by Jamie Harris
Last Tuesday, February 21, the Berkeley Springs Lady Indians basketball team traveled to Keyser for the opening round of the sectional playoffs. Keyser had swept the Lady Indians in the regular sea- son and a road trip to the Golden Tornado would be a tough challenge for Berkeley Springs.
Keyser jumped out to a 26-4 first quarter lead and by halftime had a commanding 37-13 lead. At the end of the third quarter Keyser would increase its lead to 53-15. The final quarter saw the home team finish up the win by the score of 61- 24.
Berkeley Springs was led by Maddie Fauver (14 points and 7 rebounds), Emma Widmeyer (6 points), Maddie Daniels (2 points) and Melissa Seabright (2 points).
Berkeley Springs finished the 2022-2023 season with a record of 5-14.
“A team’s measure of success is often viewed simply through the lens of wins and losses. While our season fell short of our ambition from that view, I am proud and gratified by other learnings by a great group of student-athletes. Learning to persevere in the face of adversity is a great life lesson. Nothing forges bonds and character quite like overcoming adversity. When this team was limited to 5-8 players on any given night whether games or practices, this group chose to embrace the challenge and put forth their best effort for each other regardless of circumstances. That’s the most compelling win that doesn’t show in our record but is even more important as this team looks to the future.
“Don’t get me wrong, we would have enjoyed more traditional wins as well.
“Doing so is within our reach but it requires additional focus on development. This can take many forms including summer camps and leagues but at its most basic level, growth can be realized from a disciplined commitment to development. It can be as simple as practicing at home in the driveway consistently and accelerates with other playing time.
“For us to take a step to the next level, more than just a couple players will have to commit to off-season work (which re- ally should be called fun) and hopefully get six or seven that want to play in the off-season in camps and games.
“In doing so, I know, and history has proven, that we can achieve even more success in the future as other teams have done before us,” stated long time Berkeley Springs head coach Dale McCumbee.
