Girls basketball: Olmsted Falls blocks Avon Lake's path to SWC title once again

AVON LAKE — If Avon Lake could put up more than 40 points against Olmsted Falls on Saturday night, the Shoregals felt confident they would have a good chance to celebrate a Southwestern Conference title. Unfortunately for the Shoregals, this time 41 wasn't enough. After falling behind by as many as 13 points on two occasions, Avon Lake had a pair of second-half rallies but couldn't stop the Bulldogs from claiming the outright SWC title with a 48-41 win. It's the seventh year in a row the Bulldogs, the defending Division I state champions, either won or shared the SWC title. It was also a double celebration for Olmsted Falls with coach Jordan Eaton earning his 200th career win in 11 years at the school. Olmsted Falls (17-4, 14-0 SWC) took a 25-13 halftime lead but Avon Lake wasn't ready to concede. The Shoregals started the third quarter on a 9-0 run with Olivia Miller, Olivia Tobin and Bre Jones each contributing three points. Avon Lake's defense held the Bulldogs scoreless for the first 4:44 of the period. "We picked up the intensity in the third quarter and started to play with more confidence offensively," Avon Lake coach Paul Appel said. "They are so unique on defense that it really takes us a while to get comfortable." Avon Lake (17-5, 12-2) pulled within three twice in the second half. Once midway through the third quarter and again after an Izzie Polinko free throw with 1:01 to play made the score 44-41. The only thing surprising about the result was the number of points on the scoreboard. In the teams' last three meetings dating back to the start of the 2023-24 season, neither team had scored more than 40 points. "We didn't settle for so many threes tonight," Eaton said. "We always do that and their defense doesn't give us many good ones. We decided to get to the basket a little bit more and play in the paint. That also helped us get to the free throw line a little more." While the Bulldogs still had five 3-pointers, they shot 22 free throws, making 15. Avon Lake had one last 13-3 run in the fourth quarter but the Bulldogs went 4-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 35 seconds to secure the win. Miller was the game's leading scorer with 14 points, 10 coming in the second half. "I love the way we competed and how we came back and made it a game," Appel said. "We have some things we have to work on but if we continue to fight like we did tonight we'll be fine." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Olmsted Falls 48, Avon Lake 41 OLMSTED FALLS (48): Avery DeLisio 1-1-4, Reese Timura 1-0-3, Jesse Simon 2-5-10, Maddie Cerovac 4-3-11, Emma Schaefer 4-4-12, Grace Largent 0-1-1, Addison Mullen 2-1-7. Totals 14-15-48. AVON LAKE (41): Olivia Tobin 3-0-8, Izzie Polinko 0-1-1, Olivia Miller 3-6-14, Evelyn Ritt 1-0-3, Bre Jones 4-0-9, Molly Milligan 2-2-6. Totals 13-9-41. Olmsted Falls&emsp;11&emsp;14&emsp; 7&emsp;16&emsp;—&emsp;48Avon Lake&emsp; 5&emsp; 8&emsp;13&emsp;15&emsp;—&emsp;41 Three-point goals: Olmsted Falls (Mullen 2, Simon, Timura, DeLisio), Avon Lake (Tobin 2, Miller 2, Jones, Ritt). Field goals: Olmsted Falls 14-32 (44 percent), Avon Lake 13-44 (30 percent). Free throws: Olmsted Falls 15-22 (68 percent), Avon Lake 9-14 (64 percent). Rebounds: Olmsted Falls 31, Avon Lake 27. Turnovers: Olmsted Falls 11, Avon Lake 11. Team fouls: Olmsted Falls 13, Avon Lake 5. Fouled out: Polinko.