The Avon boys' basketball team never goes into a panic mode - no matter how high the pressure gets or how far it falls behind. The third-seeded Panthers worked their magic again last night, staging a fourth-quarter rally to beat No. 8 Hull, 76-71, in a Division 4 South semifinal in Brockton.
"We got into foul trouble, missed some shots, but then we talked about it at halftime," said Avon coach Rich Gifford. "We just have confidence in ourselves. We all believe in ourselves."
Avon (19-4) started strong as junior point guard Akeem Williams scored 6 points to spark a 10-5 run. But Hull (14-9) quickly erased the deficit as senior guard Nick Belcastro (26 points, including eight 3-pointers) hit from behind the arc before Williams scored again. Hull junior Triant Xypteras made two baskets to tie the game at 12 with 2:45 to go in the first quarter. Panthers sophomore Marquis Harris put Avon back on top before Xypteras added a free throw to bring the Pirates within 1 after one.
Hull took control at the start of the second quarter as Belcastro hit three 3-pointers and Xypteras (31 points, 28 rebounds) controlled the boards to help give their squad a 42-34 lead at halftime.
But the Panthers slowly chipped away in the third quarter and used a 16-11 run to eventually tie the score at 57 heading to the final quarter. Sophomore Deric McCottrell (25 points) stepped up for Avon as the score remained tight throughout the rest of the game. With 1:20 left, Saleek Brown sealed the deal for Avon on a breakaway layup to give it the lead for good.
"We do what we do best," said Williams, who led the Panthers with 35 points. "We don't change nothing. We just do what we did at the beginning of the season."
Avon will take on Cathedral in the South final Friday. No. 5 Cathedral (17-6) used a 28-point performance from Javon Williams to take a 78-66 win over No. 1 Westport (19-3) in Taunton.
Cathedral led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, but was forced to hold off a late Westport surge as the Wildcats cut the lead to just 7 in the final frame.
Rob Williams had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Cathedral, and Max Barbosa added 15 points and seven assists.
Division 2 North: Evan Smotrycz, a 6-foot-8-inch junior, scored 27 points and Ted Notis added 17 as No. 10 Reading (14-9) upset third-seeded North Andover, 62-55, in a semifinal in Methuen.
Steve Boudreau scored 22 points for North Andover.
Girls' basketball
Division 4 South: Millis junior guard Amy Ingraham eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her career in a 62-43 semifinal win over No. 6 Chatham (18-7) at Sandwich.
Ingraham finished with 31 points, boosting her total to 1,013. She also broke Millis's record for points in a career. Melissa Corbett held the previous record with 1,007.
Sophomore forward Molly Breen collected 11 points and three blocks for No. 6 Millis (13-11).
Millis faces No. 2 Cohasset (20-2), which took a 52-32 win over No. 3 Nantucket (20-3), in Friday's sectional final in Braintree.
Globe correspondent Maggie Cassidy contributed to this report.
