Avella’s rally falls short in loss to Serra
AVELLA – Down by 15 at halftime, the Avella boys basketball team wasn’t about to pack it in.
They did their best to battle back and try to prolong their best season in over 15 years, but the hole was ultimately too big to climb from.
No. 6 Serra Catholic used a hot-shooting first half to build a huge lead and held on late to spoil No. 3 Avella’s first ever home playoff game with a 74-66 victory Wednesday night.
Avella cut Serra Catholic’s lead to single digits on multiple occasions in the second half, but never got it to within one possession.
Serra Catholic went 8 of 11 at the foul line in the fourth.
“They didn’t quit, but we just got in too big of a hole,” Avella coach Mike Macik said. “We didn’t make some shots that we generally make and were getting outrebounded which killed us. It’s hard to come back from that, especially against a good basketball team like (Serra) is. They could do some damage going forward.”
Avella, which was seeking its first playoff win since 2007, finished the season 17-6, its first winning season since 2011. Serra Catholic (13-9) advanced to play either St. Joseph or Nazareth Prep in Saturday’s semifinals and clinched a spot in the state tournament.
Avella made a rally late in the third to get to within seven.
After a Brayden Graham jumper increased Serra’s lead to 47-29, Cam Ullom hit a pair of free throws, Brayden Fuller knocked down a three and Nate Cilia converted a layup to cut the lead to 11.
After a timeout, Avella continued to cut into the lead.
Ullom made a basket inside to get Avella to within single digits for the first time since the end of the first quarter.
Brayden Fuller made one of two free throws to get it to 47-40. Tyler Sapida banked a runner off the window to make it a nine-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
“We just told them to calm down and that we still had the lead,” Serra coach A.J. Corso said. “We know runs happen every game and that we just had to go back to our basics and look for layups. We knew this was a tough place to play, so a run by them was going to happen.”
Serra again ramped the lead up to 15 in fourth, but Avella had one last gasp at a comeback.
Brayden Fuller canned a three to cut it to 71-65, but Serra’s Mark Johnson made three of four free throws on two separate trips to the line, which sealed the game.
Serra Catholic shot the lights out in the first half, making eight three pointers to build a 38-23 lead into halftime
Two bench players for Serra Catholic did the most damage.
Tyler Graham made a trio of threes in the first quarter and Kris Sharp had four threes in the first half, including three in the second.
Sharp finished with 17 points.
“Three-point shooting was a major point of emphasis this week for us,” Serra coach A.J. Corso said. “We practiced three-point shooting every day. We knew that we needed to hit threes in a tough environment to come out with a win.”
Eight seniors played their final game for Avella: Fuller, Bryce Wright, Nate Cilia, Alex Brandenburg, Cody Day, Rylan Bell, Brayden Davis and Cody Clegg.
Junior Nate Ullom led Avella with 21 points. Fuller had 15 and Cilia scored 14.
“It might be the best season ever, because I don’t think any other team here has won 17 games,” Macik said. “These kids have changed the culture for Avella by themselves. The crowd here tonight was fantastic, and you can’t really ask for more than that.”
Serra Catholic 21 17 11 25 – 74
Avella 12 11 17 26 – 66
Serra Catholic: Kris Sharp, 17 points; Mark Johnson, 17; Tyler Sapida, 16; Tyler Graham 11.
Avella: Cam Ullom, 21 points; Brayden Fuller, 15; Nate Cilia 14.