The Berkshire Badgers boys’ basketball team is no longer under the thumb of their Geauga County rivals the Chardon Hilltoppers. Berkshire dictated the pace and defeated the Hilltoppers 68-52 last Saturday evening in Burton.
“These guys come to practice every day and practice hard,” said Coach Joe Montanero. “That is all you can ask for and you can see us getting better and better. We have got our rotation down finally as before we were pressed because we were not playing enough guys but now I think we are fresh and playing a heck of a lot better.”
Having only faced the Hilltoppers four times in the last seven seasons, Berkshire (7-9, 4-4) had not won a game against its Geauga County foe since the 2016-17 season. Last Saturday evening, the Badgers ended a three-game skid with a complete performance.
Despite the schools playing in difference conferences, senior guard Jack Hastings said any competition against the Hilltoppers is like a conference rivalry.
“It’s like playing against Cardinal,” Hastings added. “We want to beat them every year and playing against Chardon, we humble ourselves because they are a big school but they know we can beat them and they know they can beat us every time we play them.”
As far Berkshire’s second-year coach is concerned, his squad is peaking at the right time.
“Getting into February, that is when you want to peak” said Montanero. “We really are peaking and really want to move up. A win against a Division I team, no matter how many wins or losses they have, is a big win for a Division III team so I think that is huge.”
In the first quarter, the Hilltoppers took an early lead on drives to the basket, but Berkshire increased its pace and forced five Chardon turnovers to seize control.
Hastings sparked the Badgers by scoring seven points in the first period and ignited a 9-5 run to take a four-point advantage at the end of the quarter.
“It was great,” Hastings said. “I just got to the hoop like I always try to do, and my shots were falling. When my shots fall it usually results in a good game for me.”
Berkshire’s senior guard carried his strong start into the second quarter and the Badgers’ offense kept humming, thanks to good ball movement, something that Montanero acknowledged has been a work in progress this season.
“That is something we have been really working on in practice, making sure we take care of the basketball” he noted. “I do not know how many turnovers we had but the turnovers have gradually gone down. At the beginning of the year, we made a lot of really bad passes, putting people in bad situations.”
Against Chardon, Montanero said he could not recall an instance where Berkshire’s poor passing put a dent in their strong performance.
Berkshire outscored the Hilltoppers by a 23-19 margin in the second period, increasing its lead to 36-25 at the half and had five different players score points. Although Hastings was Berkshire’s primary scoring option, the Badgers were well-balanced and four players scored in double figures.
Chardon staged a 7-2 run at the beginning of the third quarter but the Badgers responded with an 8-1 run to go ahead 48-33 in the middle of the period.
Hastings said that the Hilltoppers could not keep up with Berkshire’s fast pace.
“Every game we try and go fast, and we saw that they do not like to go fast and tried to slow us down and play their game,” Hastings said. “We tried to speed them up in the first half and I think that helped us in the second half.”
Despite Chardon outshooting the Badgers by a 24-6 margin from beyond the arc, Berkshire drew fouls by consistently attacking the paint and scored 18 points from the foul line.
Hastings paced the Badgers with 27 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists.
“I think I have a quick first step that is pretty hard to guard,” Hastings said. “I don’t normally shoot a lot of 3-pointers, but I can make the 3-pointers when I am open. I think my outside game opens up my inside game, but I like to drive the ball a lot more.”
After losing eight of their first 11 game games, Berkshire has rallied by playing some of its best basketball. The Badgers not only snapped their losing streak against Chardon but continued their hot streaking, having won four of five.
“That is a credit to our leadership with senior guard/forward Mason Medolera and Jack,” Montanero said. “The younger guys have bought in since last year.”
Following a home game against Andrews Osbourne Academy on Tuesday night, Berkshire will welcome Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division foe Cardinal to Burton on Friday night at 6:45 p.m.
