by Ryan Mosher
Despite playing very well the Berlin boys basketball team saw their season come to an end on Friday night, February 22, in Greenwich. The sectional play-in game pitted the Witches of the WASAREN League against the Mountaineers. The teams were battling it out for the right to play against #3 seed Voorheesville in the first round game the following week.
The visiting Mountaineers looked a bit nervous at first as Greenwich jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first two and a half minutes, forcing Coach Al Webster to call a timeout to regroup his troops. It did just that, as Berlin scored immediately when Drew Webster fed the ball to Shawn Willis who scored on a lay-up. Cody Blain scored next for Berlin on a reverse layup.
After a Greenwich basket, Drew Webster drove to the hoop and was blocked, much to the delight of the crowd. Webster silenced them though when he grabbed the loose ball and knocked down a wide open three-pointer, making the score 8-7. After another Witches’ basket, it was Webster again knocking down a three-pointer and tying the score at 10-10. Blain then gave Berlin their first lead of the game on a driving layup. The first quarter ended with Greenwich guard Joe Estramonte throwing up a half court shot and watching it swish through the net, stretching their one point lead to a four point lead, 18-14.
The Mountaineer struggles began in the second quarter. For the first time all year, the Berlin players were continuously driving to the hoop for layups. Unfortunately for them, they were not getting any foul calls in the paint, and the bigger Greenwich players out rebounded them. The Witches’ Ryan McFee tortured the Mountaineers under the boards in the first half. At halftime, the Witches led 33-20, led by McFee’s 19 first half points.
The first two minutes of the second half showed how the rest of the game would be, as Greenwich buried two long three-pointers to take a 39-20 lead. The Mountaineers tried to respond, with Cody Blain scoring 10 second half points, but that was not enough as Greenwich cruised through the second half to a 69-36 victory. Blain led Berlin with 15 points, and Webster scored 13 points.