AVON LAKE — Sometimes basketball is more than just a game.

Avon Lake went retro yesterday afternoon in their Southwestern Conference game against North Olmsted, wearing throw-back uniforms as part of a fundraiser to help fellow classmate Kaitlyn Kilmartin with medical expenses.

By all accounts, Avon Lake was successful both on and off the floor raising money for a friend and beating the Eagles, 51-44, in a hard-fought battle that saw North Olmsted push the Shoregals from start to finish.

“One of the assistants said to the girls after the game that this certainly wasn’t a scrapbook win,” Avon Lake head coach Frank Coughlin said. “It was a little frustrating today. We were very inconsistent, we didn’t move our feet and we didn’t use our heads at times.

“We still have some things we have to get corrected. We have a tough game at Brecksville on Wednesday and the tournament isn’t too far away.”

In early January, the Shoregals (13-5, 7-5) crushed the Eagles, 58-29, at Quicken Loans Arena and maybe they took North Olmsted (4-13, 2-10) a little lighter this time around.

Neither team got much going in the first quarter as Avon Lake grabbed a 10-6 lead getting five quick points from Kelly Bruce, including a 3-pointer and a triple from Denison recruit Lindsey Nock.

Avon Lake maintained their slim lead through the second frame until senior Jenna Goedde scored on a put-back to give the Shoregals a 19-13 lead, the largest of the quarter, that quickly evaporated by halftime.

The Eagles’ Tara Kelley nailed a 3 with 2:20 left in the half and that was followed by a pair of free throws by Stephanie Howell to cut the lead to 19-18. Brianna Heschel added a free throw for Avon Lake to account for the final margin going to the second half.

Howell paced North Olmsted with 13 points, including three 3s. Kelley hit a pair of 3s on her way to seven points.

The Eagles never were able to wrestle the lead away from Avon Lake, but they stayed right on their heels as 6-foot senior Camille Jung scored four of her eight points early in the quarter to make the score 24-22.

The Shoregals finally gave themselves a bit of breathing room with a 33-27 lead at the end of the third quarter. Senior Bridget Lyons led the charge for Avon Lake scoring seven of her team-high 12 points to close out the quarter.

The Shoregal lead blossomed to double-digits with just over two minutes left in the game at 42-32 with Katie Mullen hitting the offensive glass for five of 11 points in the game.

The Eagles were forced to foul at that point and the strategy almost worked as they trimmed the lead to 47-42 with about 30 seconds left on the game clock thanks to eight points from Howell including a pair of bank-shot 3s to put a scare into Avon Lake.

Jung had a putback to cut the lead to five points, but Kelly Bruce and Lacey LeDuc hit four straight free throws in the waning seconds to help seal the win for Avon Lake.

Bruce finished the game in double-figures with 10 points, while LeDuc closed with eight points, all in the second half.

“At the Q we were real excited about the game and came out super quick,” Bridget Lyons said. “We came out a lot slower today and I’m really not sure why, but you have to give North Olmsted credit, they really came after us today and made things difficult for us.”

When asked about the throw-back uniforms, Lyons hesitated a little before sheepishly saying, “I’m not a real fan of the uniforms; I love wearing shorts that are long. Despite that, it was still really fun to come out and play in these uniforms to help raise money for Kaitlyn (Kilmartin).”