The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
THRILL OF VICTORY...
Berkshire’s Mason Mendolara celebrates the Badgers’ 52-45 victory over Cardinal on Feb. 18.
THE SCORE BERKSHIRE 52, CARDINAL 45
Berkshire’s grip on the Kinsman Cup appeared more tenuous by the minute on Feb. 18 in its rivalry matchup at Cardinal.
The Badgers had led on just two occasions, and trailed, 40-38, as the third quarter was drawing to a close.
Freshman Mason Mendolara stole a Cardinal pass, dribbled up court, then passed off to senior Jay Wolfe.
Wolfe immediately fed to senior Matt Heffern, who was trailing behind. Heffern drilled a 3, beating the buzzer and giving the Badgers the lead once again, 41-40.
Heffern’s clutch shot kicked off a 14-5 game-closing run as Berkshire won its fourth straight over the Huskies, 52-45.
Junior Isaac Potter paced the Badgers with 15 points, while Heffern and senior J.T. Burgmeier added 10 points each.
Winning the Kinsman Cup-the trophy for the Berkshire-Cardinal rivalry, is a big deal regardless of sport. Getting season sweeps in a particular sport over two years? Even better.
“My freshman year, we split with them, 1-1,” Potter said. “Then last year we beat them both times, and to beat them both times this year, first at Berkshire and now here, feels fantastic.”
The Huskies had converted 6 of 9 shots outside the 3-point arc through the first three frames, five of those by sophomore Jake Bean and freshman Troy Domen, but the Badgers held them to just 1 of 10 shooting in the fourth, which included 0 for 5 from three.
“We were just trying to lock down on Jake Bean and Domen, those were their top two guys,” said Burgmeier, who also had 6 assists. “We just tried to stop them from scoring as much as we could.”
Berkshire (7-8), sank eight 3s of its own, four in each half, and its 27-22 rebound advantage helped it keep the game in reach until its late run put it over the top.
“We settled down after the first quarter, I think we were down (18-11),” Berkshire coach Ryan Dickard said. “That was a poor defensive quarter for us. We knew going into this game they weren’t going to play as bad as the first time (a 4325 Berkshire win).
“We responded and we went out there and took that win. It’s been over a month, so it’s a good thing.”
Cognizant of their struggles in scoring just 25 points in the first meeting, Cardinal (4-13) surpassed that total in the first half this time, taking a 26-25 lead at the break.
Bean and Domen each hit a pair of 3s before halftime, and 6-foot-3 sophomore Paul Gall battled in the paint and provided some inside scoring for the Huskies.
“Fatigue,” Cardinal coach Jon Cummins cited as the key factor in the Huskies’ fourth-quarter struggles. “Playing last night didn’t help. Not to take anything away from Berkshire, they did a great job of cutting in that fourth quarter.
“We had no legs in the fourth quarter and they knew it. They were taking advantage of things we were giving them.”
Bean led all scorers with 16 points, and Gall added 13 for Cardinal, which has just 3 seniors on its roster. Both teams had to exercise patience against the other’s zone defense, and alternately push the ball in transition whenever opportunity arose.
Berkshire erased a 22-14 deficit in the second quarter and stayed within one possession throughout the third quarter before making its move at the end of the frame.
However it happens, keeping the Cup is imperative.
“We actually just wrote that on the board, four in a row,” Dickard said. “My first year here we got swept (by Cardinal) in three games. So getting back in the positive is big.”
Berkshire will host Trinity on Feb.19, and Cardinal will host St. John on Feb.20.