BY ERIC AHLQVIST
THE COOPERSTOWN CRIER
The Cooperstown boys basketball
team’s furious fourth quarter rally
fell just short as they lost a Section
Three Class C-1 first round game at
Thousand Islands, 69-66, last Friday
night.
``We trailed by nine points with
about 50 seconds left, and cut it
to three and had a chance to tie,’’
Bertram said.
With six seconds remaining,
Bertram set up a play for senior Kyle
Liner, whose contested three-point
shot from the wing fell just short.
After Thousand Islands took an
eight-point lead after the opening
quarter, the Redskins fought back to
tie the score three times but never
led in the game.
Bertram said with his team trailing
60-54 midway though the final
quarter, his team made seven or
eight consecutive defensive stops,
but failed to convert them into any
points on offense.
``That was the key stretch of the
game,’’ Bertram said. ``We had a
lot of chances but we made bad
decisions and took bad shots. We
showed out youth and inexperience.’’
The loss ends CCS’s season at 11-8,
and put and end to their four-game
winning streak. Cooperstown started
four sophomores in Friday’s game,
among them Jeff Flynn, who scored
a career-high 28 points, including
three three-point shots.
The Redskins made seven threepoint
shots in the game, including
three more from fellow sophomore
Jay Davine. A third sophomore, Mike
Moakler, had 11 points while Liner
added 10.
Thousand Islands’ Ryan Hanrahan,
who averages over 30 pointsa-
game, scored a game-high 34
points in Friday’s win as the Vikings
improved to 15-4. They advanced
to play Westmoreland in the second
round.
Bertram said having four sophomores
back with a year of experience
should be a big advantage for
his team, which will also add players
from this year’s 16-2 junior varsity
team. Bertram said Harrison Clinton,
Sam Bowen, Bobby Bauer and Wes
Lippitt all have the potential to make
an impact next season.
``It all comes down to who does
the most work in the off season to
improve their games,’’ Bertram, who
has had a winning record in each of
his seven seasons at Cooperstown.
``We have the potential to be very
good next year, but the preparation
they do before then is very important.’’
