Boys basketball preview 2023: Tyson Ziegler takes the lead for Avon

Tyson Ziegler takes a blue collar mentality with him on the basketball court at Avon. No one's going to outwork or outhustle Ziegler. No one's going to be more physical than he is around the hoop. Ziegler is one of the top reasons the Eagles are a favorite in this year's Southwestern Conference race. "I think we're really confident this year," Ziegler said. "We've got all five returning starters. We only lost three seniors. We've got a lot of bench players that got a lot of varsity time last year. I think we're going to be good this year. Everyone has chemistry now. We've had a full year playing together. We won't need time to build that chemistry now because we already have it." Three of the starers averaged double figures last year — Nathan Farley (11.5), Zane Austin (10.7) and Ziegler (10.3). Coach Mike Fitch believes Ziegler brings a lot of intangibles with him to the floor. "That's the first word — leadership," Fitch said. "He does it by showing it. What he does in practice ... I've never seen him take a play off. He works so hard, sometimes it's a determent to himself because he gets so frustrated but we're working to overcome it. He encourages everyone else to work hard. He's that kid that sometimes we forget to compliment how hard he's working. Last Monday in practice, Nate Farley was working really hard and we complimented him. You know, he's working like Tyson always does. He's just a hard-working kid." "I've just got to be a good leader and keep everyone positive," Ziegler said. "We went through some adversity last year especially after starting the season 10-2. We obviously didn't finish as well as that. Just staying positive. Keeping guys up when they're down." After winning just four games two years ago, Avon improved to 15-8 overall and 8-6 in the SWC a year ago with primarily underclassmen. Ziegler, Austin, Farley, Joey Griffiths and Paul Leftrict have been playing together since elementary school. Fitch is in his fourth season so this group is special to him. "Fourth year, head coach?" Fitch said. "This is your year. We've gotten there. We just have to show it on the floor. They were freshmen coming in. I'm close with a lot of these guys. Senior nights are tough, especially when we have to say goodbye to these guys." Another returning starter is Nolan Good, a junior. Good won't be available until after the first of the year after suffering a broken collar bone in football. He was Avon's starting quarterback, throwing for over 2,100 yards and accounting for 31 touchdowns (21 passing). Good averaged nearly 10 points a game during his sophomore basketball season. "He's a really good player," Ziegler said. "He plays in the summer with us when football wasn't in full season yet. He had a really good summer so we're pretty excited. Obviously the injury sucks. Feel bad for football to lose their starting quarterback. He'll be back. I have a class with him and he's moving his shoulder already. I'm excited to get him back." Ziegler doesn't mind at all that the football team's deep run into the playoffs may have delayed the start of the basketball season. "They bring a winning culture to our school," he said. "Especially the football players who play basketball. They have successful seasons every year. That winning attitude kind of transfers over to us." "One hundred percent," Fitch said. "The biggest thing is being physical in the weight room. What they have done in the weight room we've kind of piggy-backed on. Honestly, it probably started when I took over. We kind of really met, sat down — what do we need as a basketball program in the weight room? Now we work so well together. They've changed their weight-training program around our season. "That winning attitude, winning mentality that the kids have. That's Avon. Look at our volleyball team, look at our soccer teams — they were just win, win, win." "We're pushed back a week or so because we knew football was going to go far," Ziegler said. "It hurts us when we have to push our season back, but I think they bring a different mindset to our team that really helps us." Fitch figures the league is going to be tough from top to bottom. If there's one thing he wants improved, it's winning games on the road. "That's our goal," he said. "Last year, we couldn't win on the road at the end of the season. We won them all at home but in the conference you've got to win those road games. That's why (Avon) Lake won it last year because they won on the road. "Handling that adversity and handling times where you go a four-, five-minute stretch where you're not playing that well. Can you get defensive stops? If you're not getting defensive stops and you're not scoring, that's tough. We're focusing on that. Last year we weren't expected to be good so it was all gravy. Now, we're kind of expected to get some wins so how we handle that adversity when we don't have a good quarter or have a good game." Ziegler's parents, Dan and Dawn, were very important to his development. His mom played basketball at New London in high school and volleyball at John Carroll. His younger freshman brother, Joey, is on the junior varsity squad. Ziegler wants to go to Tennessee for college but not to play basketball. "He decided last year that he wanted to go to a big school but he didn't want to play basketball," Fitch said. "It was hard to hear. He's that kind of kid that we wanted to go play college basketball. It's a mature decision. He has over a 4.0 so he wants to go to a big school. He could probably go D-III. I think he'd fit in anywhere." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.