Avon vs. Midview girls basketball: Middies step up in fourth quarter for 56-52 win

Midview has been in games like this before, but it couldn’t get the job done.

At home against Avon on Jan. 13 in a back-and-forth game, the Middies stepped up late and scored the final seven points to win, 56-52.

Throughout the game, Midview (5-6, 3-4 SWC) hung around, but it felt like it couldn’t get an important stop or basket to take control. Leah DiFranco gave the Middies a 49-48 lead midway through the fourth quarter, but four straight Avon points put the Eagles (8-6, 2-5 SWC) in front by three.

Grace Mangan’s bucket extended the lead to three around the three-minute mark, and those were the final Avon points. Erica Baldoza drained a 3 to tie it with 2:10 remaining and DiFranco gave Midview the lead for good with just over a minute left. Both players made a free throw in the final minute and the rest was history.

PHOTOS: Midview vs. Avon girls basketball, Jan. 13, 2024

"We've definitely gone through our trials and tribulations without Liv (DiFranco)," Midview coach Brittney McNamara said. "I think we're really figuring out who's going to score for us and who can help. Girls have been stepping up that normally wouldn't if Liv was here. The girls are taking everything to the chin and just keep moving on."

DiFranco continues to be the Middies' heartbeat. The sophomore scored a team-high 20 points and also pulled down nine rebounds. Her production is going to be there, but when Midview also gets 14 points from Erica Baldoza and 12 from Alana Stacey like it did in this game, the team is tough to guard. Not only those two players, but the entire team was scrapping and grabbing timely offensive rebounds.

"Losing Mary (Meng), we knew we were going to have to step up rebounding this year" DiFranco said. "After losing Liv, we average about 5-5. We all just have to crash the boards hard and get tipped balls. We doing rebounding drills every day in practice because we all know that's a huge part of winning."

Both teams were shorthanded, but that didn't stop the Eagles and Middies from leaving it all out on the floor. Midview didn't have an answer for Molly Drenik, who put up 17 points in the first half and ended up finishing with a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double. Avon took advantage of Drenik's size as the John Carroll commit made six straight baskets at one point in the first half.

However, the ironic part of that for the Eagles was that finishing at the rim and grabbing rebounds hurt them down the stretch. Drenik got rolled up on going for a rebound in the third quarter and had to miss a good chunk of period. She came back in but didn't regain her first-half rhythm.

In a game that featured many lead changes and a seven-point margin as the biggest for either side, there was no margin for error. Those 50-50 balls that Midview grabbed came up big in the fourth.

"I think we played pretty well to be honest," Avon coach Maggie Ferrando said. "Like I told our team, in the second half, we missed a bunch of layups and a bunch of rebounds. We gave them way too many second-shot opportunities, and we continue to say that if we don't box out, we won't win."

Both teams are back in action on Jan. 17 to resume SWC play. Midview travels to Elyria and Avon hosts Amherst. The Middies will be feeling good heading into that one.

"It's a testament to the heart that they have for the team and this community," McNamara said. "They don't want to let the people of Midview past down because you're sad about losing Liv or anything else. We're here to keep competing and getting better."

THE SCORE

Midview 56, Avon 52