The Avalon boys varsity basketball team took all the pain and frustration that an 0-13 start to their season brought and transformed themselves into a championship basketball team in a short period of time. Their league title was hard earned and well deserved.
Their quest for the championship came down to a rematch game with archrival Acaciawood on Friday, Jan. 26, at home, before a raucous hometown crowd. In their first meeting, on the road, the Lancers lost to the Golden Eagles, their only loss in league play, 70-65 in a game for the ages. With so much at stake in this one you could feel the intensity throughout Hickey Rohlik Fieldhouse, even before tipoff. To add even more emotion to the event, we honored our Seniors before their last regular season home game.
Avalon got the crowd right into the game by jumping out to a 16-9 first quarter advantage. In the second quarter both teams played pretty even. Avalon led 28-19 at halftime and held on in the second half for a 58-47 victory. The Lancers had a balanced attack, with three players scoring in double figures. Jacob Mello with 16 points, Nate Jones with 15 points, and Darren Hall with 13 points, led the Lancer attack. Nalu Martin led the defense and Aaron Castro and Brandon Moreno came off the bench to play inspired ball as well.
After taking care of business with Acaciawood, the Lancers traveled to the mainland on Tuesday, to face Bethel Baptist, and to clinch a league championship. The Warriors were no match for an improved Avalon team and the Lancers came away with a 68-18 victory. Jacob Mello and Darren Hall were the leaders in this one, as has been the case all season long. However, Seniors Nalu Martin, David Talsky, Cole Konigsmark, and Brandon Moreno all contributed quality play in their last regular season game.
At this point in the season Avalon is playing good team ball and is ready to make a run in the playoffs. They will play at home, at 5 p.m., on Wednesday, Feb. 7. Come on up and help us establish a home court advantage that will help to propel our Lancers to the second round of the CIF-SS playoffs. Avalon is slated to compete in the CIF-SS Division 5A playoffs and brackets will be announced on Sunday at noon.
Senior Night at Rohlik Fieldhouse
On Friday night, Jan. 26, Avalon High boys basketball team honored its Senior players before their last regular season home game. This group of Seniors: David Talsky, Nalu Martin, Cole Konigsmark, Aaron Castro, Brandon Moreno, and Darren Hall is an incredibly strong group of individuals, both mentally and physically.
These are our student athletes who had to suffer through the horrible Pandemic. But they survived and came back stronger than ever. They led their team to a league championship and a return spot in the CIF-SS Playoffs after a three-year drought. I would like to thank our parents for sharing these amazing human beings with us for the past 4 years. It has been an emotional and epic ride.
