Berkshire led for a majority of the contest with Fairport on Feb. 10. But the senior duo of Brady Lawson and Shane Greenwood weren’t going to let the Skippers fall on senior night. Greenwood hit a pair of critical 3-pointers and Lawson made two free throws to send the game to overtime. Junior Ben Allen established himself inside to take the overtime victory, 74-61. Fairport improves to 17-2 on the season, as Berkshire falls to 11-7. The Skippers average 80.6 points per game, the best in The News-Herald coverage area, while the Badgers have held opponents to an average of 44.6 points. Both sides had strong transition defenses early, with neither recording a field goal in the first three minutes of the opening frame. Berkshire’s Jake Patterson broke the ice with a corner 3-pointer. The Skippers responded with a Kam Leftwich steal and score while drawing the foul. But a pair of Fairport turnovers led to a 4-0 Berkshire run in the frame. Coach Dustin Ettinger knew it was going to be a battle to break the defense but his team was going to be able to figure it out. “Offensively, Berkshire had a lot of double cuts and run through,” Ettinger said. “Coach Montanaro used to do that at North when I was in school. He has it instilled in the boys. Defensively, we need to work on our switches better, and we were struggling with that. They were a long lanky team.” Leftwich and Yomar Castellano made a late push to trim the lead. Leftwich had a block and the loose ball went to Yomar Castellano in transition for the layup. But Berkshire responded quickly in the opening stages of the second. Luke Stute had a layup followed by one from Billy Verbic in transition. Allen attempted to get the offense going for the Skippers, with a rebound and bucket while a Greenwood corner 3-pointer gave Fairport its first lead of the contest. Berkshire took the lead on a baseline score from Verbic, and then Stute went to work. He had a pair of layups that kept the lead in double figures. Yomar Castellano had a steal and score in the final 15 seconds of the quarter that made it a one-point deficit. But Stute struck again, with a runner before the buzzer that made it a 31-28 lead for the Badgers going to the half. Despite the late swing in momentum, Allen was confident in the changes. “We talked in the locker room how we need to box out as a team,” Allen said “Not just the bigs. The guards needed to crash and be a part of the rebounding. If they’re in there putting bodies on teams, it makes it easier for us.” Berkshire came out of the half with Caden McGranahan finding Beam down low, but Fairport responded with a 3-pointer. Yomar Castellano found Allen down low later in the frame, coupled with another Greenwood 3-pointer and a Jan Castellano steal and score gave Fairport the lead. But again Berkshire offered a counter as Beam drew and converted an and-1 score plus a Patterson drive kept it 45-40 Berkshire going to the fourth. The press defense limited the drive options for the Skippers, but Allen was confident the Skippers’ offense could adapt. “They’re probably the scrappiest team we’ve played,” Allen said. “It was great because these last handful of games are going to be good for us to set the playoff tone. We haven’t seen a stretch like this of two overtime games and close ones in a while. A lot of it goes to our coaches for finding these situations and helping us grow through them.” Yomar Castellano found Jan Castellano for a 3-pointer to open the fourth, but McGranahan and Billy Verbic had layins to keep the lead. Then the Skippers started to churn. Allen had a rebound and putback while drawing a foul, and Yomar Castellano had a steal and score off the ensuing free throw and Fairport tied the game. Lawson drew a foul on the offensive side and with the Badgers in the bonus, the senior went to the line. Despite not being one of the focal points of the offense, Ettinger was confident in his senior. “Guys like Shane and Brady have been huge,” Ettinger said. “Shane lives for the clutch moments. He missed some against Riverside and came through tonight. As for Brady, he’s been waiting on this moment, to get back in and start grinding. The kid gets after it everywhere, and that is a major tone setter for us.” While the game went to overtime, Fairport was able to establish early control. Yomar Castellano and Allen had early layins, and Jan Castellano was able to get a drive in the lane to fall. Allen finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Yomar Castellano had 20 points, Greenwood added 13 and Jan Castellano had 11. Berkshire coach Joe Montanaro understood his team hasn’t had the same level of firepower as Fairport but liked the strides his team made on the offensive side against the Skippers. If they continue to show improvement like that, a long Division V run is there. “It really just comes down to continuing to practice well,” Montanaro said. “We play so hard those kids have the talent to contend. It was a difficult game to blow. There were a lot of whistles as well, and it felt like that got into our momentum as well.” Berkshire was led by McGranahan with 16 points, followed by Beam with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Stute and Verbic had 11 each. Berkshie travels to Geneva on Feb. 13 for cross CVC play. Fairport remains at home for a cross town clash with Harvey on the same day. THE SCORE Fairport 74, Berkshire 61 (OT) ...read more read less