After three quarters of playing stout defense, the Berkshire Badgers’ 11-point lead in the fourth quarter was quickly erased as Chagrin Valley Conference rival Geneva stormed back with a 26-point quarter, overtaking the Badgers to hand them a 61-55 loss in a league crossover game last Friday evening in Burton.
“We took way more shots than them,” noted Coach Joe Montanero. “We are gaining possessions by our defense, but we are just not converting or making shots and that has been the bugaboo for us for a while now and it is not that we are not playing hard, we play really hard on defense.”
It marked the third straight loss for the Badgers (11-8, 5-5), who have suddenly struggled to deliver in clutch moments over the course of this recent slide, as each loss has been by a slim margin.
The third-year coach acknowledged that it has been a disappointing stretch of basketball in the final weeks of the regular season but is confident that there is enough time for Berkshire to turn things around before starting play in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division V playoffs.
“It is frustrating to lose and not finish but I think those games are helping us get prepared for the tournament,” he said.
On Friday, the Badgers were in control after three quarters, holding a 46-35 advantage and coming off the heels of a dominant third period as they surrendered only seven points to Geneva.
In the fourth period, Geneva caught fire, knocking down five field goals, including a pair of 3-point shots and constantly attacked the paint, drawing several shooting fouls.
The Eagles earned 17 free throws in the fourth period and shot 14-of-17 from the foul line, quickly turning Berkshire’s lead into a deficit.
In addition to becoming plagued by foul trouble, Montanero added that the Badgers’ shooting stroke evaporated, as they only converted three field goals in the final quarter, tallying only nine points to slide into their third consecutive defeat.
“We just didn’t make shots. They made shots. They made a couple of really nice shots,” he said. “That was the turnaround, just making shots and missing shots.”
Although Berkshire was undone by a poor fourth period of play, Montanero lauded the Badgers’ defense, as it was their strong defense which put them in a position to finish off the game entering the fourth quarter.
According to Montanero, Berkshire’s pressure defense has been the staple of its success in a season that it has enabled them to reach double-digit victories for the second time in three seasons since Montanaro took the helm and they are on the verge of capturing their first winning season since the 2015-16 campaign.
“We have been defending like that all year long,” he said. “Up to a point, we were giving up the least amount of points in our whole region. I think we were giving up 35 per game, you know what I mean? The kids play really hard, and they guard and sometimes the ball falls and sometimes it doesn’t and the ball was really falling for Geneva in that last quarter.”
He highlighted his team’s commitment to each other as a key reason for the program’s success this year but also emphasized the sacrifices made by each player to spur such a quick turnaround off the heels of a 6-18 season last year.
While Berkshire’s offense has not executed in high-leverage moments lately, Montanero said that that his squad’s confidence has not wavered especially on the defensive end, and they still have three games remaining in the regular season to correct their offensive problems.
Ultimately, Montanero attributed the Badgers’ resurgence to all of the extra time they have put in outside of mandatory practice, and that commitment has earned them the ninth seed in the OHSAA Division V postseason.
“That is the culture that we built at Berkshire,” Montanero said. “They are good kids and they come there and they work really hard so I can’t ask any more of them and it is special to have them. They share the basketball. They try to get each other open which is a really great thing and you can see that on film.”
Following a crossover home CVC duel against Conneaut on Tuesday night and a road game against St. John on Wednesday evening, Berkshire will host Cornerstone Christian Academy for its regular season finale on Friday evening in Burton at 6:15 p.m.
