After spoiling the Berkshire Hall of Fame induction ceremonies recently at Berkshire High with a solid thumping of the Badgers in boys action, the Badgers came into their regular season finale with a chance to get even and salvage a split of their season series of Route 87 neighbors.
Game photos click here.
After spoiling the Berkshire Hall of Fame induction ceremonies recently at Berkshire High with a solid thumping of the Badgers in boys action, the Badgers came into their regular season finale with a chance to get even and salvage a split of their season series of Route 87 neighbors.
For one quarter, the teams battled on even terms, then exchanged 11-0 runs to take a close contest into the halftime locker room.
Then came the third period, often times pivotal in any game. The Badgers couldn’t get shots to drop, the host Cardinal Huskies did just enough to pull away, and Cardinal extended a lead to the final horn in a 48-35 victory to conclude the regular season for both teams.
Shooting and rebounding have been tough for the Badgers from time to time over the season, and those factors loomed large in this contest. The third period was the difference. With a 21-19 lead at the half, the Huskies used the first half of the third period to go on a 7-0 run with 4:01 left.
Berkshire’s Mason Mendolera nailed a three-pointer to stop the bleeding, but that would be the only successful field goal for the Badgers in the period as they went one for 10 in the quarter.
The Huskies did not exactly torch the nets, either, going five of 13 in the period. But two of those successes were three-pointers from Ty O’Brien, and another pair of buckets came from Paul Gall.
All four of those baskets included assists, and the other hoop for Cardinal (14-8) came on a fast break by Troy Domen after a steal near midcourt.
“Our defense always works hard for us,” Berkshire Head Coach Joe Montanaro said. “We just have stretches where we don’t make shots, and it hurts us every time. We’re not the biggest team in the world, either, so rebounding is really important. You have to box out well to control the ball, and we’ve had issues all season long in that area as well.”
Having hit on 12 long shots in a recent overtime loss to Grand Valley, the long balls just weren’t falling this time. Miles Miller paced the attack for Berkshire with nine points on a trio of long balls. The Badgers hit on only six of 21 in this game overall, and other than an 11-0 run to close out the first half, a steady flow was not in their cards.
The Huskies are loaded with athletes, too, but the stiff Berkshire defense forced them to be more patient.
“There are times when we need to practice more under game conditions,” Cardinal Head Coach Jon Cummins said. “We knew we could have a tough time when they went to a 2-3 zone on us. Cuyahoga Heights did the same thing, and we had problems. We needed to have a good team effort, and we got it. We have several kids who can score, which makes us tough to defend, especially if we are shooting well. Tonight we had to work for good shots, but we got them and hit them.”
O’Brien’s four 3-pointers led to 12 points. Jake Bean and Paul Gall added 11 each, and Troy Domen made 10 more. Gall led the rebound effort with eight boards as the Huskies won that battle, 25-18.
Gall also did a good impersonation of a point guard with three assists. When the Huskies were able to get the ball inside to him, as the Badgers collapsed on him, Gall fired the ball back out in a hurry. O’Brien hit on two of his assists, Domen on the other, and the Badgers (9-13) could not get the offense going enough to respond.
Now it’s on to tournament action for both teams. The Badgers travel to Kirtland Friday night in a battle against a solid Hornets team. They split their series during the season.
Cardinal hosted St. John Tuesday night.
As usual, the neighbors worked hard in their games this season, but the Huskies got the better of things each time.
