Avon Widens One-Point Halftime Lead for Victory Over East Granby

Regardless of Avon's 63-57 victory over conference opponent East Granby Monday at Avon High, the feedback from both of the teams' coachers was similar – the need to work on defense.

"We're just making bad decisions on the defensive end," Avon High head coach Chris Vozzolo said. "We really struggled guarding triple penetration tonight and that's where we got burned several times."

Yet he praised senior captain Billy Stevens' performance on defense. Junior captain Ryan Marioni led the Falcons with 14 points.

This was the first close game the Crusaders have had in the past six games, all of which have all been blowouts, East Granby head coach Jeff Moger said.

"They've got some great players. They've got some great guards. They go inside our defense and finish," Vozzolo said.

East Granby had a six-point lead during the last few minutes of the second quarter, Moger said, but by halftime, Avon led 33-32.

“At times we played really well. There were a couple minutes in the game that we let it slip away," Moger said. "The first few minutes to the third quarter when went from a one-point lead to an eight- [or] nine-point lead. That’s a tough time there."

Avon some big, experienced players, which Moger said is a challenge for the Crusaders. Sophomore center Kyle Bowers, at 6-4, is East Granby's tallest player. Sophomore Tyler Arsenault, who is 6-3, didn't play because he was injured in a junior varsity game. Junior Ray Marek, the Crusaders' starting guard and another tall player, fouled out, taking him out of the game.

“[Marek is a] very good interior player on offense and he’s a rebounder for us. He’s quick to the ball," Moger said. "He got in foul trouble, that hurt us a little bit. I think some of the other kids stepped up. We missed him. He’s a big part of our program."

In the end, Moger was pleased his team played with "heart."

“We played a few games this year where we didn’t have a lot of heart and passion and emotion," Moger said, "and we had that tonight."