Sectional Boys Basketball: Dominic Rini's free throws in final second give Avon win

STRONGSVILLE — Avon senior guard Dominic Rini had the playoff game against the Strongsville Mustangs in his hands in the final second, and he gave the Eagles plenty to celebrate. Rini knocked down nine 3-pointers and helped Avon build a 19-point lead, but in order to finish off a 67-65 victory in the Division I sectional semifinal after a furious 21-4 scoring run from the Mustangs in the final quarter, he needed to and made a pair of free throws with less than a second remaining. "You've just got to focus, and I worked all season, all offseason, preseason to make those shots in that game, in that moment," Rini said. "It was tough. They were on a big run. We couldn't stop them on defense. They were hitting every shot. We just all had to come together as a group. We've played with each other since we were all young. Chemistry comes in and we knew we could win that game." Rini sealed the game with the free throws after Strongsville was assessed a technical foul after a foul call on Niko Pappas' drive to the basket as the final seconds ticked away. At first, Strongsville's Tristan McCrann was assessed a personal foul for contacting Pappas, but comments directed at the officials cost the Mustangs in the end. After Pappas missed his two attempts, Rini stepped to the line and converted both of his shots. "We preach it all the time," Avon coach Mike Fitch said. "We get on them for messing around when they're shooting free throws in practice. We get on them when they don't execute at the end of a possession, at the end of the quarter, that kind of thing. Going throughout this whole year, we've kind of built it up, kept going up and they fought back. That's what they're going to do." Game-clinching free throws aside, Rini stepped up early and late to help the Eagles (12-8) beat the Mustangs (11-10) and advance in the postseason. After registering a 10-point first-quarter effort, buoyed by a pair of 3-pointers from the right wing and a driving layup inside the final two minutes, Rini did not make a field goal in the second period. However, it did not stay that way for long, as Rini put together a third quarter to remember. He scored 21 of his game-high 38 points in the quarter. Rini opened it with a three-point play and then knocked down two 3-pointers, one each from the left wing and top of the key, on back-to-back possessions just over a minute later. He was only getting started. Rini continued the 3-point barrage with triples from the right wing and right corner and hit two more long-range shots over the final 87 seconds of the quarter. "Just find the open spot," he said. "Just knowing that my teammates were going to take the ball to the basket and find the open spot. They knew they were face-guarding me half the game, and I knew I had to create my own space and find my own shot." Rini's performance left both his current and former coaches amazed. "He was good tonight," said Strongsville's Kevin Sapara, who coached Rini at Avon before taking over the Mustangs. "He was hitting everything. He's getting loose, and I know he can score. He's a good shooter. He was hot tonight, for sure. Hat's off to him and the Eagles." Fitch added: "I see Rini play every night, and he's the best player I've seen on the floor in a long time. That's what he does. You expect that." After eliminating the Mustangs, the Eagles will get another tough test in the form of the fifth-seeded Garfield Heights Bulldogs on Saturday night. "It's awesome," Fitch said. "I told our kids, 'It doesn't matter if you win by 18 or you win by one. You move on in the tournament.' We've got two days of practice, and then we get to go to Garfield." Contact Matt Florjancic at matt.florjan@yahoo.com. Avon 67, Strongsville 65 AVON (67): Connor Allomong 2-0-5, Niko Pappas 1-1-3, Dominic Rini 12-5-38, Matt Fischer 0-0-0, Max Emerine 3-0-8, Jacob Siegert 5-0-11, Mike Matlak 0-2-2, Colin Ladegaard 0-0-0, Ben Rehner 0-0-0. Totals 23-8-67. STRONGSVILLE (65): Saaid Ahmad 1-0-2, Jack Vargo 2-0-5, Tristan McCrann 3-0-6, Justin Wypasek 7-2-20, Maddox Beard 1-0-2, Jack Platten 2-0-4, Cole Smith 3-2-9, Alex Ly 6-1-14, Abe Najjar 1-1-3, Caleb Warren 0-0-0. Totals 26-6-65. Avon 19 14 25 9 --67 Strongsville 16 9 17 23 --65 Three-point goals: Avon 13-25 (52 percent; Rini 9, Emerine 2, Allomong 1, Siegert 1), Strongsville 7-19 (36.8 percent; Wypasek 4, Smith 1, Vargo 1, Ly 1). Field Goals: Avon 23-56 (41.1 percent), Strongsville 26-54 (48.1 percent). Free throws: Avon 8-17 (47.1 percent), Strongsville 6-10 (60 percent). Rebounds: Avon 33, Strongsville 33. Turnovers: Avon 22, Strongsville 21. Technical Fouls: Warren, Strongsville Bench. Fouled Out: None.