Avon Boys Drop District Game To Padua, 71-67

The started off strong, but couldn’t hold off Padua en route to losing a heartbreaker to the Bruins, 71-67,  Saturday night.

“Obviously you never want to lose any game, especially in the tournament and have our season end a lot quicker then what we would of like for it to,” said Eagles head coach Jim Baker. “We had a 14-win season and this team should be proud of what they accomplished. The seniors are a great group and it’s disappointing it’s ending tonight.”

Both teams showcased standouts senior players in this Division II District tournament game held at Westlake High School. Marvin Coleman of Avon and Padua’s Kyle Tomko, both leaders for their teams, played as though they were not ready for their high school basketball careers to end. For Avon’s Coleman, it ended Saturday night.

The Eagles (14-7) started the game off on a 14-6 run that was led by Coleman knocking down two big three-point shots early in the quarter.  The Eagles were able to extend the lead to as many as 11 points in the first behind the hot play of senior Alex Issac, who scored six points in the quarter. Padua (8-14) cut the deficit to five when Tomko hit a near half-court shot at the buzzer to make it 26-21.

The Eagles scored 15 points in the second quarter and took a six-point lead, 41-35, into the half, thanks in part to a three-point shot made by Ryan Poyle at the buzzer for the Eagles. Seniors R.J. Kauffman (10 points) and Coleman (17) led the way for Avon in the first half. Tomko kept the Bruins in the game with a 13-point first-half performance.  

“We win and lose together as a team, it’s not how we wanted it to end, but we lost,” said Coleman. “I had the hot hand early, but wasn’t able to carry it over late in the game.”

The Bruins outscored the Eagles in the third quarter (17-11) to tie the game up at 52 entering the fourth quarter. Thanks to Tomko and Tyler Ptacek, Padua started off the last quarter with a 6-0 run and would not look back.

Avon’s Kauffman hit a three-point shot to get the Eagles to within three, but Padua’s Wes Williams’ layup with less than 10 seconds left extended the Bruins lead back to five and ice the game for Padua.

Avon’s top scorers include Coleman (21 points), Kauffman (17), and Poyle (12).

Padua’s Tomko scored a game-high 22 points, with teammates Wes Williams and Ptacek adding 19 and 16 points, respectively.

Padua continues District play on March 10 when they play Holy Name (11-11) at Westlake High School. Game time will be 7:00 p.m.