Boys Basketball: Kendyll Compton scores 29 and Elyria closes out Avon

ELYRIA — Closing time. In basketball, it means making free throws and maintaining the lead.Elyria did just that Friday night in turning back a furious rally by Avon that fell just short of catching the Pioneers, who prevailed 74-68.Both teams finished the regular season at 16-6, but Elyria clinched third place in the Southwestern Conference with its 10-4 conference mark, one game better than the Eagles. Berea-Midpark and Olmsted Falls tied for the SWC title. Elyria led 66-50 with 4:18 to play after a 3-point play by senior Cam Bell and it still led 68-57 with 2:13 left off a huge drive and scoop lay-in by junior Seth Wilkerson. But Avon wasn't about to watch its seven-game winning streak go up in smoke without a fight. "For three quarters, I thought we played a really, really good basketball game," said Elyria coach Brett Larrick. "I thought we defended, played fast, moved the ball, I thought we did a lot of good things. Fourth quarter, we kind of got out of whack." The Eagles scored the next six points on a pullup jumper from junior Brooks Good, a drive to the bucket by sophomore Trevor Sykora and a layup from junior Joey Ziegler to slice the deficit to 68-63 with 53 seconds remaining.That's where the free throws came in mighty handy for the Pioneers. Junior Tink Shelton, who hadn't scored, swished a pair to put Elyria up 70-63 — a three-possession lead — with just 36.7 seconds left. "He's our best percentage free throw shooter," Larrick said. "That was a really good job."The Pioneers went 7-for-7 from the line in the fourth.Avon never threw in the towel. Good scored from inside with 23 seconds left and Ziegler stole the ball and was fouled three seconds later. He made the first but missed the second, with Shelton gaining control of his only rebound of the game. He was fouled again and promptly made two more foul shots with 17.4 left to give the Pioneers a 72-66 lead. Avon missed a 3-point shot and Good scored on the putback with 2.2 seconds left. "They didn't quit," said Avon coach Mike Fitch, who has to feel good about the future with four starters returning next year along with a junior varsity group that finished 21-1. "I wouldn't expect my kids to quit. That team's just better than us. We tried some different stuff. We'll flush this one and we're onto a new season now."The postseason starts next week.Kendyll Compton left no doubt about the outcome with two more free throws with one second left. All seven of Elyria's free throw attempts came in the fourth quarter"It was good to see us finish the game out," Larrick said. "We needed to stay aggressive. We knew Avon was going to come back. They did that the last game." Compton had a monster night — at least a monster three quarters. He led the Pioneers with a season-high 29 points, 27 coming in the first three quarters. He also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, one more than Bell. Wilkerson finished with an important 16 points and Jermiah Daniels scored 10. "I kind of got out of my element at the end," said Compton, who missed his last six field goal attempts, including three 3-point tries. "My teammates pulled it together and kept it going on defense, kept getting rebounds. We have to play unselfish and look for the open man." "I've been playing with a chip on my shoulder," said Wilkerson. "That's how I'm getting it done. I value my week in practice. Everything's been falling for me." For Avon, Ziegler led the way with 16 tough points while senior Gavyn Kittelberger added 13 and Good 10. Good had nine rebounds, sophomore Sam Griffiths six and junior Dean Abdul five. Avon won the rebound battle 33-27. Avon shot the ball better than Elyria (51 percent to 47 percent) as the Pioneers continued to shoot from long range instead of winding down the clock. Elyria took 31 3-point attempts, making 11. Both teams await the tournament draw Sunday. Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.Elyria 74, Avon 68 AVON (68): Gavin Kittleberger 5-1-13, Dean Abdul 1-0-2, Joey Ziegler 6-1-16, Brooks Good 6-0-12, Sam Griffiths 1-0-2, Trevor Sykora 3-1-8, Caden Clapham 1-0-2, Holden Krugman 1-2-5, Preston Johnson 1-4-6, Shane Carty 1-0-2. Totals 26-9-68.ELYRIA (74): Cam Bell 3-1-7, Rondell Grimmett 3-0-6, Jermiah Daniels 4-0-10, Tink Shelton 0-4-4, Kendyll Compton 10-2-29, Micah Jackson 0-0-0, Seth Wilkerson 7-0-16, Christian Rogers 0-0-0, Ethan Rogers 1-0-2. Totals 28-7-74. Avon 11 12 19 26 — 68 Elyria 17 19 21 17 — 74 Three-point goals: Avon 7-16 (Ziegler 3, Kittleberger 2, Sykora, Krugman), Elyria 11-31 (Compton 7, Daniels 2, Wilkerson 2). Field goals: Avon 26-51 (51 percent), Elyria 28-60 (47 percent). Free throws: Avon 9-16 (56 percent), Elyria 7-7 (100 percent). Rebounds: Avon 33 (Good 9), Elyria 27 (Compton 9). Turnovers: Avon 14, Elyria 11. Fouls: Avon 10, Elyria 15. Technical foul: Compton.Junior varsity: Avon, 56-54.