High school basketball: Lake Ridge boys take early lead, hang on to beat Open Door

ELYRIA — Lake Ridge grabbed an early lead and hung on Tuesday at Open Door in Division IV sectional tournament play. The 13th-seeded Royals (13-6) shot out to a 21-11 lead in the first quarter and won 72-54 to advance to the sectional final at No. 1 Richmond Heights on Friday. No. 12 Open Door (5-17) did its best to make a game of it in spite of playing without its leading scorer Jai'Den Guerra-Howard, who was out with an injury. The Patriots fought all night, tying the game at 42 in the third quarter, only to see Lake Ridge roll up seven unanswered points to take the lead for good. Ted DeMarco and Jose Gomez were too much for the Patriots. DeMarco, the area's leading scorer, had 28 points, while Gomez added 17. They each had eight rebounds. Both felt the fast start paid dividends. "For sure," said Gomez. "It's easier to close the end of the game. Last time (against Open Door), we were losing at halftime. It's hard to make adjustments. It's better to start with the lead." "It was really important," said DeMarco. "We just preach all season to get up and down. We need to punch them in the mouth quick. It's hard to recover against a team like (Open Door) in this atmosphere. We had to go quick, early." "That was definitely our goal going in, but that's been our goal all season," said Lake Ridge coach Alan George. "Control the tempo, offensively and defensively. Always play downhill." The Patriots kept the heat on throughout. Back-to-back baskets from R.J. Penney from the left baseline and Mitch Wiley on a rebound, trimmed the deficit to just 65-59 with 1:43 to play but Lake Ridge was able to close it out. A left corner three from Ryan Pawloski and four of six foul shots in the final minute answered Caleb Brooks scoring from inside and Penney's 3-pointer. Penney led Open Door with 19 points. "They definitely realized that we really need to pick it up on both ends of the floor," said George. "They really showed out. It's really a benefit to have a couple ballhandlers (DeMarco and Gomez) that not only handle the ball but can score as well. We really wanted to put the ball in their hands and let them do their job." Gomez and DeMarco were sharp from the foul line. Gomez was 8-of-9 while DeMarco hit 8 of 12, including three of four in the final minute. Open Door coach Kevan Ford was proud of the effort by his Patriots. "Obviously your leading scorer is out, you have to make adjustments," Ford said. "I thought our guys stepped up and took on the next role and played hard. We ended up tying it up but then some 50-50 balls didn't go our way and we missed some rebounds and gave them some second-chance points. When you're in a tight game like that, that's something you can't give away." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Lake Ridge 72, Open Door 64 LAKE RIDGE (72): Jose Gomwz 4-8-17, Ryan Pawloski 3-1-9, Jake Kolbay 5-0-14, Sam Calcut 1-1-4, Ted DeMarco 9-8-28, Connor Spencer 0-0-0, Aaron Manning 0-0-0, Jackson Beach 0-0-0. Totals 23-18-72. OPEN DOOR (64): Caleb Brooks 4-0-8, RJ Penney 8-0-13, Mitch Wiley 1-0-2, Kevan Ford 5-1-12, Aaron Pattee 4-2-10, Julius Moon 4-0-10, Danny DeFranco 1-0-3, Tyler Reaser0-0-0.Totals 27-3-64. Lake Ridge 23 18 11 20 — 72 Open Door 17 20 9 18 — 64 Three-point goals: Lake Ridge 8-23 (Pawloski 2, Kolbay 2, DeMarco 2, Gomez, Calcut), Open Door 7-24 (Penney 3, Moon 2, Ford, DeFranco). Field goals: Lake Ridge 23-56 (41 percent), Open Door 27-65 (41.5 percent). Free throws: Lake Ridge 18-25 (72 percent), Open Door 3-8 (37.5 percent). Rebounds: Lake Ridge 36 (Gomez, DeMarco 8), Open Door 41 (Brooks, Moon 9). Turnovers: Lake Ridge 8. Open Door 11. Fouls: Lake Ridge 11, Open Door 18. Technical foul: Open Door. Fouled out: Brooks, Ford.