by Ryan Mosher
Just as the Berlin boys basketball team seemed to get on a roll by beating top Central Hudson Valley League teams Germantown and Waterford by double digits, the Mountaineers struggled this week when they traveled down Route 22 to take on New Lebanon.
The Mountaineers entered the game at 5-3 in the CHVL, while New Lebanon entered the game at 3-6 in the league. The Tigers played tough in the first matchup of the season before the Mountaineers took control and won 66-36. The story would be much different on their home court.
In the first quarter, New Lebanon took the initial lead with a layup before Berlin went on a 6-0 run to take back the lead. The Tigers fired back with their own 6 point run. With the score tied at 8-8, the Tigers’ Kodiak Mullins scored three unanswered baskets in a forty second span, giving the home team the 14-8 lead. Chris Zema answered for Berlin with a three-pointer and then a layup with :03 remaining on the clock, pulling the Mountaineers to within one at the end of the first quarter, 14-13.
Berlin struggled to make its shots on the stiff rims in the small gym, and the Tigers took advantage of that
as they out rebounded the Mountaineers. New Lebanon built up their lead to 22-14, before Berlin came storming back in the final 3:30 of the second quarter. The Mountaineers came back to tie the score as Brent Demick and Casey Gilbert each scored four points in that time to give each team 22 points at the break.
In the third quarter, the Tigers scored the first six points and never looked back. Berlin brought the game to within one point during the quarter, but that only lasted :21. The only bright spots in the quarter for the Mountaineers were two charges taken by Gilbert and Drew Webster, and three-pointers by Demick and Zema. Entering the final quarter, New Lebanon led 40-34.
In the fourth, it was all Tigers. New Lebanon held the Mountaineers scoreless in the final five minutes of the game while they scored 10 points of their own. As the Tigers went on their run, the tensions between the two teams rose, as they do in every game between these two rivals. In the end, the emotions seemed to take the Mountaineers out of the game, as they could not hit a shot. The final score was 52-39.
Zema led Berlin with just 12 points. The Mountaineers struggled with their shooting a great deal during the game, shooting 16% on three-pointers (3-19) and 26% (15-57) overall. While the rims at the New Lebanon gym are stiff, Berlin relied too much on shots from beyond 15 feet. While the forwards did struggle getting the ball over New Lebanon’s tall center Bryan Potter, the guards failed to penetrate the zone defense and try to make things happen. Berlin is now 5-3 in the league, and faces Doane Stuart on Friday and Heatly on Tuesday.