D-III District Girls Basketball: Avon Lake jumps out to 19-1 lead and rolls past Louisville

AVON LAKE — Avon Lake is off and running in the postseason tournament. The No. 8-seeded Shoregals met up with No. 24 Louisville for the second year in a row and like last year, it was one-sided as Avon Lake held the Leopards without a field goal for the first 15:14 in a 51-22 district semifinal win Tuesday. The Shoregals won last year's game 41-23 on their way to the Division III state championship game. Avon Lake improved to 16-7 and will face the winner of tonight's Uniontown Lake-Canfield game Saturday at 4 p.m. at Elyria High School. "They (Louisville) just won seven straight games, I really liked our attention to detail, for 15 minutes we don't let them score a field goal," Shoregals coach Paul Appel said. "That is really good attention to detail, I don't care who it is. It takes effort and focus." The Shoregals never trailed, scoring the first nine points on a Frankie Persia 3-pointer, a pair of free throws from senior Olivia Miller and four points by Molly Milligan. Milligan finished with 15 points and six rebounds, while Miller finished with a double-double in her last game on her home floor with 20 points, including three 3-pointers, and 10 rebounds. The only point for Louisville (13-11) in the first eight minutes of play was a free throw by Ella Tillett at 2:46 of the quarter. The Shoregals all but put away the game, scoring the first 10 points of the second period, as Riley Koury hit a shot from behind the arc, Miller did the same while scoring five points. Milligan added a bucket in the paint for a commanding 19-1 lead less than three minutes into the second. Mikayla Salmons ended the 10-0 run with a free throw and finally made the Leopards' first field goal with 46 ticks left in the half, converting a steal into a lay-in as Avon Lake took a 21-6 lead to the locker room. The Leopards finally got going a little bit on offense, as Mabel Kiko scored the first five points of the second half, but it wasn't nearly enough as Milligan scored nine of the first 13 points for Avon Lake as its lead built to 38-13. Miller finished off her final run on the home floor by scoring the first 11 points in the fourth before taking a seat midway through the period. "We worked on a lot of man-to-man press and a little 1-2 to press them and forced them into turnovers and making them uncomfortable," Miller said. "It feels good, especially since it's my last home game and I played my heart out." Contact James Brady at jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. Avon Lake 51, Louisville 22 LOUISVILLE (22): Lilly Seaman 0-0-0, Bailey Cole 0-0-0, Maggie Baker 2-0-5, Makayla Tanner 0-0-0, Mabel Kiko 2-1-5, Ava Seitz 0-2-2, Ella Tillett 2-1-5, Mikayla Salmons 1-3-5. Totals 7-7-22. AVON LAKE (51): Riley Koury 1-1-4, Bri Droke 0-0-0, Frankie Persia 2-0-6, Mariela DiTullio 1-0-2, Olivia Miller 6-5-20, Evelyn Ritt 0-0-0, Rachel Besaw 0-2-2, Alyssa Jones 0-0-0, Claire Selby 0-0-0, Erin Dean 1-0-2, Molly Milligan 7-0-15. Totals 18-8-51. Louisville 1 5 7 9 — 22Avon Lake 9 12 17 13 — 51 Three-point goals: Louisville 1-9 (11 percent, Baker), Avon Lake 7-22 (32 percent, Miller 3, Persia, Koury, Milligan); Field goals: Louisville 7-25 (28 percent); Avon Lake 18-45 (40 percent); Free throws: Louisville 7-13 (54 percent); Avon Lake 8-13 (62 percent); Rebounds: Louisville 14, Avon Lake 34; Turnovers: Louisville 17, Avon Lake 11; Fouled Out: None