by Ryan Mosher
The Berlin boys basketball team opened its Central Hudson Valley League season with a Friday night game against rival New Lebanon. The Mountaineers, the defending Co-Champions of the CHVL, lost five players from last year’s squad to graduation, but the elevation of several players from the JV squad gives them a little different look than they have had the last few years. The scoring from this year’s team will most likely be much more spread out as two of the top three scorers graduated. Starting guards Casey Gilbert, Drew Webster and Chris Zema, Co-MVP of the CHVL last year, will provide Berlin with a speedy back court that will have the potential to give the opposition a hard time just getting the ball over half court. With Cody Blain and Shawn Willis coming off the bench, the Mountaineers should not have a problem keeping fresh legs on the court and torturing the other guards for the full 32 minutes. Seniors Brent Demick and Eric Remington take the other two starting positions and should provide rebounding and some needed physical play under the hoop. Coming off the bench is Brad Deyo, who is really the only other big man on the team.
The Mountaineers wasted no time in taking the lead as Zema knocked down a three-pointer off a missed foul shot, and Demick added a lay-up to put Berlin up 5-0. The Mountaineers stretched their lead to as far as six points at times in the first quarter but could not pull away. With the help of a buzzer beating shot by Zema, Berlin took a 14-10 lead.
In the second quarter, Berlin’s back court pressure began to wear on the Tigers as they made several turnovers leading to Berlin baskets. Berlin also made several runs and played tough defense to take any momentum out of New Lebanon. In the final two minutes, the Mountaineers outscored New Lebanon 7-2, taking a 31-18 lead into the half. Zema led Berlin in the first half with 13 points while Eric Remington and Demick each had four points.
Berlin came out on fire in the second half. After Casey Gilbert hit one free throw to start the half, Zema scored 9 points straight to build the Mountaineers’ lead to 41-18. New Lebanon managed to score six points of their own over the next two minutes, but Zema buried them when he scored twice within the last 43 seconds to build the lead to 45-24.
The final quarter brought out Berlin’s best as they forced more Tiger turnovers and ran the ball every chance they got. Gilbert scored 10 of his 13 points in the quarter, and Berlin outscored New Lebanon 19-12, to give them the 64-36 victory. Zema ended the night with 28 points while Gilbert scored 13. Demick added 8 points and 11 rebounds for Berlin, which is now 1-0 in the CHVL and 1-1 overall.