by Ryan Mosher
Just four days after playing Heatly, one of the top teams in the Central Hudson Valley League, to a 10 point loss, the Berlin boys basketball team seemed to fall back into a slump, losing to Hawthorne 54-27 on Tuesday night. The Mountaineers, whose play had seemed to be improving in the past few games, hit a road block and at times just seemed to have a hard time finding the basket.
The visiting Wildcats flew out to a 14-4 lead after one quarter, leaving Berlin frustrated. The second quarter seemed to be an
improvement for the Mountaineers as six different players were able to score. Berlin’s 12 points almost matched Hawthorne’s 13, and at the half Hawthorne led 27-16.
The second half just got worse for Berlin. Hawthorne fell into a groove and outscored the Mountaineers in the second half, 25-11. The final score was 52-27. Senior Shawn Willis led the sluggish Mountaineer offense with just 9 points while Cole Riddering pitched in 6.