01-25westlake

Last update: 02/03/08

Game Summary: Westlake 01/25

Avon Lake

Shoremen

Westlake Demons

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JV Shoremen Sink Determined Westlake Squad

The Shoremen faced a determined Westlake team Friday, 1/25, looking to avenge a 33 point Avon Lake blow-out in the season opener. The Demons had a new face in Junior guard James Taylor who brought his own “fire and rain” (sorry). And while the Shoremen did bend, they were determined not to break.

The game started with Trenton Toy hitting one of two free throws. Brandon Muck followed with a terrific blind-side block but Westlake scored two quick buckets to take the early lead 4-1. Greg Stephens and Pat England applied double-team pressure to force a turnover but the team could not convert. Avon Lake started slowly, launching only two shots in the first 3 ½ minutes. Pat England scored on an inbounds play and the Shoremen quickly capitalized on a steal followed with a Dan Olemacher layup to go up 5-4. Brandon Muck put back a missed free throw to boost Avon Lake to a 7-5 lead but the Demons closed the quarter with a 3-pointer to lead 8-7.

The second quarter started with a big block from Toy. Both teams seemed to still be in the Christmas spirit as sloppy play lead to lots of “give-away” turnovers. Whitfield made a driving layup at the 4:08 mark to put the Shoremen up 10-7. A Trenton Toy steal and drive to the basket resulted in two foul shots, which he split. Dan Olemacher made a nice pass to Michael Magyar for a driving layup to stake the Shoremen to a 13-7 lead. The Shoremen defense contained Westlake until the 2:38 mark when they made two foul shots to close the gap. A couple of James Taylor steals and good ball movement resulted in the Demons tying the score at 13. Avon Lake supplied defensive pressure from Steve Heine, Kyle McNamara, Brandon Koprowski, Brandon Spitzer and Mike Magyar. But Westlake closed the half with an NBA-distance three to push their lead to 18-13.

Coach Fitch seemed to deliver the right message at halftime as the Shoremen started the third quarter with renewed intensity. It paid-off quickly with a Pat England steal and layup to close the gap to 18-15. Toy blocked another shot and the Shoremen swarmed over the Demon players. England hit Magyar with a nice pass for a layup followed by a Trent Thompson spinning layup and the Avon Lakers found themselves only a bucket behind. James Taylor would not go quietly, however. After forcing a turnover Taylor drained a three to put Westlake back on top by 5, 24-19. Koprowski was fouled trying to put back a rebound and capitalized on both free throws to make it 24-21. The Shoremen pulled to even when Mike Magyar made a strong move to the hoop and converted an “and-one” situation. The Shoremen defense then forced a 10 second back court violation but could not convert on offense. A defensive breakdown allowed an easy bucket under the Avon Lake basket to end the third quarter Westlake 25, Avon Lake 26.

Brandon Muck got things started right in the fourth with a 3-pointer from the baseline staking the Shoremen to a 27-26 lead. The Demons’ Taylor matched Muck’s three and pushed Westlake to a 29-27 lead. Dom Whitfield grabbed a big rebound on the defensive end and scored at the offensive end on a nice transition to tie the game at 27. Thompson and Olemacher each split free throws and the Shoremen recaptured a lead they would never relinquish. The defensive pressure became a wave of maroon and gold and the Demons began to wilt. England made two foul shots and Muck hit a nice turn-around jumper and the Shoremen pushed their lead to 35-29. Taylor, who sat only briefly in the second quarter, was not ready go home yet and hit a three to close the gap to 2, 35-32. But the Avon Lake squad did a nice job of controlling the tempo and the ball, cutting the turnovers to a minimum. Pat England hit a nice jumper to push the score to 37-32 and Thompson hit Muck with a long pass for a driving layup putting the game away at 39-32 with just under a minute remaining. England and Olemacher hit free throws to close out the scoring and the Shoremen prevailed 42-32 completing a two game season sweep over the Westlake Demons.

