D-II District Boys Basketball: Amherst stifles Lakewood, will play for district title

LAKEWOOD — For the first time since 2009, the Amherst Comets will play for a district championship. Amherst traveled to Cleveland West Conference champion Lakewood on Tuesday and grinded out a 53-37 victory to advance to the Division II Northeast 3 final Saturday versus North Royalton, a winner over Warren Harding. Amherst (14-9) outlasted Lakewood's zone defense for 32 minutes and overcome the slow pace the Rangers preferred. The Comets defense was solid all night, as it held Lakewood (14-9) to seven fourth-quarter points, including none for the first four minutes after holding a 34-30 lead entering the final period. "That's what we hang our hat on and that's what we were able to do tonight," Amherst coach Pat Bray said. "To hold them to 37, that's a great defensive night. "With about five minutes to go we went to our spread, we pulled out and pulled them out. Once we pulled them out we were able to hit (Gavin) Beckler in the middle and he was able to find that guy backside and that started to open things up for us." In the first half, Amherst got off to a hot start before the game slowed down and Lakewood crept back into it. Back-to-back threes from junior Mason Lymer and sophomore Jack Coleman put the Comets up 6-0 and another Coleman basket off a turnover made it 13-6. Lymer finished with 12 points on four 3-pointers, while Coleman led Amherst with 16. Lymer stretched the zone with his shooting, while Coleman capitalized in transition and attacked gaps in the defense. The second quarter saw the pace slow down and Amherst had long possessions against the Lakewood defense. That defense morphed between 2-3 and a 1-2-2 zones depending on the position of active, mobile, 6-foot-6 Lakewood big man Riley Verderber. Lakewood got back into the game on a three by Nathan Bruwer and an inside basket by Verderber that made it 18-16. Verderber led Lakewood with 14 points. An "and one" by Lymer on a 3-pointer made it 21-16, before the Comets led 23-18 at halftime. Amherst stretched the lead to 10 in the third quarter. A putback from junior Andrew Balicky and a Coleman layin splitting the zone made it 31-21. Verderber had seven points during a run that closed the gap to 32-30 before a Cy Christensen layin made it 34-30 after three quarters. Amherst had an 18-day break between its last regular-season game and the district semifinal. "We had a long time to work on that zone," Bray said. "In practice we shared the ball, passed and got it moving. We didn't do that in the first half. "In the second half, we started moving the ball. They started taking chances and we were finding that guy backside for a layup. Once we started getting that going, they had to start scrambling. Then when they started scrambling, we could pull it out and try to spread them out a little more, so we were able to do that in the second half." Amherst was able to emerge from a midseason lull and ride the strength of the Southwestern Conference, where it finished fifth, to a district final Saturday night at Valley Forge High School. Bray, in his 10th year, knows how important that feat is. "It's huge," Bray said. "We knew we had a letdown there in the middle of the season. But we said this is our second chance, our second season. So now let's go out and prove we're a really good team. So we got the first one, now we gotta prepare for North Royalton. "The SWC is one of the toughest conferences. It's one of the most physical conferences. And then just great coaches." Amherst 53, Lakewood 37 AMHERST (53): Jack Coleman 5-5-16, Cole Scanlon 0-0-0, David Dudziak 3-0-6, Stanley Robinson 0-0-0, Peyton Leibacher 0-0-0, Cy Christensen 3-0-6, Mason Lymer 4-0-12, Andrew Balicky 5-0-10, Gavin Beckler 0-1-1, Anthony Passerrello 1-0-2, Evan Ferancy 0-0-0, Zach Anderson 0-0-0, Cam Murphy 0-0-0, Christian Vorhees 0-0-0. Totals 21-6-53. LAKEWOOD (37): Kavontah Swain 1-0-2, Nathan Bruwer 3-0-7, Rory Chanter 4-0-9, LaMarien Wilson 0-0-0, Riley Verderber 6-1-14, Jackson Comer 0-0-0, Joey Dolan 0-0-0, Harper Carroll 0-0-0, Liam McGann 2-1-5. Totals 16-2-37. Amherst&emsp;14&emsp;9&emsp;11&emsp;19&emsp;—&emsp;53 Lakewood&emsp;8&emsp;10&emsp;12&emsp;7&emsp;—&emsp;37 Three-point goals: Amherst 5 (Lymer 4, Coleman 1), Lakewood 3 (Bruwer, Chanter, Verderber). Field goals: Amherst 21-43 (49 percent), Lakewood 16-41 (39 percent). Free throws: Amherst 6-13 (46 percent), Lakewood 2-6 (33 percent). Rebounds: Lakewood 26, Amherst 23. Turnovers: Lakewood 18, Amherst 11. Team fouls: Amherst 11, Lakewood 15.