Bergtraum ends Francis Lewis’s season yet again

The impressive manner in which they finished the season, beating Brooklyn power Thomas Jefferson, and then dispatching of No. 9 Madison by 25 points in the opening round of the PSAL Class AA girls playoffs, there wasn’t a team Coach Mike Eisenberg of eighth-seeded Francis Lewis was fearful of.
Well, except one.
That team - Murry Bergtraum, the nine-time defending PSAL city champions - unfortunately provided the Patriots’ opposition in the quarterfinals.
The Blazers, ranked second in the nation by USA Today, predictably made quick work of Francis Lewis, racing out to leads of 10-0 and 42-12 en route to a 75-25 triumph that ended the Fresh Meadows school’s season for the seventh time in eight years.
“If our draw was better, we could’ve made the finals,” Eisenberg said. “There isn’t another team in the city that we couldn’t play with. … That’s why it’s so important to win as many games as you can during season so you can stay out of the 8-9 game.”
Despite such long odds, Eisenberg thought his players were prepared to at least hang with Bergtraum. Instead, they came out nervous and jittery, and were blown out almost immediately.
“We were rushing everything,” said senior Sylvia Davis, who led the Patriots (18-8) with nine points. “It was too much pressure.”
“We practiced certain things we wanted to do and they just take you out of what you want to do,” Eisenberg said of the 21-0 Blazers. “They have great athletic ability. As bad as we feel, they have done that to a number of people. There is a reason they are the No. 2 team in the United States of America.”