Forcing an opponent into committing 41 turnovers seems like a recipe for success. But the Berkshire Badgers girls’ basketball team squandered that advantage, losing 44-43 against Geauga County rival West Geauga in a Chagrin Valley Conference crossover game last Sunday afternoon at the Bernard Scott Academy’s Ohio Tip-Off Classic at Hiram College’s Price Gymnasium.
“That’s where our inexperience showed in crucial situations and playing through some foul trouble,” said Coach James Bosley. “Moments like this early in the season are going to help us grow up faster and will really help the inexperienced players gain valuable experience.”
The only time Berkshire (0-1, 0-0) trailed was at the beginning of the game when the Wolverines took a 2-0 lead, but surrendered the lead in the closing seconds.
Holding a 43-36 advantage in the middle of the fourth quarter, the Badgers’ offense went cold, settling for jump shots and things got worse when senior forward Hayley Stoddard fouled out.
The Badgers’ senior post player had been guarding West Geauga senior forward Maggie Furst for most of the game but once she fouled out, Berkshire struggled to contain her.
West Geauga chipped away at the Badgers’ lead and had a chance to take their first lead since the beginning of the game when junior guard Jenna Hornak committed a traveling violation, Berkshire’s seventh turnover of the quarter, with 32.0 seconds left, leading 43-42.
Wolverines’ freshman guard Faelynn Beckrest directed the offense and found the 6-foot Furst in the post. She backed down her defender and converted a turnaround lay-up, pushing West Geauga ahead 44-43 to snatch the victory.
“We were late setting up our defense,” acknowledged the six-year coach. “I think that aided her in being able to cut open. We did not have any ball pressure on the in-bounder and that was just an inexperience thing. That is on me. We have to break the huddle sooner to get set up quicker.”
Despite being only 14 miles apart, it was the first time the Geauga County rivals faced each other since the 2018-19 season. After a tightly contested battle against the Wolverines, Bosley said he hopes Sunday’s game will help reignite the rivalry between the teams.
“We are pretty close to each other in size and everything,” he added. “Coach Brandon Stewart does a great job with those girls. It’s a great experience playing a quality team that is well-coached. There are only so many schools in Geauga County now so it would be good to play all five of them.”
In the first half, Berkshire held all of the momentum because the Wolverines could not hold onto the ball and committed 30 turnovers.
With Stoddard defending Furst, the Wolverines’ senior only scored 7 points in the first half and Berkshire took a 28-16 advantage into the break.
According to Bosley, the Badgers failed to convert off of West Geauga’s turnovers because they could not push the pace against the Wolverines’ defense.
“It was the first game of the season,” he said. “We are still learning our rotations. We played 10 girls overall on Sunday and we have to learn our rotations a little bit better. We have to learn about getting slowed down on offense some and we also have to be able to capitalize on turnovers and attack a little quicker off of our defense.”
The Wolverines attacked the offensive glass in the third quarter and were fueled by a 13-3 run to trim Berkshire’s lead to 34-33. When Stoddard fell into foul trouble in the third period, that freed up Furst and the 5-foot-5 Beckrest to combine to score 11 points and erase the Badgers’ advantage.
While the Wolverines improved their ball control, Berkshire struggled and the offense came to a grinding halt when it stopped attacking the basket and instead settled for jump shots.
“In the second half we were settling for some shots that were not in the offense,” Bosley said. “They know they are able to get those shots but there is a reason those are the ones that were open. We probably could have attacked a little better in the second half.”
Berkshire’s shooting woes continued opening the door for the Wolverines, converting only four-of-13 shots in the fourth quarter and the Wolverines overcame a sloppy first half to steal the victory.
“We never stopped playing,” Bosley said. “I know any girl I put into the game will lay it on the line and there will be some issues of learning how to play together and those little lumps but our effort speaks volumes to how these girls are.”
Following another crossover CVC game against Geneva in their home debut on Wednesday, the Badgers will hit the road and take on Southeast on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. in Ravenna.
