Boys basketball: Avon takes control in second half, downs North Ridgeville to snap four-game skid

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Avon struggled at the outset of its Southwestern Conference game against North Ridgeville on Friday night. But once the Eagles got going, they didn't stop. Down most of the opening half, Avon began to turn it on at the end of the second quarter, clearing the way for a comfortable 58-42 victory. The Eagles (6-7, 4-5 SWC) held the Rangers (4-9, 2-6) to four points in the third quarter — 16 in the second half — and started finding the mark from the field to finish off their hosts. "Forty-two points," Avon coach Mike Fitch said of North Ridgeville's total for the night. "That's pretty awesome, being able to do what we needed to do. "(The Rangers) do some good stuff and our kids kept our composure and did what they needed to do. "We've been in that situation a lot. We haven't executed and haven't been able to keep our composure, and I think we really did tonight. End of the third, we're sitting there saying, 'We've been in this situation before.' And that's the maturity of the boys, sticking together and doing what they needed to do." Both teams came out cold after a tightly contested opening 16 minutes, combining for only two points over the first four-plus minutes of the third quarter. But while the Rangers kept missing, the Eagles — mainly Joey Ziegler and Nolan Good — started converting. Ziegler's 3-pointer with 2:54 left in the third put Avon up 35-28. The lead reached double digits in the fourth quarter as the Eagles poured it on and Ridgeville couldn't answer. Rangers coach Ben Chase has seen the third-quarter collapse from his team before. "I don't think we were efficient, as far as the last half of the second quarter, and the third quarter has been our Achilles' heel all year long," Chase said. "We know it, our kids know it and we just need to find a way to not put ourselves in a hole in the third quarter. It absolutely got us into (a double-digit deficit), and we just couldn't get it back. "If you go back and look at the film of the third quarter, we just missed a lot of open shots. Those are exactly the shots we want our kids shooting. We just need to continue to work and step up and make those shots." A 3-pointer from Ali Jaber gave Avon its first double-digit advantage (42-32) a little over two minutes into the fourth quarter. Jaber joined Ziegler and Good in double figures with 12 points. Ziegler scored a game-high 20 points while Good added 16. The pair of Avon stars split their scoring evenly, with Ziegler scoring 10 points in each of the halves and Good, the quarterback on the Eagles' state championship team, scoring eight apiece. "That's what (Ziegler is) capable of. He gets going … we had some role guys step up that you're not even going to put in the paper, but they did a really good job," Fitch said. "(Nolan) has matured so much over the last year. It's just awesome. I'm proud of him. The dude is more focused than anything, and he's got a full ride to go play football. You can't take that for granted, it's awesome." The Eagles entered the night riding a four-game losing skid and feeling as though they needed a win in the worst way. "Absolutely, and a win in that fashion, where you're coming on the road," Fitch said. "Records lie a lot of times. That's a really good team that has really good players that execute. To get that (win) on the road is awesome." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X. AVON (58): Colten Fitch 1-0-3, Nolan Good 2-2-16, Sam Toniolo 0-0-0, Joey Ziegler 6-5-20, Ali Jaber 5-0-12, Caden Clapham 0-0-0, Jerry Clements 1-0-2, Brooks Good 0-0-0, Andy Falasco 1-0-2, Dean Abdul 0-1-1, Shane Carty 1-0-2. Totals 22-8-58. NORTH RIDGEVILLE (80): Luke Rowe 3-1-8, Cole Miller 0-0-0, Owen Pawul 1-0-2, Charlie Steinmetz 5-1-13, Kyle Miller 6-0-12, Duke Baker 2-0-5, Dean Igheim 0-0-0, Perry Dixon 1-0-2, Ndeh Tuma 0-0-0, Totals 18-2-42. Avon&emsp; 9&emsp;20&emsp;10&emsp;19&emsp;—&emsp;58North Ridgeville&emsp;14&emsp;12&emsp; 4&emsp;12&emsp;—&emsp;42 Three-point goals: Avon (Ziegler 3, Jaber 2, Fitch), North Ridgeville (Steinmetz 2, Baker, Rowe). Rebounds: Avon 26, North Ridgeville 25. Turnovers: Avon 14, North Ridgeville 14. Total fouls: Avon 9, North Ridgeville 13. Junior varsity: North Ridgeville, 50-48