Junior Varsity Recap:

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Varsity Recap:

Text Box: DEMONS hand Shoremen Worst Loss of the Year The much anticipated showdown for first place in the SWC between the Shoremen (9-3 / 5-2) and the Westlake Demons (5-8 / 5-2) had all the makings of a great game. However, the Demons quickly demonstrated how much they’ve improved since the teams’ first meeting by convincingly “thumping” the Shoremen at Home. The Shoremen opened up in a full court trap defense to keep the game up-tempo. Scott Bishop #10 for the Demons opened up the scoring with a fast break lay-up. Parker Russell followed up with two from Kuzniar. The Demons went up 4-2 on a second shot effort, notably one of many second and third shot chances by the Demons. Mike Herrilko responded with a nice lay-up 4-4 and the pace was favoring the Shoremen. Parker Russell worked his baseline magic to tie the game 6-6 and Tommy Kuzniar followed with a behind the arc 3-pointer to push Avon Lake up 9-8. Scott Bishop fired his 1st of three 3-Pointers in the half to put the Demons up 14-11. Nick Firment executed a nice pick & roll combo with Mark Homenik finishing the 1st quarter 16-13 Westlake. Westlake opened up the 2nd with a nice inside two 13-18. Parker Russell executed a circus drop-step spin move left-handed bank shot that rimmed out as he was fouled and split the foul shots 14-18. Westlake began holding the ball slowing the tempo down to their liking 20-14 Demons. Brian Mielcusny running the fast break broke the ice 20-14 at the 4:52 mark in the quarter for the first field goal and followed with another fast break two cutting the lead to 4. The pressure defense hurt the Shoremen as turnovers plagued the Shoremen early in the quarter. Parker Russell hit a nice fade away banker high off the glass to make it 20-18 with 2:56 to play in the quarter. Westlake’s Considine pushed the lead 21-18 hitting one free throw. Bishop hit a nice runner in the lane to make it 23-18 and Brian Mielcusny hit a 16’ jumper from the foul line to make it 23-20. Mike Herrilko continued his assault on his opponents blocking shots but the Demons were there to follow with easy put-back second attempts. With the game very close 25-20 and the clock winding down Scott Bishop drilled his third 3-pointer to push the Demons up 28-20 at the intermission. The third quarter saw Westlake step-up and the Shoremen step-away. Westlake opened up 29-20 with foul shots and two more from the charity stripe to go up 31-20. Tommy Kuzniar finished a 3-point play to go 31-21. At the 5:23 mark in the quarter with the Shoremen trying to pressure the ball for turnovers Westlake calmly moved the ball well for some easy break points 36-22. Nick Firment hit a much-needed 3-pointer to bring the Shoremen within 11, 36-25. The Demons continued breaking the press offensively and applying pressure defensively as the Shoremen could not “buy” a basket and the dreaded “turnover” bug started biting hard. The Shoremen did not score for the rest of the third and found themselves down 40-25! Up 15 points the Demons had the momentum and time in their favor. Forced to apply steal-it-now pressure the Shoremen found themselves in a difficult position as Westlake was easily breaking the pressure now up 42-25. Brian Mielcusny broke the scoring drought 42-27 with a welcomed 18’ jumper. Tommy Kuzniar split a pair of free-throws 45-28 at the 6:00 mark and followed with his second 3-point play on the night to cut the lead 45-31. The Demons squashed any chance for a Shoremen rally by cutting through the press and capitalizing on numerous turnovers pushing the lead to twenty 51-31 with 4:17 remaining. With 1:45 seconds remaining Pat England hit a 3-pointer 33-57. Nick Hamilton found pay-dirt with a fast break lay-up and Daniel Outcalt closed the game out with a half-court steal and lay-up literally as the horn blew to make it 60-38! The Shoremen (9-4/5-3) will take on another SWC foe, the Amherst Comets (2-5/4-7) Saturday night at HOME.

Team	1st	2nd	Total
Avon Lake	20	18	38
Westlake	28	32	60

Team	1st	2nd	Total
Avon Lake	13	19	42
Westlake	18	14	32