HIGH SCHOOL HOOPS: Avondale Over Troy, 66-62, in Battle of Two Top Teams

Guard play can go a long way in determining the outcome of a basketball game. It sure carried Avondale High School on Wednesday night.

The Yellowjackets, which returned most of their roster from last year, pulled away from Troy in the second half, building a 17-point advantage, and withstood a late run by the Colts to post a 66-62 OAA White Division boys basketball victory. It was a matchup pitting two of the top teams in the division.

Avondale senior guard Ray Tillman lit up Troy for 25 points and seven steals, as the Yellowjackets went on a 22-5 run over parts of the third and early part of the fourth quarter to pull away. Fellow senior guard Tony Harris finished with six points and six assists for Avondale.

"We have a lot of experience, a very experienced backcourt. We have great guard play, a lot of athleticism" said Avondale coach Jeff Borja. "Those guys played well, especially when we made our run.

"We made some steals, got out and transitioned. But we need to make better decisions and put teams away. We let down a little bit. We played well until the last couple of minutes, then we allowed them to make a run."

Tied at 37-37 with 4:57 minutes left to play in the third quarter, Avondale ventured on a 15-5 run with five different players knocking down shots to end the period. Meanwhile Troy was 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in that run and could never close the deficit down to less than four points in the final minute.

Avondale led 52-42 entering the fourth quarter and used another 7-0 spurt for a 59-42 advantage with 5:33 to play. Avondale converted 4-of-8 free throws in the final 1:30 to keep Troy at bay.

Troy brought back three key players from last season and had a pair of double-digit wins under its belt. But the Colts (2-1, 1-1) went ice cold during parts of the second half and struggled to find its stroke. Troy finished the night 8-for-29 from beyond the three-point arc.

"I think we fell a little bit too much in love with the (3-pointer)," admitted veteran Troy coach Gary Fralick. "We attempted 29 of them. We had five in the first half but we only had three in the second half. We need to make 12-for-29 or something like that to stay in this game. We couldn't make anything there for a few minutes and it took us out of the game.

James Young scored 25 for Troy, which closed with a 13-4 run to make the final score respectable. John Stibich had 18 points but was 4-of-10 from long distance.

Fralick believes that time simply ran out on the Colts.

"We had a nice effort at the end, but we were down by 17. That's a lot to come back from," said Fralick.

Borja felt his team played well for three and a half quarters.

"We need to learn to make decisions in situations like this," said Borja about his team letting its guard down defensively. "Troy has some good players and they are well coached. They came back on us."

Avondale led 17-12 after the first quarter and 30-29 at the half. A.J. Susick added 14 points for the Yellowjackets, which never trailed in the second half.