ONE STEP CLOSER
BERWICK — Berwick has leaned on the resiliency and leadership of its four starting seniors all season.
They provided such again on Monday as the Bulldogs faced a deficit at halftime of the District 2 Class 4A girls basketball semifinals. It was, however, the play of freshman Gabby Starr that supplied the needed spark for Berwick.
The Bulldogs rebounded from an uncharacteristic second quarter to overcome Nanticoke, 46-27.
Berwick will play Scranton Prep in the district championship on Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Bulldogs last won the district title in 1998 and will need to end the 23-year drought to qualify for the state playoffs.
Berwick coach Bill Phillips knew the team was in good shape, despite not playing to its potential and facing a four-point deficit at the half.
“There was no panic. We didn’t have to come up with this great ‘Rocky’ speech,” he said. “Standing outside the locker room, you can hear the seniors talking, calming them down saying, ‘we’ve got this. We’re not going to lose in our gym.’
“... The focal point was our defense first; we thought we could score off our press by creating turnovers. ... We took care of the ball a lot better — we knew they were going to come out after us, and there’s a lot on the line obviously.”
After a first half that saw three lead changes, the Bulldogs made quite the opening statement to take it for good. They came out as well-rounded as a team could, scoring all 17 of their third-quarter points before Riley Baird scored Nanticoke’s only points in the frame’s final 10 seconds. The Trojans were held to six points after scoring 17 in the second quarter.
“We’ve been down before and put together very good second halves,” Phillips said. “Seventeen points by Nanticoke in the second quarter is way too much. Our gauge is to keep teams at 10 or below before every game.
“The kids take offense to when teams score on us. Before we even got in (the locker room), the kids were saying ‘that’s too many points in a period.’”
Starr led the comeback, scoring seven of her 10 points in the second half. The freshman was often in possession of the ball or nearby, giving the Trojans someone else to think about.
“I looked at the scoreboard and we were obviously losing, but I really wanted to win it for the seniors,” Starr said. “It’s their last year and going to the arena would be a dream come true for all of us. I wanted to make that dream possible.
“The deficit really sparked a boost in me to keep pushing.”
Starr’s sister, Katie, paced the Bulldogs with a double-double. The senior scored a game-high 13 points and notched 11 rebounds. Fellow seniors Renny Murphy (13) and Jackie Nevel (7) added another 20.
“We have four seniors and they’ve carried us all year, and we’ve come to expect the results we’ve seen. But we also have great role players,” Phillips said. “When someone like Gabby Starr steps up and scores with them, it’s just gravy.”
Baird paced Nanticoke with 10 points. Six of those came in the Trojans’ great second quarter, draining a pair of 3-pointers from well beyond the arc.
Things got chippy in the fourth quarter. With 3:13 left in the game, Nanticoke coach Ed Grant was called for a technical foul, arguing a foul should be called on Berwick with one of his players injured on an in-bound pass.
In the end, Berwick got the last say — literally. With fans chanting “arena,” senior Emily Ouimet grabbed the gymnasium microphone and, in appreciation said, “We’ll see you all at the arena.”
“Every year we set a goal, and this year we did it. We won the (Wyoming Valley) conference title,” Phillips said. “We then said ‘get to the arena’ and we’ve gotten there. ... Our kids are playing at a high level.”
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