The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Comets win seventh in a row with late rally
Weatherspoon drops 17 points, 9 rebounds
THE SCORE
AMHERST 53, AVON LAKE 51
Some may begin to wonder if Amherst will lose another game this season.
While that is unknown, what is certain is that the Comets (8-2, 8-2 SWC) extended their winning streak to seven straight games after edging Avon Lake (0-3, 0-2 SWC), 53-51, on the road on Jan. 16.
Amherst’s last loss came by one point to Olmsted Falls in overtime on Dec. 18.
“We’re having a lot of fun,” said Amherst senior Ty Weatherspoon, who led all scorers with 17 points and nine rebounds. “It’s always fun winning.
But this season with COVID and everything and (even) getting to have a season, that’s all you can ask for.”
The Comets trailed the majority of the game and only led twice before the Shoremen quickly re-took the lead after both lead changes. Avon Lake led 14-13 after one quarter and 28-23 at halftime.
The Shoremen’s largest lead of the game was achieved right out of halftime as Isaac Richardson (10 points, five rebounds) found the back of the net to give the home team a seven point lead at 30-23.
Amherst kept fighting and closed the gap to three points after three quarters as George Gotsis (11 points) and Weatherspoon combined to score six points in the quarter.
George Fayer (six points) and Jordan Koury (eight points) both nailed 3-pointers to help trim the deficit.
“These kids have always been successful so they know what it takes to be successful,” Amherst coach Pat Bray said. “They never let the moment get too big for them. They know there’s always a chance for them to win the game.”
Throughout the game, after each Amherst score, Avon Lake would respond on the other end to keep the pressure on the Comets. Amherst is a veteran group that stays calm and doesn’t panic under pressure.
“That’s what I love about these guys,” Bray said. “We know that at times, we might not come out as the team on top. But we’re going to give it everything so that we know it’s not our fault and the other team was just better than us. Tonight we showed it. We never died, we kept coming after them and we finally got that break that we wanted.”
In the fourth, the Comets began to full court press Avon Lake. This took the Shoremen out of their rhythm on offense, forced turnovers and made them take quick shots.
“It was huge ... we sort of made it a half court game,” Bray said. “We were trying to trap (them) in the front court and we got them going a little bit. (We) got a few turnovers and got (them to take) quick shots.”
The game was tied at 51 all with under 30 seconds left to play when Weatherspoon was fouled in the act of shooting to force and and-one opportunity. The senior came up short on the free throw, which left Avon Lake a chance to tie or win the game.
The Comets stepped up on the defensive end once again by not allowing the Shoremen to get a shot off and escape with back-to-back wins after defeating Avon on Jan. 15.
“It’s important to fight every game,” Weatherspoon said. “We had Avon yesterday and that was a battle throughout the game. Coming out today, we knew we had to be physical. We went down early so we had to fight back and that’s what our coaches kept telling us, to keep fighting.”
It has been a trying season for Avon Lake as the team has held just two practices and played only three games after being quarantined for 42 days.
Avon Lake coach Eric Smith was pleased with what he saw from his team and was encouraged by his players’ effort despite the narrow defeat.
“Our goal was to take away (Amherst’s) transition (game) and make them go through the heart of our defense ... and I thought we did a nice job of that,” said Smith. “Offensively, (we wanted to) attack their pressure and if we had something, take it. If not, run some offense and get a great shot and I thought we did that.
“I’m proud of these guys. That’s a really good basketball team over there. If that’s what we look like after two practices and 42 days in quarantine, we’re only going to get better.”
Up next, Amherst travels to Midview on Jan. 22, while Avon Lake heads to Avon on Jan. 19.