Avon’s Isaac Aguilar scored 44 points on Saturday against Cheney Tech, two points shy of the boys single game school record.
AVON – Avon High senior Issac Aguilar had just three points after the first quarter of the Falcon’s non-league contest with Cheney Tech on Saturday, January 21. But he got on a roll in the next three quarters, scoring 39 points to finish with a career-high 44 points to help Avon win their second game of the season with a 68-61 victory.
Aguilar finished just two points shy of the school record of 46 points in a single game, set by Michael Taft against Somers 21 years to the day on January 21, 2002.
Since 1999, Aguilar is just the fourth Avon boys player to score more than 40 points in a single game.
“He was definitely in a groove,” Avon High coach Kris Pedra said. “He got it done in all ways.” Aguilar hit 17 shots, including five from three-point range. He also converted on 5-of-8 free throws.
“My mid-range shot was feeling very good,” Aguilar said. “I had a great pull up shot over defenders and my 3 ball was on that night.”
Aguilar sank seven shots and scored 17 points in the second quarter, got 13 points in the third quarter and sank another 19 points in the fourth quarter.
He knew was having a good night but was unaware of how many points that he had. “I thought I had maybe 30 points,” he said. “I had the hot hand and I was just trying to get open. I wanted the ball to see what I could do with it.”
Aguilar has been the top scorer for the Falcons in a challenging season that has seen Avon battle with three teams in the recent GameTimeCT top 10 poll – No. 1 East Catholic, No. 2 Northwest Catholic and No. 9 Bloomfield. Aguilar had 31 points each in losses to Bloomfield and Berlin.
The win over Cheney Tech put Avon at 2-8 on the year and the Falcons need six wins in their final 10 games to secure a spot in the CIAC Division II state tournament.
“We’re starting to click now,” he said. “We’ve lost a few games that might hurt us getting to the state tournament. We just need to play how we did on Saturday (against Cheney Tech). Our intensity was higher. We came out with some fire and we came ready to play.”
On Thursday night, Avon led at the half against a Conard team that had won eight of their 11 games. Avon had a three-point lead with 4:58 left in the third quarter but the visiting Red Wolves outscored the Falcons, 23-11 in the final 13 minutes of the game to secure a 61-42 victory.
Aguilar had a game-high 24 points. Conard limited Avon to just seven points and one field goal in the fourth quarter.
Avon played their first game at home against Cheney Tech. The original schedule had the Falcons on the road for eight of their first nine games but then home game against East Hartford on January 5 was moved to the Hornets’ home gym due to an issue with the main gym in Avon.
Since the Christmas holiday break, the boys and girls basketball teams have been practicing and hosting home games in the smaller, original gym at Avon.
“We had fans there and just playing in the play you practice (every day) helps with your shooting,” Aguilar said.
Taft set the school record for most points in a game with 46 against Somers in 2002. He hit eight 3-point shots in his record-setting performance.
“I’m happy with (my effort),” Aguilar said. “If I had made those three free throws, I could have had the school record. I wish I would have gotten that because that would have been nice.”
Other 40-point scoring efforts by Avon players in the last 25 years include Bill Cartun, who had 42 points against Canton on January 19, 1999; Nate Laszewski, who had 42 points against Suffield in 2015 and Cartun, who scored 41 points and hit seven 3-point shots in a win over Ellington in 2000.
Don Friedburg hit 17 field goals and scored 40 points in a game against Rocky Hill in December, 1978. There was no three-point shot in the game at that time.
Tim Filon, Avon’s athletic director, directed questions about the status of the main gym to Superintendent Bridgit Carnemolla. The superintendent’s team has not responded to our inquiries yet.
Most points in a single game
| Points | Player | Opponent | FG-FT-Pts (3 pt) | Date |
| 46 | Mike Taft | Somers | 16-6-46 (8) | Jan. 21, 2002 |
| 44 | Issac Aguilar | Cheney Tech | 17-5-44 (5) | Jan. 21, 2023 |
| 42 | Bill Cartun | Canton | 17-5-42 (3) | Jan. 19, 1999 |
| 42 | Nate Laszewski | Suffield | 13-15-42 (1) | Feb. 2, 2015 |
| 41 | Bill Cartun | Ellington | 14-6-41 (7) | Jan. 27, 2000 |
| 40 | Don Friedburg | Rocky Hill | 17-6-40 | Dec. 8, 1978 |
Editor’s note: This list is from this writer’s ongoing research of Avon High boys basketball results. If you know of a single-game scoring performance that should be added to this list, email Gerry at [email protected].
