D-II District Girls Basketball: Avon can't hang with tough Tigers

MEDINA — Avon faced its share of good teams this season, but nothing prepared the Eagles for what they saw Saturday night at Medina High School. No. 19 seed Avon (9-15), playing in a Division II district final for the second year a row, had the unenviable task of trying to shut down Massillon Washington's star guard Delaney Pierce. Pierce, who came into the night averaging 26.8 points a game, scored a game-high 29 and the Eagles, who fell behind by double digits in first quarter for the second game in a row, didn't have another second-half comeback in them as they fell to Tigers, 75-50. It was the second year in a row No. 8 Massillon (15-7) cut down the nets as district champions. Avon lost its second straight district final. "We're just finishing year two of what we've envisioned for this program," Eagles coach Adam Castrilla said. "It's human nature I guess to want it all now. We had an unbelievable group of seniors who handled a lot of things with grace and I am proud of them." "I told the undeclassmen we're going to do everything we need to do to get to the point where we're cutting down nets. The Tigers led by as many as 21 in the second quarter and took a 40-25 into the locker room at halftime. At no point in the second half did the Massillon lead fall to under 15. Pierce was a force all night for the the Tigers, scoring 12 of her points in the first quarter and also pulling down 14 rebounds. "We didn't play anyone as good as Pierce all year. She's just on another level," Castrilla said. "It's hard when you face a player like her that can hurt you in a lot of different ways. Pierce, follow sophomore Rylee Adams and senior Hannah Nicola, who each scored 17 points, accounted for 63 of the Tigers' 75 points. The Eagles a mixture of experience and youth leading their offense. Junior Alaina Pagan and freshman Chloe Collins led Avon with 13 points each. Just behind them where seniors Abby Owens and Audrey Lammers, who scored nine and eight points respectively. "We got deeper this year and we had more kids that cold play," Castrilla said. "Not to wash this year away already but the reality is we've built a foundation for the future. We had freshman this year and played and contributed a lot. The sky is the limit for this group." Massillon, which was the first team to score 70 or more points against Avon this year, will face Twinsburg in the regional semifinals. Avon came into the game having won three of its last four, including a district semifinal win over Lakewood, but found itself trailing by 10 less than five minutes into the game. "When we look back at this year there's a lot to be proud of," Castrilla said. "We overcame a lot of adversity and that's going to carry on for this girls into the future. There's not many placed when you get the opportunity to coach such good kids like you do at Avon. That's why I believe Avon High School is the best school in the nation." Avon was one of five Southwestern Conference teams to play in a district final on Saturday. The conference was 2-3 in those games with Olmsted Falls and Berea-Midpark moving on while Avon was joined by North Ridgeville and Avon Lake in having its season come to an end. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.