Indians start slow, defeat Paw Paw 60-33

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."

The longtime rivals were tied 14-14 after the first quarter of play, with Brittany Kerns and Sierra Hott scoring seven points each for the Pirates. Alex Tamez kept the Indians in the game, scoring eight of Berkeley Springs 14, first-quarter points.

Kerns made a two-point basket to open the second quarter, giving Paw Paw a 16-14 lead, before Ashley Hovermale hit a three-point bucket, giving the Indians the lead, for good, 17-16, on Berkeley Springs next possession.

Rebecca Trump extended the lead to three points, 19-16, but Kirsten Bradford cut the Indians' lead to one with a bucket of her own, before Berkeley Springs went on a 12-0 run to end the half on top 31-18.

Paw Paw played a very good first half and was in a position to pull off the upset, as the two teams headed to their respective half-time locker rooms.

However, the Indians used the momentum they carried into the break to put the game on ice by the time the third quarter ended.

Tamez, who had been quiet in the second quarter, scored eight more points in the third quarter, while teammate Amber Booher, who scored a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, scored five points to help Berkeley Springs build an insurmountable 48-27 advantage.

The Indians outscored Paw 12-7 in the fourth quarter for the final margin of victory.

Tamez led the Indian offense with 16 points, Trump added 11, Booher 10, Hovermale eight, Sarah Risinger seven, Kelsey McCoy four, Courtney Kesecker three and Jessica Haynes one to the Berkeley Springs total.

Kesecker and McCoy came up big on the boards for the Tribe, pulling down 12 and 11 rebounds, respectively. Tamez had nine steals and six assists, to go along with her game-high 16 points.

Hott and Kerns led the Pirates with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Loren Holiday scored six and Bradford four, to round out the Paw Paw offense.

Both teams struggled from the floor with Berkeley Springs shooting 24% and Paw Paw 19.4%. The Indians continued their poor free throw shooting, making only 11 of 21 attempts.

"We didn't have a good night shooting the ball," McCumbee said. "That will happen from time to time, but what really concerns me is our free throw shooting. We are just barely over 50% from the line on the year and that is not good enough. In close games free throws are very important and we need to take advantage of them."

With the win, Berkeley Springs improved to 6-5 on the year.