Boys basketball: Height disparity prevails in Avon Lake loss to Buckeye

YORK TWP. — Avon Lake showed a lot of offensive balance but couldn't overcome a big height disadvantage down low and dropped a 70-56 non-league game to Buckeye on Tuesday night. With nine of the 11 Shoremen (3-18) who checked into the game scoring between three and nine points, they rallied to close out the first half to overcome a 17-8 first-quarter deficit. Six different players scored during a 14-5 Avon Lake run to start the second quarter that tied the game at 22. Trent Smith (seven points, three rebounds, assist) scored a bucket to pull Avon Lake within a point and Liam Besaw (five points) split a pair of free throws to tie the game. "It's been a tough season and we're just trying to keep going," Smith said. "Coach (Eric Smith) is motivating us and once we started feeling it we tried to keep riding that wave and keep it going." The Shoremen kept things close and entered the second half down just 31-29 after their playing best eight minutes of the game. Mason Ambrose closed the half with a 3-pointer at the buzzer off an assist from Smith. "When we push the ball and drive and kick, we can play at our pace," junior guard Ezra Jones said. "Once we got going up and down the court, we started working at what we do." Buckeye (12-9) answered with a 13-4 run to start the second half to extend the lead to 44-33 with power forward Turner Dolata leading the way. Dolata finished with a career-high 31 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. The rebounding battle was detrimental to the Shoremen all night as Buckeye featured a front line that included a 6-foot-8 center, a 6-foot-6 power forward and a reserve post player that also goes 6-foot-8. "We've struggled all season with that," Eric Smith said. "It is just two skilled big men that were going inside and out. It is tough to defend that." The Shoremen lost the battle of the glass, 48-29, but players like Jones (nine points, four rebounds, two assists), Mason Ambrose (eight points, four rebounds) and JP Gannon (six points, four rebounds) kept fighting for position in the paint. "Even when we boxed out those short rebounds, they just get them. It goes right back to them," Jones said. "They can just go right back up. You really have to do a good job boxing out, but they did a good job getting some offensive rebounds." Ambrose did not enter the game until the third quarter and showed how balanced the offensive load was, notching all of his stats in the second half. The Buckeye lead hit a game-high at 62-40 before Avon Lake rallied to get within 64-54 with 2:14 remaining. Avon Lake did a good job playing perimeter defense, forcing 15 turnovers, and took care of the ball, only committing nine turnovers. Contact Chad Grant at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Buckeye 70, Avon Lake 56 AVON LAKE 8 21 9 18 — 56 BUCKEYE 17 14 24 15 — 70 Avon Lake – Ezra Jones 3-2-9, Liam Besaw 2-1-5, Luke Gillespie 2-0-6, Joe Falash 1-0-3, Trent Smith 3-1-7, JP Gannon 2-2-6, Jacob Cooke 1-4-6, Boston Brooks 0-0-0, Tucker Budzar 0-0-0, JJ Bradley 2-1-6, Mason Ambrose 3-1-8. TOTALS: 19-12-56. Buckeye – Travis Avallone 1-0-2, Turner Dolata 13-3-31, Andrew Tessman 1-0-2, Scott Dimarco 4-0-12, Blake Zacharias 0-0-0, Derek Snyderburn 2-1-5, Jacob Snyderburn 0-2-2, Nolan Klingbeil 3-0-6, Logan Brown 2-6-10, Zach Stough 0-0-0.TOTALS: 26-12-70. 3-point goals – Gillespie 2, Ambrose, Bradley. Falash, Jones, Dimarco 4, Dolata 2. Rebounds – Avon Lake 29 (Ambrose. Gannon, Jones 4), Buckeye 48 (Dolata 11). Assists – Avon Lake 6 (Jones 2), Buckeye 15 (Dimarco 4). Records – Avon Lake (3-18), Buckeye (12-9). Junior varsity – Avon Lake 75, Buckeye 39 (B: Zach Stough 11)