By Kevin Leibrock
DANVILLE — Avon didn’t let a little foul trouble get in its way Tuesday night against Tri-West.
Haley Austin sat out most of the third quarter with four fouls, but still poured in 18 points to lead the Orioles past the Bruins 55-47 in the first round of the Hendricks County Tournament.
“I didn’t know she had three fouls in the first half,” Avon coach Steve Drabyn said. “My fault on that one. If I had known that, we would have had her out a bit sooner. But she gave us a huge spark coming in off the bench in the fourth quarter.”
Austin had plenty of help.
Jill Steinmetz and Breanne Lahart added 13 points each, while Jackie Kurbursky chipped in six points for Avon (2-0).
Tri-West (1-1) found itself down, but not out for most of the game.
The Bruins fell behind by as many as 11 points in the third quarter but rallied to cut the deficit to 42-41 with 5:41 to play in the fourth.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, their momentum stopped there. The Orioles went on a 12-0 run down the stretch to put the game out of reach.
Sam Ricks scored 14 points — all in the second half — to lead Tri-West. Ashley Craft added eight points and four rebounds off the bench.
“I thought we played really hard tonight, more positives than negatives,” Tri-West coach Brad Acton said. “Turnovers hurt us tonight, but overall our effort and intensity were positive.”
Avon held a slim 12-9 lead after the first quarter, but took control in the second.
The Orioles pushed their lead to double digits — 23-13 — when Steinmetz swatted a shot and sent a cross-court pass to Kurbursky for a lay-up with 1:57 until halftime.
Avon led 27-15 at the break, but Tri-West used a 19-point third quarter to pull to within 37-34 heading into the fourth. The Orioles’ 12-0 run midway through the fourth sealed the victory.
Avon advances to play Plainfield (1-0) at 6 p.m. Friday. Tri-West takes on Danville (1-2) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Both games are at Danville High School.
kevin.leibrock@flyergroup.com
