Massachusetts High School Basketball - Taconic overwhelms Berlin/New Lebanon
December 12, 2023: Pittsfield, MA 01201 Fans at Tuesday's non-league challenge between the Taconic Thunder (Pittsfield, MA) and the visiting Berlin/New Lebanon Mountain Lions (Berlin, NY), saw Taconic's basketball squad wallop Berlin/New Lebanon by a tally of 69-22.
With the victory, Taconic improves its record to 1-1 on the campaign. The Thunder travel to Monson (Monson, MA) to confront the Mustangs in a Bi-County - Central challenge on Tuesday, December 19. The Mustangs come into the challenge with a record of 0-0.
Next up, the Mountain Lions confront the Loudonville Christian Eagles (Loudonville, NY) in a non-league challenge, on Friday, December 15. Berlin/New Lebanon will attempt to improve on its 0-3 season record.
First Quarter
On Monday, the Thunder played lockdown defense for three quarters and converted turnovers and defensive rebounds into scoring opportunities at the other end to run away early
Nine of Taconic’s 13 first-quarter points came in transition, including a conventional three-point play from Walker to make it 9-0 midway through the quarter after Evaniece O’Neil pulled down a rebound at the other end.
Second Quarter
Berlin got on the board in the first minute of the second quarter when Nikki Minkler scored in the post to make it 15-2, but Taconic scored the next 13 points to jump start its most productive quarter.
Walker scored seven in the quarter, and Hebert and Jessup each scored six as the Thunder hung 21 points on the board.
Fourth Quarter
The Taconic girls basketball team has played two games this winter, with nearly mirrored results: a 39-point loss in the opener against Hampshire Regional and a 62-22 win on Monday night against New York’s Berlin.
Some of that was the level of competition.
But much of it was about the Thunder coming into its own.
“Our first game, I thought we did play pretty well,” first-year coach Jason Conuel said. “We just struggled that first time seeing a press, not having gone against it.
“We made some adjustments. The first game, we had a freshman in the middle against the press. Now, if we get pressed, I have [Jaelynn] Walker in the middle, someone who has handled that pressure before.”
