Painful road loss
The Berkeley Springs High School Boys Basketball Team traveled to Keyser on Thursday, January 5, with hopes of ending a two-game losing skid. Things looked promising for the Tribe until the final three minutes of the game, when Keyser overcame a six-point deficit to beat the Indians, 63-61.
"We have to learn how to put teams away," said Berkeley Springs coach Jeremy Horvat. “We have given up two late leads and it’s just a matter of us responding when the heat is on. I'll take some of the blame too. Our 1-3-1 full court press was working well and I decided to take it off to keep our kids fresh, after we got a comfortable lead. But, in hindsight, I shouldn't have done it. We also needed to do a better job on the boards. I think this was probably our worst rebounding game of the year. We simply can't give teams second and third chances and expect to win. We are going to work hard on rebounding and finishing games this week."
Keyser jumped out to an 18-11 lead after the opening quarter of play as Wyatt Nelson, who finished with 12 points, had two baskets and a pair of free throws.
The Indians came storming back behind 12 second quarter points from Zach Wise, and nine more from teammate Kaleb Athey, to take a 37-29 halftime lead.
Keyser cut Berkeley Springs eight point halftime lead in half, 49-45, heading into the final quarter of regulation and then outscored the Tribe, 18-12, down the stretch to get the come-from-behind win.
Zach Wise scored 25 points and Kaleb Athey added 13 to lead the 4-6 Indians. Derrick Cowles scored seven points, Richard Recio six, Brady Spielman five and Ryan Tyser two in the losing effort.
Tyler Hoban scored 14 points to lead a balanced Golden Tornado offense.
The Indians could have taken control of the section with a win, but still have a chance to control their own destiny, according to Horvat.
"We had an opportunity to seize control of our section," Horvat said. “If we would have beaten Keyser we would have been the only team in the section without a sectional loss. The good news is that we play Keyser again. If we can take care of business, we should still be in good shape as far as sectional seeding is concerned. We have a big game at Petersburg on Wednesday, January 11.”
Despite dropping their third consecutive game Horvat has a simple message.
"We are going to stay positive and work hard," the coach said.
Berkeley Springs junior varsity lost to Keyser 63-40, despite getting a game-high 18 points from Michael Kearney. Tyler Zinzow added eight points, Jake Truax, Brandon Malone and B.J. Michael four each and Bailey Mills two.
