon wrestling team thought it had won a share of the West Shore Conference championship after edging regular season champ Midview, 160.5-159.5, in the WSC tournament at Avon High. The Eagles seemingly won the tournament when Rocky River heavyweight Jesse Singler...
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Video: Lowrie's buzzer beater gets Bay past Avon
It’s been a tough season for the Bay boys basketball team. But as it turned out, the Rockets had their say in the West Shore Conference race.
Friday night, senior Bryan Lowrie drilled a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer and give Bay a thrilling 54-51 home-court win over Avon. The loss, combined with Midview’s 61-49 win over Vermilion, eliminated the Eagles from title contention.
Lowrie led all scorers with 19 points, while...
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Rockets hang on late, bring Eagles down to earth
No one will argue that the Bay girls basketball team has gone through more than its fair share of ups and downs this season.
But if Saturday afternoon was any indication, the elevator is definitely going back up for Chris Brewer’s Rockets.
Bay took the lead early on and got some big plays down the stretch to claim a 49-45 win over visiting Avon and remain one game behind Rocky River in the West Shore Conference race...
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Avon keeps pace in WSC race with win over River
Two coaches. Two teams. Two very different viewpoints.
First coach: “I thought it was very important to set the tempo early in the game. I thought we did a really nice job at both ends of the floor, especially defensively. We guarded the heck out of them tonight, and that was the key to our win.”
Second coach: “It was a rough night for us on both ends of the court....
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Avon, Westlake approved for entry into GCHSHL
After two years of growing their programs from scratch, the Avon and Westlake hockey teams are taking the next step in their development.
Both programs have been accepted into the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League and will begin division play during the 2012-13 season. Westlake is taking the biggest leap, moving into the White Division West, while Avon will compete in the Blue Division West...
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Eagles execute in final minutes to top Shoregals
With 4:28 left in the game, Avon Lake had taken a 32-28 lead over neighborhood rival Avon. With both teams struggling on offense, the narrow 4-point lead seemed larger.
But despite making just eight field goals to that point, the Eagles dug down deep to make a run. They took advantage of key Shoregal turnovers and went on a 13-0 run to close out a come-from-behind 41-32 win Wednesday night in a non-conference girls hoops matchup...
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Video: Buzzer beater leads Avon past Shoremen
Ryan Poyle hit a layup to beat the buzzer and get Avon past visiting Avon Lake, 45-43, in a non-conference boys basketball game Tuesday night.
The Eagles, who were led by Claude Gray\'s 17 points, went on a 13-4 run in the fourth quarter to pull out the last-second win and even their record at 6-6. Eric Stuczynski led all scorers with 20 points for Avon Lake...
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Video: Avon grapplers get best of Pirates, 42-27
Avon picked up a dual match decision at Rocky River Thursday night with a 42-27 win. The Eagles got pins from Kuconritha (120), Kirresh (180) and Holowecky, while Mahoney (113), Gallagher (160), Hamzai (170) and Singler (HWY) registered pins for the Pirates. Larry captured the action with his pictures and video...
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Video: Eagles slip past Rocky River, 56-55
Rocky River hosted the Avon Eagles in a West Shore Conference basketball game at the \'Pirates Cove.\' Check out the game and entertainment action Larry captured in this video, along with the 21 images on our Photography page...
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Westlake icers close out strong in win over Eagles
Seems like it was only yesterday.
Just a little over a year ago, Avon and Westlake started their respective hockey programs. Since then, the Eagles and Demons have gotten to know each other well, even sharing practice time on the ice from time to time.
On Saturday, the two club teams met on their shared home ice at the North Olmsted Recreation Center. The Demons, thanks in part to an early goal by freshman Nathan Greenberg...
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Avon blanks Demons, earns first DI district crown
There was a time not too long ago when things weren’t going very well for the Avon girls soccer team.
“The wheels were coming off,” said Eagles head coach Tony DiMacchia. “It was midway through the season, and we were dealing with a lot of adversity and a lot of injuries. We weren’t playing well, and we weren’t finishing well.”
All that seemed like ancient history as DiMacchia addressed the media at sun-drenched Reed Field. His Eagles had just finished beating top-seeded Westlake...
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Third-quarter rally gets Falls past North Olmsted
Throughout the first half and well into the third quarter, North Olmsted was having its way with arch rival Olmsted Falls.
A 47-second span later in the third changed all that.
That’s when Bulldogs quarterback Brennan Laird took advantage of an Eagle fumble and threw touchdown passes to Brendan Wall and Eric Meehan. The rally turned a 14-7 deficit into a 21-14 win at North Olmsted’s Mud Bowl that closed out the 2011 regular season.
Olmsted Falls finished the regular season...
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O'Rourke, Avon have big first half in win over Bay
For the better part of the first quarter, Bay was holding its own against Division II powerhouse Avon.
But in the second quarter, the Eagles showed why they are sitting at the top of the computer rankings and the team to beat in the West Shore Conference.
Up 14-0, Avon exploded for 21 points in the second quarter to take a 35-0 halftime lead and roll to a 42-0 win over the Rockets Friday night at a packed Memorial Stadium...
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Football: Avon thumps Pirates; Middies keep pace
On Friday night, Rocky River fullback Nick Lima bulled over the goal line from three yards out. Xhuljo Harunaj tacked on the conversion kick, and the Pirates were on the board.
The good part? The Pirates had their first score of the game.
The bad part? The score came with 2:47 remaining.
The worst part? They were still trailing by 35 points...
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Football: St. Edward, Avon leading playoff chase
With the first half of the 2011 high school football season in the books, the OHSAA Playoffs are about as far out of reach as they could be for most Westshore area teams.
The only two sure bets at this point would be St. Edward in Division I and Avon in Division II. Other teams will need some big wins in the second half of the season to make the top eight in their respective regions...
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