High school basketball: Scoring drought dooms Wadsworth in district semifinal against Avon

AVON — Things were going to plan for the ninth-seeded Wadsworth girls basketball team in its Division I Northeast 5 District semifinal against eighth-seeded Avon on Tuesday. Then that plan blew up in a 39-31 loss to the Eagles. Avon (15-5) moves on to play top-seeded Olmsted Falls (19-2) on Friday. The Grizzlies (14-7) will mull over a game they could have won. Up seven with 5:06 left in the second quarter, Wadsworth scored just one point the rest of the frame and found itself down 21-16 at the break. "They got three straight buckets on sets that we knew what we were doing and we didn't execute," Wadsworth coach Andrew Booth said. "That first quarter, I think the kids knew every set they ran and prepared great the last couple practices. "For whatever reason, I don't know if was mental fatigue in the second quarter, the three straight sets they ran — one was an out-of-bounds play, maybe two of them — we had mixups and gave them open looks. They hit two threes and a two and that fueled their defense." That defense completely shut down everyone except Ciena Matheny (14 points) and made sure someone else was going to beat the Eagles. It didn't happen, as Wadsworth went 6:17 without scoring a basket. While the score was just 24-18 at the 6:49 mark of the third quarter, the drain of just getting back into things had already taken its toll on the Grizzlies. "They just went on a run and we needed to calm down," Matheny said. "We got excited. We needed time to compose ourselves, but we let them get that run and that kind of hurt us." After scoring 15 points in the first 11 minutes, the Grizzlies scored only 16 more against a smothering defense that forced 20 turnovers. "They're very good defensively, No. 1," Booth said. "But once they started feeling good about themselves, they ramped it up a couple notches. They're long, they're physical. We had a tough time getting into our sets on the other end." Abby Liber (11 points, 8 rebounds) and Brooke Laub (13 points) had solid games for Avon, but to the credit of the Grizzlies, they never let things get too out of hand. Wadsworth teams are known for their free throw shooting, but the Grizzlies went just 4-for-15 (.267). "You get to the line that many times and you miss 11 of them and you get beat by, what, eight?" Booth said. "Woulda, coulda, shoulda. We missed how many ends of one-and-ones? District level play comes down to making shots and making stops. You hold a team like that to 39 points, that should be enough to get a 'W,' but you have to be able to put the ball through the basket." While Avon will try to figure out a Bulldogs team it has lost to by scores of 42-36 and 55-35 this season, Wadsworth bows out before the district final for the second season in a row. The good news is Ky'Sonna Won, Macie Roberts and Matheny return as starters. The bad news is Maggie Long and Steph Andrews exit the program as seniors. "The future is bright," Booth said. "One thing I think our kids understand is if they want to get back to this level and beyond like some of the teams of the past, they're going to have to put in the best summer we've put in. "We have a lot of experience back. I'd like to get back to work tomorrow if we could." Contact Brad Bournival at bournival929@gmail.com. Avon 39, Wadsworth 31 Division I Northeast 5 District Semifinal WADSWORTH 8 8 7 8 — 31 AVON 5 16 6 12 — 39 Wadsworth — Macie Roberts 1-1-3, Ciena Matheny 5-1-14, Steph Andrews 1-0-2, Maggie Long 3-0-6, Ky'Sonna Won 1-2-4, Ellie Zuro 0-0-0, Regan Simpson 1-0-2, Celia Lambert 0-0-0. TOTALS: 12-4-31 Avon — Catie Geiger 2-0-5, Abby Liber 4-0-11, Alyssa Peganoff 0-0-0, Alyssa McLellon 3-0-9, Brooke Laub 2-8-13, Anna Fitch 0-0-0, Ryann Clapham 0-1-1, Natalie Santoro 0-0-0, Molly Drenik 0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-9-393-point goals — Matheny 3, Liber 3, McLellon 3, Geiger, Laub. Rebounds — Wadsworth 23 (Won 6), Avon 24 (Liber 8). Assists — Wadsworth 6 (Won 2), Avon 9 (Peganoff). Records — Wadsworth (14-7), Avon (15-5).