Indians end six-game skid with a convincing win over Timber Ridge

Berkeley Springs hammered visiting Timber Ridge, 90-48, on Thursday, January 19, in Berkeley Springs.

The win ended a six-game losing streak by the Indians, including losses to Highland View Academy and Boonsboro, on Monday and Tuesday of last week, respectively.

"We really needed this win," said a relieved Indian head coach Jeremy Horvat. “It is nice to end the streak and do it going away. It was huge for us and will hopefully give us some momentum to build on."

The win was Berkeley Springs first since beating Hancock in the consolation game of the Tri-State Shootout back in December, and was welcome, coming off the losses to Highland View and Boonsboro, which Horvat described as, "probably the worst two games we've played all year."

The Indians began the week by losing on the road to Highland View, 57-47, on Monday, January 16.

The Indians fell behind 13-9 after one quarter of play and trailed by 10 points, 31-21, at the half.

Zach Wise scored 10 points in the third quarter, as the Tribe outscored Highland View 16-7, and trailed by a single point, 38-37 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.

Mike Twigg scored five fourth-quarter points for the Tribe, but Highland View took control of the game, outscoring the Indians 19-10 down the stretch for the 10-point win.

Wise led the Indians with 14 points. Derrick Cowles added eight, Twigg and Brady Spielman seven each, Richard Recio six, Dylan Whipple three and Kaleb Athey two.

Highland View got 16 points from Paris Ritter, 15 from Daniel Tullock and 14 from Ray Fisher.

The following evening, Berkeley Springs hosted the Warriors of Boonsboro and were simply off their game, according to Horvat, as the Tribe fell to their Maryland foe, 57-41.

"We didn't play well in the first two games of the week, but Boonsboro was probably our worst game of the year," Horvat said. “I think there was a little bit of a hangover from our loss the night before, but we have to be able to rebound better than that. It was disappointing. I don't think we were ever emotionally in the game. It was just 'one' of those games and we aren't going to dwell on it."

Boonsboro opened the scoring about a minute-and-a-half into the game to take a 2-0 lead, but Wise nailed a 3-point shot moments later to give Berkeley Springs their only lead of the game, 3-2.

The quarter ended with the Warriors holding a 12-6 lead, which they expanded to 25-14 at the half.

Boonsboro opened the second half on an 8-0 run and held a comfortable 41-24 lead heading into the final quarter of play.

Cowles scored on back-to-back possessions to open the fourth quarter and Athey scored on Berkeley's next trip down the court, cutting the Warrior lead to 41-30 with 6:08 remaining in the game.

Unfortunately, the Indians would get no closer, and Boonsboro walked away with a 16-point victory.

Brady Spielman was the only Indian in double figures with 10 points. Michael Kearney scored nine points, Cowles eight, Athey six, Wise four, Recio two and Jared Spielman two.

Justin Lewis and Riley Stephenson paced the Warriors with 10 points each.
The Indians got a chance for redemption on Thursday, January 19 when they hosted Timber Ridge in a varsity only contest.

Berkeley Springs came out of the gate fast, putting up 23 first-quarter points and added 29 more in the second quarter to take a 52-24 lead into the halftime locker room.

Timber Ridge had their most productive quarter of the game after the intermission, but Berkeley still outscored the Virginia opponent 19-15 to extend the lead to 71-39 after three quarters of action. The Indians added 19 more points in the final quarter to down Timber Ridge 90-48.

Berkeley Springs had 11 different players score, four of whom posted double figures. Jared Spielman led the way with 17 points, Wise added 14, Recio 13 and Brady Spielman 11. Athey netted eight points, Matt Walters seven, Twigg six, Whipple five, Kearney four, Cowles three and Kyle Appel two.

D'Vaugh Cosley led Timber Ridge with 20 points.

"We have a chance to turn things around and that starts this week," Horvat said. “We have Paw Paw coming up and we are going to prepare for them like any other opponent. And then we play sectional opponent Petersburg. The section is still wide open and we can put ourselves right back in the thick of things."

The Indians host Paw Paw on January 25 and Petersburg on January 28, before hitting the road to take on Faith Christian Academy on February 2.
Berkeley Springs stands at 5-9 on the year.

The Berkeley Springs JV fell to Boonsboro 49-34 on January 17.

BJ Michael led the Indians with 13 points and Jake Truax added nine, Nate Saunders had a game-high 15 to lead Boonsboro.