Farmington eliminates Avon boys in triple OT

Avon’s Patrick McKearney had a team-high 18 points.

AVON, March 5 – They play in different leagues but the Avon High and Farmington High boys basketball teams know each other very well. They play twice a year. There are no secrets.

“There are no surprises out there,” Farmington coach Duane Witter said. “We know what they’re going to run and they know what we’re running. We know their personnel. They know ours.”

The two squads put on a show for the ages Tuesday night in the first round of the CIAC’s Class L tournament battling through three overtime periods before Farmington’s Colin Cheesman grabbed a rebound and scored with 2.3 seconds left to help the Indians to a thrilling 57-56 victory over No. 6 Avon before a loud, standing room only crowd.

Avon led 56-54 after Brandon Feinberg sank the second of two foul shots with 11 seconds left in the third overtime.

Farmington brought the ball upcourt and Vasil Borisevich took a jumper from the top of the circle. Cheesman grabbed the rebound near the baseline, put it back up and into the basket and was fouled. His free throw gave the Indians a 57-56 lead – its first lead since early in the fourth quarter.

Farmington (9-11) came into the game seeded No. 27 in the tournament but this was no upset. The two teams played a pair of spirited contests already this season with Farmington winning by 18 points in Avon and the Falcons earning a solid 19-point win in Farmington a week later.

“I’m proud of the way we came out in the second half and started to do the things we needed to do to put ourselves in position to win the game,” Avon coach Chris Vozzolo said. “A few plays could’ve gone either way and the last one ended going their way.”

Farmington led by six at halftime and didn’t give up a single point to Avon in the last 4:17 of the second quarter.

But the Falcons came alive in the third quarter behind leading scorer Patrick McKearney, who scored eight of his team-high 18 points in the quarter.

Avon (19-5) took a 51-47 lead with 3:55 left in the fourth quarter when Brandon Feinberg grabbed a rebound of his own shot and scored. But Cheeseman, who scored a game-high 22 points, scored on a nice feed down low from Obi Momah to cut the lead to two.

With 1:25 left, Farmington’s Richard Freckleton scored on an underhanded scoop shot to tie the game at 51-51. Avon missed a shot at the buzzer but Farmington’s defense made it a tough shot.

Witter said the familiarity helped the defenses on both side. Neither team scored in the first or second OT periods.

Freckleton did hit a jumper with 1:21 left in the second OT after picking up a loose ball out a scramble on the floor but Witter called a timeout before the shot.

McKearney got going in the third OT, driving to the basket for two points and a 53-51 lead. He hit two foul shots with 2:12 left to give Avon a 55-51 advantage.

Cheeseman hit one of two foul shots with 1:37 remaining in the third OT to cut the lead to three. After Freckleton intercepted a Falcon pass, Cheesman hit a baseline jumper with 31 seconds left to cut the lead to one, 55-54.

Feinberg’s foul shot with 11 seconds left gave Avon a two-point lead.

“We had a few plays we thought would roll our way and go in,” Vozzolo said. “But that is the game of basketball and it didn’t go our way. And we continued to play.”

When the final horn sounded, the Farmington fans swarmed onto the court to celebrate with their classmates. The Avon players looked stunned. Many pulled their shirts over their heads as their season came to an end in a blink of an eye.

Sean Herrmann scored 15 points for Avon with three 3-point goals. Brandon Feinberg scored 12 points and ripped down numerous rebounds. Less than a week ago, Avon beat Enfield in three OT in the NCCC semifinals.

Farmington advances to face No. 11 RHAM (14-7) on Thursday in the second round.

Farmington 57, Avon 56, 3 OT
At Avon
Farmington (57): Vasil Borisevich 3 1 7, Justin Mango 0 0 0, Colin Cheesman 9 4 22, Ivan Guadalupe 1 0 2, Richie Freckleton 3 0 6, Obi Momah 4 5 13, Trey Witter 2 1 7. Totals 22 11 57.
Avon (56): Ryan Marioni 2 2 6, Sean Herrmann 6 0 15, Brandon Feinberg 5 1 12, Patrick McKearney 7 4 18, Will Distefano 2 1 5, Brad Fisher 0 0 0, Justin Reichler 0 0 0. Totals 22 8 56.
Farmington (10-11)            18  12  14  7  0  0  6 – 57
Avon (19-5)                        13  11  20  7  0  0  5 – 56
Three-point shots: Witter (F) 2, Herrmann (A) 3, Feinberg (A)