Lady Indians fall in Sectional

by Jamie Harris
At the end of the night, not even a super hero could save the Class AA, Region II, Section 1 crown for the Berkeley Springs Lady Indians.

Frankfort dominated the boards and made 24-39 free throws in knocking off the Indians 50-42 Thursday, February 21 at Berkeley Springs.

With 1:35 remaining and Frankfort ahead 43-38, the Falcons had a layup go up and roll gently to a stop on the basket support - where it stayed.

While officials were searching for something to knock the ball off its perch, a Berkeley Springs student, dressed as Batman, ran out of the stands and grabbed the net, jarring the ball loose.

Seconds later, the Indians' Sarah Haynes, showing some super-hero powers herself, hit a 3-pointer to draw the Indians to within two.

After Kaitlyn Jan hit two free throws and Haynes missed a shot, the Indians were forced to foul and the Falcons made 5-of-8 down the stretch to seal the win.

Berkeley Springs was playing catchup most of the night, after a 10-0 Frankfort run in the second quarter gave the Falcons a 17-10 lead.

The Indians would only get within two on two other occasions, one after Batman came to the rescue and another early in the third, when Berkeley Springs went on a mini-run to make it 19-17.

Each time, Frankfort answered. The Falcons game plan was simple. Let Haynes get her points.

Which the junior standout did, finishing with 26.

"When you get to this point, (the opponents) better players are going to score their points," Frankfort Coach Mike Orndorf said. "She's a great player. We had to limit what the role other players did."

"They came with a lot of energy early and we knew they would," Berkeley Springs Coach Dale McCumbee said. "Early in the game, they got every loose ball, every rebound. I thought we played well late in the third and in the fourth, but we just ran out of time."

Then there was the foul situation, which didn't help. The Falcons made nine more free throws than the Indians attempted (24 of 39 to 9 of 15). Casey Solomon saddled with foul trouble, and the double-figure scorer eventually fouled out with four points. Haynes attempted all of Berkeley Springs' free throws.

Solomon wasn't the only one in foul trouble.

"We were in a lot of foul trouble and we had to rotate a lot of people through," McCumbee said.

"It eventually became an issue. The bottom line is they had a lot of opportunities and they made the most of those opportunities."

Aside from Haynes, Berkeley Springs scored just 16 points.

The bottom line for Berkeley Springs is it has another game. The Indians will face Bridgeport tonight in Bridgeport game.

McCumbee's postgame message was simple.

"Two years ago, we won the sectional championship, we beat Frankfort," he said. "Frankfort ended up going to the state tournament and we didn't. So, it can be done. You don't necessarily have to have home court advantage."

Petersburg
Haynes definitely did her thing in the Indians, 69-38, win over Petersburg Tuesday, February 19 in the Class AA, Region II, Section 1 tournament and Solomon was solid as always.

The numbers that really impressed Berkeley Springs Coach, however, were nine, seven and six.

Those were the point contributions of Lauren Schetrompf, Sydney Yanez and Caitlyn Napfel in the Indians' 69-38 win over Petersburg Tuesday in the Class AA, Region II, Section 1 tournament.

"Sarah is the focal point of what we are trying to do, and she's the focal point of every team we are playing," McCumbee said. "Everybody knows what she can do, but we've been stressing the entire season if we want to go further, if we want to get where we want to go, we have to be more than just two players. Tonight, I thought we got some good contributions from everyone. Casey did a great job of looking inside to Caitlyn for some easy baskets. That impressed me more than anything."

Of course, it was Haynes who spearheaded the attack.

She finished with 26 points, and that was just the half of it. The junior, a second-team all-stater two years ago, also had eight steals, six assists, three rebounds and a blocked shot.

She had 12 points in the first quarter as the Indians established a 17-7 lead.

"I was feeling it," Haynes said. "I felt good, and I was just going to keep shooting until I missed."

She didn't miss much, as her first quarter eruption got the Indians up and rolling.

In the second, Solomon started contributing to the scoring, with six of her 16 points.

Also making a big contribution in the first half was Yanez, with four of her seven points as the Indians built a 32-16 halftime lead.

In the third, Napfel had five of her six points, two of those baskets off assists from Solomon (who had six assists and seven rebounds) and the lead grew to 53-27.

Schetrompf had five of her nine points in the final quarter as the Indians advanced to face Frankfort in the sectional final Thursday.

"We knew what Sarah and Casey could do, so our primary goal this season was to get our other players contributing and knowing their roles," McCumbee said. "We wanted to have that team concept established by this point in the season. It was good to see."

"We just needed to trust our post players," Solomon said. "When we drive we have to know that when we dish it off, they are going to score. Caitlyn did a good job. She's really working hard in practice. She does a good job inside, and she is big enough to get rebounds when she misses a shot. I think we are coming together as a team."

Berkeley Springs (16-6) has won 12 of its last 14 games. It split the season series with Frankfort.

Haynes had 17 points, including three 3-pointers, in the first 10 minutes of the game and at one point had a chance for a four-point play. She didn't make the free throw, but that was about all that went wrong for Berkeley Springs.

"I really wanted that," she said. "Lately, I've gotten a few of those. More than anything, we want to make sure we get everyone involved. It's up to me to get the ball to the girls in front of me.