High school basketball preview: Avon Lake girls hope defense prevails

Coming off its first state championship game appearance in more than three decades, Avon Lake has a lot to replace this season. The Shoregals lost three key starters in Olivia Tobin, Izzie Polenko and Bre Jones, but a program that finished in a better position in the Southwestern Conference in each of coach Paul Appel's first three seasons is ready to reload again. "We have a lot of players who played minutes for us last year," Appel said. "There's a lot of players who were a part of the program, so there is a commitment they understand to the defensive end of the floor and playing unselfishly." Avon Lake's returnees are led by Wayne State commit Olivia Miller, who averaged 10.2 points per game last season and was a key part of Avon Lake's incredible defense, which allowed just 34.6 points per game. "I'm feeling good," Miller said. "I know we lost some guards, but we have other good guards that are juniors that can come up and take their place, so I'm feeling really good." The two most significant players returning for the Shoregals aside from Miller are fellow senior Evelyn Ritt, who will need to replace a good deal of the production they lost at the guard spots, and junior Molly Milligan, the Shoregals' starting big from a season ago. "Those three are going to be a big part of everything we do," Appel said. "We've got a couple of other seniors around them and a good, talented sophomore and junior class." No matter who is on the court, the identity of the Avon Lake program is defense, and over the last three seasons under Appel, it has allowed fewer points than any team in the SWC. At no time was the Shoregals' commitment to defense more apparent than during last year's run to the state title game, as they allowed just 28.1 points over the six playoff games leading up to the state final. Avon Lake's final two wins over St. Vincent-St. Mary and Brush were particularly impressive, as it held St. Vincent-St. Mary to 26 points and limited Ohio Ms. Basketball finalist Tatiana Mason to seven points for Brush. Those defensive efforts, particularly the Brush game, were spearheaded by Miller, and Appel only expects more of that from her this season. "We expect her to be our best player and do a little bit of everything for us," Appel said. "We expect her to diversify her game, knowing that people will do things to take her away, but she can be successful in just about any position." Even though the Shoregals are replacing a significant amount of production, the experience of the playoff run will help in replacing what they lost. "It made us become closer as a team," Miller said. "We were already close, but we became closer towards the end of that season, and then we were with each other a lot over summer league, so we just have a better bond." That bond will be key if Avon Lake is going to be able to replicate last year's success. Contact Will Cunningham at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.