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CLAYSBURG -- Both the Berlin Brothersvalley and Williamsburg Area girls basketball teams have their sights set on winning a PIAA Class 1A state championship this season.
Berlin reached the PIAA semifinals a year ago, while Williamsburg made it to the PIAA quarterfinals.
The teams have split two meetings this season, with Berlin prevailing in the latest matchup, 60-47, Saturday evening in the Inter-County Conference championship game at the Claysburg-Kimmel High School gymnasium.
It was just the second loss in 24 games this season for Williamsburg, which was denied a chance to win its fourth consecutive conference championship game.
Berlin (19-5 overall, 9-0 in conference games) enjoyed a balanced scoring effort, placing three players in double figures. Freshman guard Coral Prosser, who is already drawing interest from NCAA Division I women's basketball programs, led Berlin with 16 points, while senior guards Regan Lauer and Taylor Hillegass chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Lady Mountaineers.
Berlin converted 19 of its 39 floor shots for a 48.7 percent clip, while Williamsburg made only 13 of its 40 for a 32.5 clip.
Williamsburg coach Amy Hileman felt that the shooting disparity was the biggest difference in the championship game.
"I never felt like we got our offense started,'' said Hileman, whose team won 13 out of 14 conference games this season. "Credit Berlin -- they came out and played a good, balanced game. We had a hard time putting the ball in the bucket. We had shots tonight, but they weren't falling.''
Berlin won the championship in its first year as a member of the Inter-County Conference.
"This Williamsburg team is very good and it's a great opportunity for us to play them again as we prepare for the playoffs,'' said Berlin coach Rachel Prosser, whose team dropped a 46-42 regular-season decision at Williamsburg.
"They're really strong, and we just tried to work the ball in for the best shot tonight,'' Prosser added. "We knew that we had to play smart and keep our heads. I'm really proud of our girls. They deserve this.''
After a back-and-forth first quarter, Berlin carried a 15-13 lead into the second period. The Lady Mountaineers opened a nine-point, 24-15 lead on a jumper by sophomore forward Elsie Barna before Williamsburg closed the deficit to 24-18 at halftime on a free throw by freshman forward Levada Gorsuch and two foul shots by sophomore guard LeeAnna Royer.
Royer led Williamsburg with a game-high 17 points, while Gorsuch added 13 points and tied Lauer for game rebounding honors with nine.
Berlin enjoyed a strong third quarter, carrying the period, 23-14, to build a 47-32 advantage after three periods.
After two free throws by Williamsburg senior guard Ayla Hileman had pulled Williamsburg to within 28-25, Berlin reeled off the next nine points to open a 37-25 advantage.
Lauer started the spurt with a 3-pointer from the top of the circle, and when Williamsburg was called for a foul on the floor with the ball in the air, Berlin regained possession and Barna converted an inbounds pass into a layup to give Berlin a 33-25 lead.
Amy Hileman tried to discuss the foul call sequence with the officials, but was whistled for a technical foul for stepping on to the floor.
Coral Prosser hit both of the two technical free throws, and freshman Elena Ritchey added a layup moments later for Berlin, which suddenly saw its lead balloon to 12 points.
"I wanted clarification about the foul call, and the official said that I was too far out on the floor, and called the technical,'' said Amy Hileman, whose team hosts Juniata Valley in the opening round of the District 6 Class 1A playoffs Monday night. "I'm still trying to process what happened. I didn't think they got the shot off before the foul was called, but the official said the foul was called on the floor after the shot.''
Berlin held serve the remainder of the way, never trailing by fewer than 12 points at any point in the fourth quarter.
"We knew that we were going to have to win the third quarter and we did that,'' Lauer said. "We played with more energy this time than the game that we had played them before.
"It's nice to have this type of competition,'' Lauer added. "(Winning the conference championship) feels really good.''
BERLIN BROTHERSVALLEY (60): Prosser 5 5-6 16, Hillegass 2 8-11 12, Brant 1 0-0 2, Lauer 3 5-6 13, Sechler 0 0-0 0, Ritchey 2 0-1 4, Foor 2 0-0 4, Barna 4 1-3 9, Walker 0 0-0 0, Milburn 0 0-0 0, Visinsky 0 0-0 0, Lowery 0 0-0 0, Kimmel 0 0-0 0, Kizer-Lischak 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0, Stivison 0 0-0 0. Totals - 19 19-27 60.
WILLIAMSBURG (47): Hileman 2 3-4 9, L. Prough 0 0-0 0, Gorsuch 4 5-8 13, Royer 4 9-12 17, R. Prough 0 0-0 0, Ranalli 3 0-0 7, Carper 0 0-0 0, G. Colbert 0 1-2 1, Alexander 0 0-0 0, Frye 0 0-0 0, A. Colbert 0 0-0 0. Totals - 13 18-26 47.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Berlin Brothersvalley 15 9 23 13--60
Williamsburg 13 5 14 15--47
3-point goals: Berlin Brothersvalley 3 (Lauer 2, Prosser); Williamsburg 3 (Hileman 2, Ranalli).
Records: Berlin Brothersvalley (19-5 overall, 9-0 in the Inter-County Conference); Williamsburg (22-2, 13-1).
Officials: Jesse Topper, Butch Beidel, Joann Fisher.