BOYS BASKETBALL Bertolini keys Poland's win over Tigers

The senior guard had seven steals and 15 points in the 60-44 win.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- "He's a pest," said Poland coach Ken Grisdale.
Added Springfield coach Grant Spaite, "He caused us a lot of grief tonight."
The "he" in both descriptions is Dan Bertolini, Poland's diminutive 5-foot-8 senior guard, who was all over the floor -- especially on defense -- to key the Bulldogs' 60-44 win Friday night at the Tigers' gym before a sellout crowd in the regular-season final between the two backyard rivals.
Bertolini had seven steals to go with his 15 points and four assists, to spearhead Poland's harassing pressure that helped to turn the tide in the second and third quarters, after Springfield shot out to a 20-12 lead.
Chad Fender scored 16 points, including three 3-point goals, and had four assists to lead Poland (17-3), while Jim Shurilla added 13 points, Dan McGarry eight and Nick Henry seven rebounds.
Springfield (12-8) was led by Aaron Wood with 15 points, most of them on drives to the hoop. Marc Russell added 11 and Tobey Culler seven. Hood scored 10 of his points and Culler all seven early in the game to power Springfield to its 20-12 lead.
Defense the difference
"Our defense was the key. When we applied pressure, we created turnovers [21] and turned them into [our advantage]," said Grisdale. "Defensively, [Bertolini] applies a ton of pressure on the best offensive guard and causes a lot of turnovers.
"He is the key to the defensive court. It's hard to cross in front of him. He will pick you. He does a great job every night. He is our unsung hero."
Spaite said Bertolini hassled Springfield's offense with his unrelenting and pesky antics.
"He's quick and a good defender," Spaite said. "He gave us a lot of pressure. He hit some big shots but he was more of a factor defensively.
"We didn't handle their pressure. They pressured us well. We had too many turnovers."
Second quarter the key
Spaite said the second quarter was important to the outcome.
"Our second quarter was terrible," he said. "That really killed us -- between their defense and our playing on our heels. We stopped attacking."
With Springfield's offense weakened in the second quarter, Poland capitalized on the scoring of Fender, Dan McGarry, Shurilla and Bertolini to reel off a 17-2 run for a 29-22 lead at the half, holding the Tigers to only four points in the frame.
Fender had five points in the run, while McGarry, Shurilla and Bertolini added four apiece.
Fender delivered six points and Bertolini and Cameron Marchese four apiece to help the Bulldogs take a 46-38 lead into the final quarter.
Blangero delivers
Grisdale said Luke Blangero did a good job on defense near the hoop for Poland by boxing out Wood and Luke Summers and keeping them off the boards.
Meanwhile, Wood started going to the hoop more again for the Tigers in the third quarter, and produced seven points to keep his team within striking distance.
But Poland went on a 9-0 run in the fourth, led by Bertolini's five points and Shurilla's four, and then padded the spurt to 14-4 for a 60-42 lead to sew up the verdict.
kovach@vindy.com