Recent weeks have seen winter hammer our area much of the time with frigid weather.
Game photos click here.
Recent weeks have seen winter hammer our area much of the time with frigid weather.
If dressing properly, allowing a bit more time on the roadways, and using resources wisely, this weather is livable.
However, the weekend of Feb. 6 was a challenge, and drizzle and sleet were the culprit early in the evening as fans settled into the warm gymnasium at Berkshire High School for a CVC contest with the visiting Crestwood Red Devils.
It seemed like Berkshire should have the upper hand, but as conditions got nastier outside, the inner gymnasium seemed to become more frigid for the Badgers. Crestwood took an early lead, built on cold shooting from the Badgers, then withstood a late Berkshire rally to escape into the snowy night air with a narrow 47-43 victory.
“There’s really not much to say about the game,” Berkshire Head Coach Joe Montanaro said as he prepared to head out into the blizzard-like conditions.”We didn’t play well tonight. Maybe the weather had something to do with it, but the last week or so in practice has been kind of ragged, too.
“Tonight we just made too many mistakes and bad choices and we never got going.”
Four first-period turnovers in the first three-plus minutes of the game led to a 9-0 run to start things for the Red Devils (7-10). Berkshire’s Alex Bowman scored the first points of the night over four minutes, and his two free throws with 3:16 left in that first quarter were the only other points before Crestwood took an 11-4 edge after a period.
That lead moved to 15-6 early in period two before a brief spurt, set up by 3-pointers from Billy Verbic and Cameron Beam, cut the gap to 15-14.
Crestwood responded with another 9-0 run that Berkshire (11-7) narrowed to 26-21 at halftime.
In the first minute of the fourth period, Berkshire made it 36-33 when Beam hit Bowman in the right corner with a perfect pass and Bowman nailed the long shot.
But the Badgers never got into any kind of flow to cut the gap any further.
One would suspect that the beautiful building on Berkshire’s campus would not have issues with outside condition — but based on a four-of-30 night from beyond the arc, perhaps air currents were steering Badger shots awry.
Nobody ever got very hot, though Beam nailed all three shots he took in the second period, then three of four in the fourth, to lead his team with 13 points. Bowman added 10, and Luke Stute and Billy Verbic each scored 8.
The Badgers were, however, tougher on the boards against the taller Red Devils, winning that battle 25-19.
Beam and Stute each snared seven errant shots, but hitting only 17 of 54 actions shots and 10 first-half turnovers dug too deep a hole to get out of.
Colton Mayle led Crestwood with 15 points, Joel Custer added 13, and Angelo DiNardo had 11, as well as a game-high eight rebounds.
In the end, Crestwood’s early lead was just too much for Berkshire to dig out of.
