Sports

Battling Bergtraum comes back on Kennedy

Ed Grezinsky was on easy street during this game last year. The Murry Bergtraum coach strolled the sidelines, cup of coffee in one hand, joking with reporters and people at the scorer’s table as his team dismantled rival John F. Kennedy from start to finish in Lower Manhattan.

What a difference a season makes.

This time around, Grezinsky ripped his sweater off in the first quarter. He was stalking the sidelines with a purpose and living and dying with every basket.

“You can tell he’s not used to it,” Lady Blazers senior guard Cori Coleman said with a laugh. “Once he takes off that sweater, gets the Gatorade, you know he’s nervous.”

Grezinsky could finally breathe when Bergtraum turned a five-point, fourth-quarter deficit into a 58-46 win over rival Kennedy in a PSAL Manhattan/Bronx AA crossover girls basketball game Tuesday. That’s just the kind of year it has been for the Cardiac Kids of Pearl Street.

“I feel like I could use a few drinks after this,” said Grezinsky, who has guided the program to 12 straight PSAL city titles. “It doesn’t help me. Last year we were sitting there, we were up by 25. I’m drinking my pina colada. We haven’t had that luxury this year. Every game is like a war. It always comes down to the fourth quarter.”

Coleman was the hero again like she was Saturday against Washington, D.C. powerhouse H.D. Woodson. After absolutely struggling the entire game with her shot, the lone returning senior from last year buried back-to-back 3-pointers from the left side to turn a 41-36 deficit into a 42-41 lead with 4:27 left. On Saturday at the Kennedy Challenge, she hit the go-head 3 in the fourth quarter and finished with 21 points.

“I got a little voice in my head, like ‘I have to, I have to make it,’” Coleman said with a laugh. “It sounds like Mr. G.”

Deaisia Acklin got Kennedy (14-8, 9-2 Bronx AA) back in front right away with a driving layup. But the momentum had turned and Bergtraum (15-3, 11-0 Manhattan AA) went on a crippling, 10-0 run after that. The Lady Blazers switched to a man-to-man defense and that bottled the Knights up.

“We’re not a beautiful team,” Grezinsky said. “We’re a gritty team. We gotta grind it out against our opposition. We gotta play hard. We gotta get down and dirty. We gotta play defense and we gotta box out. We gotta do all the little things where maybe in previous years, we didn’t have to do that, because we had so many scorers.”

Canisius-bound guard Ashley Gomez did most of the scoring Tuesday despite a hyperextended hand she suffered on Jan. 12 against FDA. The senior captain had 14 of her 20 points in the first half to help Bergtraum go into the break leading 27-20. Gomez didn’t score after that until she contributed six of the 10 points in that game-sealing run on a pullup jumper, a floater and a layup on the break off a Coleman assist.

“She has a lot of guts,” Grezinsky said. “She’s really the leader of this team. As she goes the team goes, I think.”

Shaniqua Reese had 12 points and 17 rebounds. She and Monae Abrams, who Grezinsky calls “Miss Consistency” for her steadiness this season, dominated the boards completely, getting excellent position time and time again. Chelsea Custodio had 11 points and Shaquaya Daniels added 10 for Kennedy.

This is the second straight tight win over Kennedy for Bergtraum this year. The Lady Blazers have also won thrillers against St. Peter’s and Woodson and lost heartbreakers to nationally ranked St. John’s College (D.C.) and Hillhouse (Conn.).

“They’re definitely more nervewracking,” Gomez said of games this season. “It’s more exciting. Just when people think we’re gonna lose, we end up winning.”

Gomez is speaking for herself. Her coach might have needed a nap afterward.

“They’re fun to watch, but they’re not fun to coach,” Grezinsky said. “I make one mistake and it’s all over. That’s it. Sayonara. Every move is like a critical move. There’s no margin for error.”

mraimondi@nypost.com