Avon makes home finale a great one with dominant win over Berlin

Avon senior Will Soucier (12) had 20 points — his third straight game with more than 20 points — to lead the Falcons past Berlin Monday night in the CCC Pool II tournament game.

AVON, March 22, 2021 – The Avon High boys basketball team had one final game Monday night in their home gym with their parents in the stands and it was a grand one.

Avon, which has played just four games this entire month, got 20 points each from seniors Jack Hall and Will Soucier in a 71-30 rout of Berlin in a Central Connecticut Conference Pool II tournament game.

All four seniors started the game for the Falcons – Hall, Soucier, Ben Angus and Andrew Pederson, who added a career-high eight points with a pair of three-point goals.

“They came out and played with intensity,” Avon High coach Kris Pedra said. “They did it the right way. It was a good way to play your last game at home.

Avon (7-4), the No. 3 seed in Pool II, will travel to face No. 2 seed Farmington (8-4) on Wednesday in the Pool II semifinals with the championship game on Friday.

The Falcons played two games in three days last week with a 55-54 loss to Plainville on Thursday and a 46-45 victory over Bristol Eastern on Saturday.

Despite 22 points from Soucier, Plainville’s Tyshawn Johnson hit two free throws with 14 seconds left to lift Plainville to the win. On Saturday, Avon’s Issac Aquilar hit a baseline jumper at the buzzer to give the Falcons the victory.

The only other games for Avon this month were a 59-54 win over Lewis Mills on March 8 and a 78-59 loss to Farmington on March 11. Issues with COVID-19 at Southington and New Britain wiped out games with those schools.

“The biggest challenge is that we haven’t been able to build up some rhythm offensive and defensively,” Pedra said. Angus missed 10 days when he needed to quarantine due to contact tracing. Monday was his first game since March 11.

“It has been tough for the boys to get to know their roles but we’re at full strength which is nice with Farmington coming up,” he said. “The boys are looking forward to this game.”

Avon had nine players score against Berlin with Hall draining five 3-point shots. Tyler Brokenshire added 10 points for the Falcons, who had their second-highest scoring output of the season. Avon had 76 points in a 78-76 loss to Bristol Central on opening night on February 10.

Sal Dastoli scored nine to lead Berlin. The 30 points allowed by the Falcons was a season-low.

Avon 71, Berlin 30
At Avon
Berlin (30) Justin Piskorski 0-1-1, River Eherherrett 2-0-4, Toby Lavender 3-1-7, Joe Caracoglia 2-0-5, Byrce Hrubec 0-0-0, Kyle Pinto 0-0-0, Sal Dastoli 4-0-9, Ryan Steck 1-0-2, Jon D’Amore 0-0-0, Jake Smalley 1-0-2. Totals 13-2
Avon (71) Ben Angus 0-1-1, Andrew Pederson 3-0-8, Issac Aguilar 1-0-2, Jack Hall 7-1-20, Will Soucier 8-4-20, Tyler Brokenshire 4-2-10, Aidan Srb 2-0-5, Aaron Moza 0-0-0, Nick Gopolacher 1-0-3, Emmett Borenstein 1-0-3. Totals 27-8
Berlin (6-7)           8  11    7    4  — 30
Avon (7-4)           21  19  21  10  — 71
Three-point goals: Caracoglia (B), Dastoli (B), Pederson (A) 2, Hall (A) 5, Srb (A), Goplachnar (A)

CCC Pool II
Monday’s quarterfinals
(1) Simsbury 45, (8) New Britain 43
(5) Hall 50, (4) Glastonbury 38
(3) Avon 71, (6) Berlin 30
(2) Farmington 66, (7) Newington 55

Wednesday’s semifinals
Avon (7-4) at Farmington (8-4)
Hall (7-6) at Simsbury (9-4)

Consolation games
New Britain at Glastonbury
Newington at Berlin

Friday’s championship game
Two semifinal winners