Sports

Berkeley Springs won the seven-team Viking Smash Wrestling Tournament, held in Petersburg on January 26 and 27. The Indians were 6-1 in the round robin tournament, the same as Grafton, but Berkeley Springs claimed the team title because they defeated the Bearcats in their dual meet 46-36.

The only loss suffered by Berkeley Springs was to Petersburg, 42-34, but the Vikings lost two matches to finish third.

The Berkeley Springs wrestling team traveled to Mt. Zion, on Saturday, January 20, for the nine-team Calhoun County Invitational.

Led by Derek Hovermale (103), Tyson Bennett (160) and Cody Reed (189), each of whom won their respective weight classes, Berkeley Springs finished a strong fourth in the tournament. The short-handed Indians placed all seven of their grapplers in the top three, to score 122 points.

The Berkeley Springs boys basketball team fell asleep on their long bus ride to Union, on Saturday, June 20, and by the time they awakened found themselves trailing their Grant County opponent 37-33, with only 1:15 remaining in the third quarter. The Indians then outscored Union 33-13 over the final 9:15 seconds for a 66-50 victory.

"Some might say it was because of the long bus ride or because the game was on a Saturday," Berkeley Springs coach Chad Brinegar said of his team's lethargic play. "But, there is no excuse for not playing better defense. It isn't so much a physical thing as it is mental. I think the effort is there but we are just having too many breakdowns on the defensive side of the ball.''

Berkeley Springs had not put together a 32-minute effort the entire season, according to Berkeley Springs coach Dale McCumbee. But, that all changed on Wednesday, January 17 at Berkeley Springs High School, when the Lady Indian basketball team put on a show, defeating Musselman 71-65.

"I thought we played a very good game against a good opponent," McCumbee said. "There weren't many mental lapses like we've been experiencing lately. I think it shows what this team is capable of, when they play four quarters of basketball."

Coaching changes

A little over a week ago West Virginia University football coach Rich Rodriguez was in Hawaii to coach the East team in the Hula Bowl, a collegiate all star game. Being asked to coach in one of these games is an honor, and certainly serves to illustrate how the WVU football program has been elevated in the eyes of the college football world.

Seventh grade point guard Diedra Burch put on quite a show at Warm Springs Middle School on Thursday, January 18, scoring 22 of Warm Springs 35 points, to help carry the Lady Wolves to an upset victory over visiting Musselman Middle School.

"Diedra had a great game," said Warm Springs coach Jeff Derby. "She handled the ball well, played great defense, shot the ball well from the outside and did a very good job of taking the ball to the basket in the final quarter."

The Warm Springs wrestling team traveled to Harrisonburg, Virginia on Saturday, January 20, and captured first place in the 16-team Thomas Harrison Middle School Invitational.

Warm Springs scored 206 points, 35 points more than second place Frederick County Middle School. Finishing third with 166 points was Faquier County Middle, followed by Thomas Harrison Middle and Robert Ayler Middle. Other teams participating were Louisa County, Wilbur Pence, Battlefield, Frank J. Hillard, Culpepper County, Elkton, Shellbourne, Charlotesville, Kate Collins, William Monroe and Floyd T. Binns.

Derek Hovermale and Tyson Bennett placed second in their respective weight classes at the 26-team Winner's Choice Wrestling Tournament on January 12 and 13 in Fairmont, leading Berkeley Springs to a 12th place team finish.

Hovermale, 22-3 on the year, reached the finals by defeating Elizabeth Elza 4-0, pinning Martinsburg's Andy Stotler and then scoring a 5-2 decision over Tommy Brunswick of Bridgeport in the semifinals.

Confidence is a wonderful thing, unless it becomes over-confidence. Just ask Berkeley Springs coach Dale McCumbee, who watched his team struggle in the opening quarter against cross-county rival Paw Paw.

"We were really lethargic in the first ten or twelve minutes of the game," McCumbee said. "We weren't moving our feet on defense and to Paw Paw's credit they took advantage of it. I was unhappy with our effort in the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter. We just seemed to be going through the motions. We finally picked up the defensive pressure and were able to pull away, but we can't afford to take anyone lightly."

Frankfort outscored Berkeley Springs 20 to 8 in the fourth quarter in Ridgely, on Tuesday, January 9, to beat the Indians 67-55.

The two teams played as evenly as two teams can through the first three quarters of action, before Frankfort seized control of the game.