Boys basketball: Tyson Ziegler and Chance Miller lead Avon past Amherst

AVON — Every time Avon needed a basket Tyson Ziegler or Chance Miller answered the call. Ziegler scored a game-high 23 points and Miller added 13, including a key 3-pointer in the closing minutes, as the Eagles held on for a 60-50 Southwestern Conference win over Amherst on Tuesday night. Avon (14-7, 9-4 SWC) traded the lead with the Comets six times in the third quarter before Nate Farley's only basket of the night gave the Eagles a 40-39 lead with 2:36 to play in the third quarter. Amherst tied the game at 46 early in the fourth quarter but never led the rest of the way. "You saw our composure and senior leadership that helped us to close out the game," said Ziegler, who scored 11 first-quarter points. "We have seven seniors who have been working hard to get the team better." The Eagles built a 28-20 lead midway through the second quarter but were shut out the final 4:28 of the first half as Amherst (9-12, 2-11) led 29-28 at the half. "Our boots were in concrete tonight," Avon coach Mike Fitch said. "I don't know what was going on, our defense wasn't there. Credit to Amherst, they ran some good stuff and we didn't react really well to it. Sometimes the ugly ones you've got to battle through and win through adversity, so I am proud of our guys that we got that done." The Comets were led by senior Landen Bray, who connected on five 3-pointers on his way to 19 points. Junior Tristyn Young was also in double figures with 12 points. "We've been talking the last stretch of the season that we want to give everybody our best and we did that tonight," Amherst coach Pat Bray said. "Tonight we gave everything we had. There were moments we didn't make plays when we needed to. But there were moments we made big plays. We're 9-12 and we wanna get that 10th win and we've got two games for sure left, and who knows, we might have three games left." Sophomore Andrew Balicki's basket with 24 seconds left in the first half gave Amherst its first lead just before intermission. Bray opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer to give the Comets their biggest lead of the night at 32-28. "We kept battling," Miller said. "We were going back and forth throughout the game. It was rough, but we found a way to pull it out." The Eagles have won six of their last eight heading into Friday's regular-season finale against archrival Avon Lake. "Tonight was like a tournament atmosphere," Fitch said. "Hopefully we'll have two home games in the tournament but we're not looking ahead. We have a big one Friday that we're not going to look past. We owe them something." The Shoremen defeated Avon 70-63 in the first meeting Jan. 20. Nolan Good and Sam Toniolo, who each had four points, were the only other Eagles to score from the field in the fourth quarter. The loss snapped Amherst's three-game winning streak. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Avon 60, Amherst 55 AMHERST (55): Ryan Yoder 3-0-7, Ashton Draga 1-4-6, Landen Bray 7-0-19, Tirstyn Young 5-2-12, Andrew Balicki 3-0-6, Eli Solak 21-1-5. Totals 21-7-55 AVON (60): Chance Miller 6-0-13, Tyson Ziegler 8-4-23, Nolan Good 2-0-4, Nate Farley 1-2-4, Zane Austin 4-1-9, Andy Falasco 1-0-3, Sam Toniolo 2-0-4. Totals 24-7-60 Amherst&emsp;14&emsp;15&emsp;10&emsp;16&emsp;—&emsp;55Avon&emsp; 17&emsp;11&emsp;16&emsp;16&emsp;—&emsp;60 Three-point goals: Amherst (Bray 5, Yoder), Avon (Ziegler 3, Miller, Falasco). Field goals: Amherst 21-47 (45 percent), Avon 26-51 (51 percent). Free throws: Amherst 7-11 (64 percent), Avon 7-8 (88 percent). Rebounds: Amherst 25, Avon 23. Turnovers: Amherst 14, Avon 7. Team fouls: Amherst 14, Avon 9.Junior varsity: Avon, 54-44