Game Report: Avon 75, Decatur Central 54

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the girls' basketball Sectional tournaments kicking off this week, we get the rare Monday night showdowns across the state of Indiana. I was in Southwest Indianapolis for Avon taking on Decatur Central, and Brandon and Kyler were over on the East sideIndianapolis watching a top-10 showdown between #8 New Palestine and #10 Lawrence North. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1172872' first='Jordan' last='Lomax']</strong>, a 2024 shooting guard ranked #22 in the state, leads the way for Avon at 17.6 PPG on the season. Decatur Central is led by their inside-outside combo of <strong>KC Berry</strong>, a 2024 point guard ranked 63 in the state, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='868242' first='Anthony' last='Ball']</strong>, a 2023 power forward ranked 31 in the state, who combine for more than 30 points per game on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the first quarter, the game started getting chippy and both teams struggled to get into a rhythm. The referees were letting them play, and I mean they were not calling anything, but they were being consistent in doing so. Avon turned it over 5 times in the first quarter and allowed 3 offensive rebounds, but they were unable to take advantage as they shot just 3-15 from the floor. 2026 guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1561685' first='Jedidiah' last='Minnett']</strong> provided a spark late in the quarter with a great and-one finger roll and a catch and shoot triple. Avon would lead 16-9 at the end of one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the second quarter, Decatur Central came out strong with a couple of buckets in the lane by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1275785' first='Ayden' last='Lawson']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='868242' first='Anthony' last='Ball']</strong>, but the Orioles answered with a triple from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1556367' first='Keilyn' last='Moore']</strong> on a great pass from Minnett. After this, Avon was able to take control with a 16-6 run to end the half. [player_tooltip player_id='1172872' first='Jordan' last='Lomax'] capped off the half with back-to-back fastbreak dunks to stretch the lead out to 16. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1391627' first='Daniel' last='Eck']</strong> would cap the half with a three off a pass from Lomax, and the Orioles would go into the half with a 37-22 lead. Minnett and Eck led the way with 10 points each. Berry and Ball led Decatur Central with 6 despite shooting just 3-13 combined.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second half was more of the same for Avon as the Hawks had no answer. Avon was knocking down shot after shot, and Decatur Central continued to struggle with misses inside and turnovers. Avon stretched the lead out to 24 at 50-26 following a fastbreak dunk from Eck. From there, the Orioles were able to cruise to a 58-36 lead at the end of the third. Decatur Central would go on a run thanks to a couple of buckets from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='868242' first='Anthony' last='Ball']</strong> and some nice finishing moves by <strong>KC Berry</strong> to cut the lead to 13 off of Avon miscues, but in the end, it would be too little too late for the Hawks. Avon would hold on to win __-__.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Freshman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1561685' first='Jedidiah' last='Minnett']</strong> led both teams with 26 points on 10-12 shooting from the floor. He also grabbed 5 rebounds and had 3 assists. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1391627' first='Daniel' last='Eck']</strong> added 26 points on a perfect 5-5 shooting and added 8 rebounds. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1172872' first='Jordan' last='Lomax']</strong> scored 11 and dished out 7 assists. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1539998' first='Rashod' last='Bethley']</strong> also added 9 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds in an all-around day. For Decatur Central, <strong>KC Berry</strong> led the way with 16 points and added 5 rebounds and 3 steals on a tough 5-16 shooting night. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='868242' first='Anthony' last='Ball']</strong> also scored double figures for the Hawks with 15 points and 10 rebounds.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the win, Avon improves to 8-9 on the season. The Orioles return to the court on Thursday evening as they travel to Zionsville for a Hoosier Crossroads Conference battle. Decatur Central falls to 8-6 on the season with the loss on Monday night. The Hawks will hit the court again on Thursday as they travel down to Indianapolis Pike.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->