When Amherst walked off the court at Buffalo State following a loss in the Class A2 finals last season, everyone who had purchased a program knew they'd be back there again this year – just three seniors on the roster. The team was loaded with talented underclassmen that played hard and played together. The problem was, the undefeated Yale Cup champs from McKinley were also bringing back a ton, and would serve as a major obstacle to Amherst advancing to the regionals in 2013. Then in the offseason, the Tigers learned that 6-4 Jonah Heim, a key contributor, would not return to the team after committing to Michigan State to play baseball.
After a loss on their home court to Clarence in the second game of the season, the Tigers opened league play at the Pastor-Cooper Showcase against Depew, who they narrowly escaped, 59-57. At the same showcase, McKinley began its season with a resounding 17-point win over Timon/St. Jude. At that point, it looked as if winning ECIC III would be more difficult than I first thought, and advancing beyond Section VI was highly unlikely.
Now we're into February, and Amherst hasn't lost a game in over two months. The Tigers are on a 14-game winning streak and have won six of their last seven by double figures. They are already the ECIC III champions for a second straight season, and now have a firm eye on finishing perfect in league. But that other eye has to be wandering towards what the future might hold when the calendar flips another month and reads March. Suddenly, the thought of an Amherst/McKinley crossover game for the overall Class A title is a wildly appealing one. In a special season that has gone nearly as well as the Tigers could have hoped, the ceiling is getting so high that regionals or even beyond, might already be an expectation inside the Amherst locker room.
Last night, Johnathan Belton scored a game-high 21 points in a tremendous all-around effort, to lead Amherst past Depew, 58-39. The Tigers have league games remaining against Pioneer and Springville this week, before embarking on their postseason mission.
Amherst was all over Depew early and flew out to a 16-4 lead, that included six quick points from Alex Turecki. The Tigers had all the energy right out of the opening tip, demonstrated beautifully by a steal Belton collected. The senior team leader went to the ground to wrestle the ball away from a Wildcat, dribbled behind his back while still on his knees, and then sent the ball upcourt for an assist. Freshman TC Brown capped an emphatic charge out of the gates by rattling in a 3-pointer as the first quarter buzzer rang, boosting Amherst to a 24-9 lead.
Depew responded to the early deficit by calmly digging out of a hole and back into the game at the beginning of the second stanza. The Wildcats opened with nine straight points and kept the Tigers off the scoreboard for half of the quarter. Belton would score Amherst's final six points of the half, including a putback off a miss to beat the halftime horn, making it 34-24 at the break.
A spectacular halftime show featuring the Amherst youth basketball program showing off their skills, helped ease the pain of what was an ugly third quarter. Between the two teams, a grand total of two field goals fell through the hoop in the quarter, one for each team. Amherst had the advantage by one in the third quarter free throw department, and increased its lead to 11 points heading into the fourth, 43-32. The Tigers put the game out of reach by scoring the first eight points of the final frame.
Turecki tallied 11 points on the evening for Amherst, while Dion Lewis added eight points.
Johan Lopez scored 10 points for Depew in the loss.
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