By Doug La Rocque
“We jumped out of the gate on fire offensively,” were the words used by Berlin Boys’ Basketball Coach Kasson Sauer to describe his team’s effort in defeating the Waterford Fordians on their own court Friday night by a score of 77-52. It was their 12th win of the season against 7 losses, but more importantly they finished the Central Hudson Valley League with a 10-4 record, the third consecutive year with ten wins. [private]
Waterford was never in the game, as Senior Captain Ryan Shumway posted a career high 28 points, including 6 from three-point land. Sophomores Ryan Willis and Josh Hendricks each added a pair of double-doubles. Willis had 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Hendricks contributed to the victory with 11 points and 10 boards. Sophomore Roark Slattery chipped in with 13 points.
Things didn’t go so well for Berlin a couple of nights earlier, when Loudonville Christian’s Eagles paid their annual visit to the Mountaineer gym. The Eagles broke out front early and continued to build on their lead on the way to a 74-60 win. Coach Sauer credited Loudonville Christian with a strong transition game and attacking the basket well off the dribble. Sauer praised his Sophomore Captain Roark Slattery with “fantastic overall play.” Slattery led the Berlin attack with 25 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Sophomore Josh Hendricks posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards. Ryan Gosse added another 10 for Berlin. Berlin’s three-point game was off all night, and Sophomore Ryan Willis, an important part of the Mountaineer’s offense, fouled out of the game in the third quarter.
Tough Week For The Lady Mountaineers
Early season postponements of several games saw the Berlin Girls’ Basketball Squad forced to play seven games in the last two weeks, four of them this past week. Several of this week’s contests were against the crème of the CHVL and the first contest a step up in class against the Cambridge Indians. The result was a 51-16 loss, with Berlin’s leading scorer Maggie Gordon held to just 8 points. Tuesday the Lady Mountaineers matched up against the league leading and undefeated Heatly Hornets. Maggie Gordon again led Berlin with 14 points, but her efforts to lead her team to victory came up short in a 59-26 loss.
The contest against the New Lebanon Tigers was more of a game for Berlin. While losing 45-31, Berlin Coach Fleda Berschwinger said, “the girls fought hard and played well as a team but had trouble making shots.” Maggie Gordon had 13 points for Berlin, with Tiffany Foley adding 6 more. The week ended with a match up against second place Emma Willard. Tiffany Foley netted 6 more in Berlin’s 48-19 defeat.
Individual Meet
For Swimmers
Saturday brought the Annual Berkshire County Swim League Individuals meet at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, with several New Lebanon-Berlin swimmers putting forth their best efforts of the season. Allison Ryder broke her own school record in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:13.33. The 500 Freestyle saw Taylor Robertson break the seven-minute mark for the first time in her career, posting a time of 6:58.18. Several other NL-B also posted personal bests. They were Catherine Roden in the 200 IM, Hope Gadomski in the 100 Free and Gigi French in the 100 Breast Stroke. The Girls 200 Free Relay placed fifth overall, with a 4th place finish going to the Girl’s 400 Free Relay. For the boys, Jeffery Miller had a personal best effort in the 100 Free in a time of 1:05.85 and Zack Shepard set a Sectional Mark in the 100 Backstroke.[/private]