Boys Suffer Heartbreaking Loss, Swim Team Ties Taconic Hills
By Doug La Rocque
Berlin’s Girls High School Basketball team posted a pair of Central Hudson Valley League wins this past week. Wednesday they used a balanced scoring attack to take down Doane Stuart by a 55 to 39 score. Tiffany Foley lead the way with 19 points, Maggie Gordon followed with 15 while Cassie Bentley scored another 12. Berlin coach Fleda Berschwinger described it as “a very good team victory.” The Lady Mountaineers were back on the court the next night against Hawthorne Valley. The Wildcats have struggled all year and their game against Berlin was no different. Berlin led all the way in posting a 50-13 victory. Maggie Gordon led all scorers with 23 points.
Leaving It All On The Court
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Wednesday brought the much anticipated rematch between the CHVL’s top two Boys’ basketball squads. Berlin went into Germantown just one game behind the league leading Clippers. When the final buzzer sounded, Germantown came away with an 82 – 60 win, but only after the Mountaineers soundly outplayed them in the 2nd quarter, and went into the locker room at half time leading 36 – 29. Berlin coach Kasson Sauer said his players worked so hard in the first half; they came out tired and flat in the third quarter, unable to handle Germantown’s full court press. Coach Kasson said, “Our kids played the hardest and toughest I have yet to see them play all year.” Germantown, led by eight seniors and three juniors, remains undefeated in CHVL play. Berlin, led mainly under classmen, suffered their second loss to Germantown. Ryan Willis led the way with 26 points, while Ryan Shumway contributed another 16. Like their first matchup, Germantown concentrated on shutting down Roark Slattery, limiting the sophomore to just 9 points.
Friday night the Mountaineers traveled to Hudson to take on the Wildcats of Hawthorne Valley for the second time. Berlin held off a determined Wildcats team in their first meeting at home. The Wildcats’ comeback this time was more determined, erasing a 12 point deficit at halftime to post a 66-63 win. The Mountaineers suffered only their third league loss against eight wins. Sophomore Captain Roark Slattery again led all scorers for Berlin with 20 points. Senior Captain Ryan Shumway added another 18. Berlin coach Sauer said, “Unfortunately, we lost and had some off performances. But we will not let that game define the remainder of our season. We will keep working hard to finish strong.”
Another School Record Falls At Swim Meet
Trailing at one point by 16, the combined New Lebanon – Berlin girl’s swim team posted several late meet victories to earn a 47-47 tie with the Titans of Taconic Hills. The comeback started with a one-two finish in the 100 yard Freestyle by Kalee Hennig and Catherine Roden. Allyson Ryder then re-established her own school record in the 100 Backstroke in a time of 1:14.13. Gigi French and Roden teamed up for a first and second place finish in the 100 Breaststroke. This brought the meet down to the final event, the 400 Freestyle relay. NL-B won the race, but second and third place finishes by the Craryville, NY based Titans left the meet in a draw. In the Boys meet, the victory went to Taconic Hills by a 42-24 score.
Earlier in the week, the two squads met at the Taconic Hills pool, with the Titans coming away with a combined meet score of 88-82. For NL-B, wins went to Gigi French in the 200 IM, Kalee Hennig in the 100 Freestyle and Catherine Roden in the 100 Breaststroke. The NL-B swimmers compete in the Berkshire County Swim League, unique in that beside several Massachusetts based schools, it crosses state lines to encompass NL-B and Taconic Hills in New York and Mt. Anthony High School in Bennington, VT.[/private]