Although the Berkshire Badgers girls’ basketball team had not played in a competitive basketball game in two weeks, they rode a dominant first half to sink Pymatuning Valley 53-35 in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division V Northeast 1 sectional championship last Saturday evening in Burton.
“The girls came out strong,” noted Coach Dave Albert. “We were a little concerned with the two-week layoff not playing for two weeks but the girls came out strong. It was 28-9 at halftime and then we played even in the second half.”
Should the Badgers defeat Poland Seminary in the OHSAA Division V Northeast 1 district semifinal on Tuesday evening, they will advance to their first district title game since 2012 and face either Villa Angela-St. Jospeh or Chippewa for the district crown on Saturday afternoon at Woodridge High School in Peninsula at 4 p.m.
“It would be a huge step for the program to get to the district finals after a 12-year layoff,” added the second-year coach. “We have had a couple of signature wins this year against Riverside and Rootstown. To keep on building that momentum with the tougher schedule that we had, hopefully that helps us during this postseason run.”
On Saturday, Albert acknowledged that the Badger girls showed some rust at the start of the opening period, but then junior guard Ivy Martin sparked Berkshire’s offense, scoring six points in the quarter, fueling the Badgers to take a 12-3 advantage.
Berkshire relied on a press defense to stifle the Lakers, and it paid dividends as senior guard Eralyn Lockwood was the only player to make a field goal and convert a free throw scoring Pymatuning Valley’s only point in the first period.
The Badgers carried momentum from the end of the first quarter to the second period by outscoring Pymatuning Valley 16-6, increasing its lead to 28-9 at the half.
According to Albert, Berkshire’s offense caught fire by pushing the pace in transition off of turnovers, leading to some easy shots and continued playing man-to-man defense against the Lakers, running shooters off of the 3-point line to keep their offense quiet as senior guard Sadie Paul was the only source of offense, burying a pair of 3-point baskets.
“It was good for us defensively to play some man defense because as we get deeper into the postseason, hopefully we make a little bit of a run and run some different defenses and schemes against different teams at different times,” he added.
The Lakers showed life in the third period, finally scoring in double digits and Berkshire only outscored their opponents by a 12-10 margin.
Pymatuning Valley chipped away at the Badgers’ lead in the fourth quarter, trimming the lead to 14 points at the halfway point.
Albert acknowledged that Berkshire’s struggles from the free throw line in the final period aided the Lakers’ comeback attempt, as they only shot one-of-eight.
“That’s what kept Pymatuning Valley in the game too,” he said. “They were decent from the foul line. The average high school girls’ team shoots about 54-55% from the foul line. In the game before that, we were seven-of-11 and in this game, didn’t shoot the foul shots well enough. I tell the girls all of the time that most high school games are decided by foul shots and lay-ups.”
Berkshire assumed control in the final minutes, ultimately winning the game by an 18-point margin to earn another appearance in the district semifinal. In both years since Albert took the helm, the Badger girls have played in the OHSAA Division V district semifinal game.
As strong of a season that the Badgers have experienced to earn a top four seed in the OHSAA Division V bracket, Albert said that he is sure that Berkshire still has not played its best basketball this year.
“We have not had a game where everybody has clicked on all cylinders,” he added. “We haven’t hit our peak, yet which is good so hopefully we can keep on riding that and try to hit our peak as we go deeper in this postseason run. We had the toughest Division V schedule out of 127 teams this year in Division V which is good. It is a tough schedule and has challenged the girls and we have been in just about every game.”
Ultimately, Albert has been impressed with the way his squad has met the challenge of a grueling regular season schedule in the wake of graduating a big senior class, which has them well-positioned for postseason play.
