Tuesday was a tough night across the board for high school boys basketball teams in Lancaster and Depew.

Lancaster, Depew and St. Mary’s all lost in disappointing fashion on Tuesday night after putting together mostly impressive performances heading into this week.

Depew suffered one of the more perplexing defeats of the night as they were outscored 23-8 by Amherst in the fourth quarter to lose, 49-36. The loss dropped Depew to 3-4 in ECIC III play and now puts them two games behind Amherst for first place in the division.

The Depew offense struggled with just 12 points in the second half. They managed just four points in the third quarter alone. Depew head coach Larry Jones struggled to explain what happened to his team on offense.

“We got manhandled,” Jones said. “Amherst was just better than us. They deserved it. Our team had an inability to get good shots.”

Depew was much stronger in the first half and took a 24-17 lead into halftime. Jones said the Amherst defense made some changes and frustrated the Wildcats in the second half.

“We played well in the first half,” Jones said. “Our guys handled the ball and got good shots. Amherst really turned the heat up in the second half. They took us out of our offensive rhythm. That led to turnovers and easy baskets for them.”

The game was still close late in the fourth quarter as Depew trailed by just four with two minutes left to play. Jones was confident his team could fight through the adversity and make a comeback, but it never materialized.

“We just didn’t execute at all,” Jones said. “It’s weird because we work on those situations consistently.”

The Wildcats have some serious work to do now if they hope to come back and catch Amherst in the standings. Depew has just five games left on the regular season schedule and trails Amherst by two games. Depew will need some help, but it’s unlikely to come from an Amherst team that has now won seven games in a row. For that reason, Jones is beginning to shift his attention to the postseason.

“Our chances of winning the league are slim, but stranger things have happened,” Jones said. “We’re turning toward sectional play. I’m not concerned so much with the rest of the regular season as I am with getting ready for those B playoff games.”

Depew will host Maryvale at 7:30 p.m. Friday before traveling to Pioneer next Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Wildcats will hold their Senior Night next Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against Springville.

St. Mary’s saw its five-game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday night in Olean with a 69-50 loss to Archbishop Walsh. The win kept Walsh a game ahead of St. Mary’s in the Monsignor Martin standings as they now own a 6-3 record to St. Mary’s 5-3 mark.

Things went sour right from the start for the Lancers as Walsh opened up a 21-7 lead in the first quarter. The Lancers struggled to contain Walsh’s Ryan Whelpley, who led all scorers with 27 points. Marcus Clarke also chipped in for the Eagles with 22 points, including four three-pointers.

St. Mary’s once again featured balanced scoring as Erik Simmons led the team with 13 points. Paul Rath added eight points, while Devin Redden had seven and Nate Meyers had six.

The Lancers will have a chance to rebound when they host Cardinal O’Hara at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. They also travel to Niagara Catholic next Tuesday before a rematch at Cardinal O’Hara next Thursday.

Lancaster has fallen on tough times as of late with losses in three-straight games. Frontier was the latest to get the Redskins, tripping them up, 62-58, in overtime on Tuesday.

Danny Emma led Lancaster with 15 points, while Colin Stotz added 12, David Spengler had 11 and Sean Murray had 10.

Lancaster will look to correct things when they head to West Seneca West at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. They return home to host Orchard Park at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. email: mmigliore@beenews.com