Boys basketball: Nolan Good's basket in final seconds saves Avon, spoils Amherst's huge rally

AMHERST — Don't tell Avon and Amherst their Southwestern Conference game didn't mean anything Friday. They played a rough-and-tumble instant classic that saw the Comets erase a 20-point second-quarter deficit, only to have Avon's Nolan Good score with three seconds left for a 65-64 victory. "(Elyria coach) Brett Larrick said it the other day, there are no upsets in this conference, everyone can win on any night," Eagles coach Mike Fitch said. "This meant nothing in the conference, but it meant a lot to the seniors from both teams, and it was just an amazing game to play this late in the year." Avon (11-9, 8-6 SWC) wasted no time trying to spoil Amherst's Senior Night festivities, hitting its first seven shots to grab an 18-4 lead as Ali Jaber nailed a pair of threes to start the game and added another basket to go with four points by Joey Ziegler and Good. "This game meant a lot to us, especially after our last couple of losses," Ziegler said. "We were playing together, playing physical, we knew that Amherst was going to battle back and just had to keep doing what we were doing." "We've learned from some of our past games, that we just can't go out there and start slow," said Jaber, who finished with a game-high 19 points and 14 rebounds. "We know that we have to carry this kind of effort into the postseason." The Comets (13-8, 7-6) finished the quarter on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 20-12, but Avon started the second on a 14-2 run with Brooks, Good and Dean Abdul leading the way with two baskets each to go up 34-14 on a Shane Carty steal-and-score. The Comets then began a comeback that took nearly 20 minutes before they took their first and only lead of the game. Stanley Robinson and freshman Jack Coleman (18 points) sparked the late first-half run, cutting the lead to 28-18 as both hit 3-pointers and David Dudziak (11 points) added a buzzer-beater. Dudziak and Robinson started the second half with baskets to quickly cut the lead to 38-32, but Avon took control again, pushing the lead between eight and 12 points throughout the third quarter as Jaber hit two more threes and finished the quarter with nine points. Amherst's defense was the difference in the fourth, holding the Eagles to just two points over the first five minutes as Robinson scored four along with two points each from Coleman and Eli Solak (13 points). It was Solak who finally gave Amherst a 64-63 lead with a strong baseline layup with 19 seconds left. Following an Avon timeout, Good took the inbound pass, drove the length of the floor while sliding past a defender and laid the ball in with three seconds left. Amherst was out of timeouts and unable to inbound the ball. "Coach drew up a play and from the start it didn't go as planned," Good said. "We were all on the same page and the entire left side of the floor was open for me. I was confident that I could get to the hoop and that's what I was able to do." "When you're competitors like both of these teams, it doesn't matter when we play or what's on the line, we're going to go out and play hard," Amherst coach Pat Bray said. "This prepares us for the tournament and will do nothing but help us." Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. Avon 65, Amherst 64 AVON (65): Shane Carty 2-0-4, Caden Clapham 1-0-2, Nolan Good 6-1-14, Jerry Clements 0-0-0, Ali Jaber 7-1-19, Brooks Good 2-0-4, Andy Falasco 1-0-2, Joey Ziegler 5-4-14, Dean Abdul 1-2-4, Sam Toniolo 1-0-2. Totals 26-8-65. AMHERST (64): David Dudziak 5-1-11, Ashton Draga 1-0-2, Stanley Robinson 4-0-9, Cole Norris 3-1-7, Brady Engle 1-0-2, Logan Farlow 0-0-0, Eli Solak 6-1-13, Mason Lymer 1-0-2, Jack Coleman 5-4-18. Totals 26-7-64. Avon&emsp;20&emsp;18&emsp;18&emsp;9&emsp;—&emsp;65Amherst&emsp;12&emsp;16&emsp;9&emsp;17&emsp;—&emsp;64 Three-point goals: Avon 5-16 (31 percent, Jaber 4, Good), Amherst 5-17 (29 percent, Coleman 4, Robinson). Field goals: Avon 26-46 (57 percent), Amherst 26-58 (45 percent). Free throws: Avon 8-14 (57 percent), Amherst 7-10 (70 percent). Rebounds: Avon 34, Amherst 26. Turnovers: Avon 14, Amherst 7. Junior varsity: Amherst, 58-53