Lady Indians trip up Musselman

by Jamie Harris
Berkeley Springs faced a number of obstacles as the game with Musselman drew to a close.

Starting in the third quarter, the fouls began to pile up for the Lady Indians, and as a result, the Applemen took advantage with a couple of runs at Berkeley Springs' lead.

No matter what Musselman threw at them, the Lady Indians buckled down and held on for a 46-40 win Tuesday at Cline Court.

"We were faced with some adversity tonight, especially getting in foul trouble late," Berkeley Springs Coach Dale McCumbee said. "We haven't handled adversity that well, and I think the girls fought through that tonight. Hopefully, this win gets them going and lets them know they can handle whatever comes at them."

The Lady Indians (7-4), who have won three straight games, had to fight off two Musselman scoring runs in the second half.

Before those runs, Berkeley Springs jumped out to a 32-19 third-quarter lead after starting the quarter on an 8-0 run – Cassandra Burch leading the way with a pair of baskets.

Berkeley Springs used their transition game, something they've been getting back to of late, to grab a 13-point lead. Off rebounds and turnovers, Berkeley Springs got down the floor in a hurry.

"It's something we've been working hard on," McCumbee said of the transition game. "During our skid, we were getting into a lot of half court offense and that's not our game."

Down by 13 points, the Applemen mounted a rally, scoring 14 straight points to take their first and only lead of the game at 33-32 with 7:09 left.

Despite being without Casey Solomon, who sat several minutes with four fouls, the Lady Indians responded by scoring six straight points to take a 38-33 lead. Not to be outdone, Musselman got to within a point, 38-37, after Tianna Venable's layup and Kyra Burnett pair of free throws.

The biggest shot of the game came with 2:23 left when Lauren Schetrompf hit the second of her two three-pointers to put the Indians up 41-37. Berkeley Springs then iced the game with five throws, including a four-for-four from Sarah Haynes.

"Sarah made some big shots for us, especially down the stretch. She was six-for-six in the fourth quarter and eight-for-eight overall," McCumbee said.

Haynes was a big reason the Lady Indians led the entire first half as she scored 12 points. Defensively, she turned three steals into easy layups.

For the Lady Indians, Solomon had eight points and eight rebounds, while Schetrompf also had eight points.