CLAYSBURG — If a silver lining needs to be connected to losing a conference championship basketball game, the Williamsburg Lady Pirates didn’t need to look very far to detect one on Saturday.

After defeating defending PIAA Class 2A girls state champion Berlin Brothersvalley in a regular-season game in mid-December, Williamsburg found itself going toe-to-toe again with the champions in a thrilling Inter-County Conference girls title game at Claysburg-Kimmel High School in which the Lady Pirates came up just a bit short.

Both teams enjoyed modest leads at different junctures of the spirited showdown, before Berlin used a strong finish to post a 62-57 victory and win its third straight ICC championship game.

Win or lose, this type of game is just what the Williamsburg team needs going into the District 6 Class 1A playoffs, which begin with the fourth-seeded Lady Pirates hosting fifth-seeded Blacklick Valley tonight.

“Berlin has a really nice team, and they’re coached really well,” Williamsburg coach Angela Detwiler said. “This was a really good game to prepare us for the playoffs. We battled the entire time, but they just got a few more shots to fall for them than we did today.”

Four different players scored in double figures for Berlin (19-5), which was led by junior guard and coveted Division I recruit Coral Prosser’s team-high 22 points and game-high 15 rebounds. Sophomore Brynn Prosser chipped in 16 points, sophomore Sam Walker added 11, and senior Mercy Sechler 10 for the Lady Mountaineers.

But it was sophomore Penny Stoltzfus who came up with arguably the biggest field goal of the game, when she converted a feed from Brynn Prosser to give Berlin the lead for good, 54-52, with just over two minutes left to play.

“She knows her role on the team very role,” Berlin coach Rachel Prosser said of Stoltzfus. “She plays defense very well, and she was in a nice place on the floor to finish her shot after Brynn made a nice pass to her.”

Moments after making the key field goal, Stoltzfus converted one of two free throws and Sechler grabbed the rebound off the missed second foul shot and scored a key putback to put Berlin ahead, 57-52 with 1:31 left.

After senior guard LeeAnna Royer hit one of two free throws to make it 57-53 and freshman guard Faith Detwiler converted two more free throws to pull Williamsburg (20-3) to within 58-55 in the final minute, Coral Prosser proceeded to make four consecutive foul shots to give Berlin an insurmountable 62-55 advantage.

“This was a great game,” Coach Prosser said. “I think that our defense and rebounding won it for us. This game could have gone either way, but getting multiple stops in a row on defense was a key for us.”

Junior post Levada Gorsuch had a monster game for Williamsburg, using some fantastic inside moves and an excellent 1-handed shooting touch from the paint to score a game-high 26 points, while also leading the Lady Pirates in rebounds with 14.

“Vada has been doing that for us in every game this season,” Coach Detwiler said of the athletic 6-foot-2 Gorsuch. “She presents a presence in the paint for us, and she just grinds it out.”

Faith Detwiler added 18 points for Williamsburg, which had opened a six-point, 35-29 lead on senior guard Regan Prough’s 3-point field goal early in the third quarter, before Berlin reeled off 17 of the quarter’s final 25 points to take a 46-43 lead after three stops.

“This was a really good game in a really good atmosphere,” Coach Detwiler said. “I think that being involved in a game like this will be something that we can grow from in the district and state playoffs.”

BERLIN BROTHERSVALLEY (62): C. Prosser 6 9-15 22, B. Prosser 6 1-2 16, Sechler 5 0-0 10, Walker 4 1-4 11, Wall 0 0-0 0, Stoltzfus 1 1-2 3, Ritchey 0 0-0 0. Totals – 22 12-23 62.

WILLIAMSBURG (57): L. Royer 1 1-2 4, R. Prough 1 3-4 6, Gorsuch 13 0-0 26, Detwiler 7 2-2 18, Lower 0 0-0 0, B. Royer 1 0-0 3, Colbert 0 0-0 0, Alexander 0 0-0 0. Totals – 23 6-8 57.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Berlin Brothersvalley 14 13 19 16–62

Williamsburg 15 10 18 14–57

3-point goals: Berlin Brothersvalley 6 (B. Prosser 3, Walker 2, C. Prosser); Williamsburg 5 (Detwiler 2, L. Royer, B. Royer, Prough).

Records: Berlin Brothersvalley (19-5); Williamsburg (20-3).

Officials: Steve Voytko, John Page, Nick Roman.