Boys basketball: Amherst snaps skid with non-league win over Open Door

AMHERST — After a rugged stretch of close losses and tough practices during the holiday break, Amherst needed a bit of success. It came Tuesday night in the form of a 91-62 non-conference win over Open Door. "We were on a five-game losing streak and with a conference game coming up against Olmsted Falls, we needed something good to happen," senior Cameron Gendics said. "Now we can roll into Friday feeling good about ourselves and being ready. "During the break, I feel like we developed that chemistry." Gendics led all scorers with 21 points. The Comets had four players finish in double digits and got a chance to play everyone on the roster. "We've had three good practices in a row and we talked about taking that over into our game. I thought we did a lot of that tonight," Comets coach Pat Bray said. "And to see a different colored jersey, the guys liked that a lot. Going against each other for eight, nine days in a row, that gets a little old." Landen Bray finished with 16 points, Trent Branchen scored 15, Ryan Yoder had 10 and Cole Norris finished with nine for the Comets, who were 56 percent from the field (38-of-68). "We talk all the time that we've got to shoot with confidence," Pat Bray said. "When you let it go, you've got to think it's going in. "I believe the first few games of the year, we were shooting the ball hoping it would go in and now we're shooting with confidence, thinking, 'I'm a good shooter,' and letting it fly. I try to teach them all the time, shoot it with confidence." The Comets (3-5) also owned a 27-23 edge on the boards with Branchen grabbing a game-high seven rebounds and Landen Bray adding six. "This is a tough matchup for our guys," Open Door coach Alan Januzzi said. "We knew that coming in but our kids have been competing very well. The positive I take from this is I thought our kids handled it well and kept their composure throughout the game." The Patriots (5-5) actually scored the first four points, but Amherst answered with a 10-0 run to take the lead for good. The Comets pushed its lead to 25-11 by the end of the first quarter and led 46-18 with two minutes left in the half before Open Door rallied with an 11-5 spurt — including the final seven points of the half — to close to within 51-29. The second half started with the Comets making their first five shots and pushing the lead to 75-48 after three quarters. That's when both teams emptied their benches. "We're thankful that Amherst asked us to play," Januzzi said. "We came here knowing full well that we were playing a Division I basketball team and they've been competitive with some very good teams in their conference. "It was just a tough matchup for us, but like I told my guys, I was proud of the way they handled the adverse situation. I thought they handled it well, I thought they kept their composure and I thought they took it one possession at a time." Anthony Januzzi and RJ Penney each finished with 16 points to lead the Patriots, with Caleb Brooks adding 10. Julius Moon finished with eight points and a team-high five rebounds. "We lose to Berea in overtime by one, and lose to Lorain by five, we're up with a minute and a half to go," Pat Bray said. "We needed some confidence to show that we can finish a game." Amherst 91, Open Door 62 OPEN DOOR (62): Caleb Brooks 3-3-10, Anthony Januzzi 7-2-16, RJ Penney 5-4-16, Julius Moon 4-0-8, Aaron Pattee 1-0-2, Isaiah Ray 1-0-2, Nate Otero 1-4-6, Nolan Rack 1-0-2. Totals 23-13-61. AMHERST (91): Cole Norris 4-0-9, Landen Bray 7-0-16, Eli Solak 3-0-8, Trent Branchen 6-3-15, Tristyn Young 2-0-4, Cameron Gendics 9-1-21, Ryan Yoder 5-0-10, Trent Odelli 0-1-1, David Dudziak 1-0-3, Jacob Kraft 2-0-4. Totals 38-6-91. Open Door&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;18&emsp;&emsp;19&emsp;&emsp;14&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;62 Amherst&emsp;&emsp;25&emsp;&emsp;26&emsp;&emsp;24&emsp;&emsp;16&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;91 Three-point goals: Open Door 3 (Brooks, Januzzi 2), Amherst 8 (Norris, Bray 2, Solak 2, Gendics 2, Dudziak). Field goals: Open Door 23-50 (46 percent); Amherst 38-68 (56 percent). Free throws: Open Door 13-15 (87 percent); Amherst 6-7 (86 percent). Rebounds: Open Door 23 (Moon 4); Amherst 27 (Branchen 7). Turnovers: Open Door 18, Amherst 9. Total fouls: Open Door 6; Amherst 14. Junior varsity: Amherst, 58-38.