The best things in life are worth the wait.
After an 18-day layoff, it didn’t take Amherst long to shake off the rust in a 53-37 road win at Lakewood in a Division II district semifinal March 3.
The 15th-seeded Comets (14-9) never trailed and used a 15-3 run to pull away in the fourth quarter. They advanced to a district final for the first time in over a decade and will take on No. 4 North Royalton at 7 p.m. March 7 at Valley Forge.
“It’s huge,” Amherst coach Pat Bray said. “We talked about it — we knew we had a letdown there in the middle of the season. We said this is our second chance, this is our second season. We got the first one, and now we have to prepare for North Royalton.”
This was Amherst’s first game since its regular season finale against North Ridgeville on Feb. 13. Fresh legs helped the Comets score the game’s first six points and take an eight-point lead in the opening quarter. In a battle of contrasting styles, their fast pace got the better of Lakewood early on.
With that said, the Rangers (14-9) found their footing in the second quarter. Their 2-3 zone started causing problems as Amherst turned it over five times in the frame to spark an 8-2 run.
“We had a long time to work on that zone,” Bray said. “In practice, we shared the ball and got it moving. We didn’t do that in the first half. In the second half, we started moving the ball.”
After watching their lead dwindle down to two, the Comets bounced back late in the half to take a 23-18 lead into the locker room. Mason Lymer knocked down a triple while fouled and Andrew Balicki made a jumper in the final seconds.
Amherst got off to another fast start to open up the second half with back-to-back baskets from Balicki and Jack Coleman. The Comets’ lead reached double digits, 31-21, midway through the third quarter after another bucket from Coleman, who scored a game-high 16 points.
“I was watching a lot of film on their zone trying to break it down,” said Balicki, who put up 10 points and seven rebounds. “Throughout practice, we were really breaking it down and finding ways to get around that.”
However, Lakewood came back swinging once again.
Riley Verderber scored eight of his team-high 14 points in the third quarter to pull the Rangers back within two. Cy Christensen answered for the Comets to give them a 34-30 advantage after three quarters.
Christensen’s basket was the start of Amherst’s game-clinching run. The Comets allowed three points in 7:50 and took control in the fourth quarter.
“I think them catching up to us in the third quarter really ramped us up,” Balicki said. “We got that energy going and went on a little run.”
Lymer started the fourth quarter on a high note with his fourth 3-pointer of the game and David Dudziak extended the lead to nine with a layup. Amherst led by as much as 14 after another bucket from Christensen.
Behind Coleman, Lymer finished with 12 points for the Comets. Dudziak and Christensen both had six points each.
Amherst’s journey on the tournament trail continues.
“At halftime, we regrouped and we were able to find each other when we needed to start sharing the ball a little bit more,” Bray said. “It worked out well for us.”
THE SCORE (MARCH 3)
Amherst 53, Lakewood 37