Sometimes, to get a monkey off your back you have to hit it real hard.

That was the case in Monday night's Center State Conference showdown between the Cooperstown and Waterville boys basketball teams.

Waterville, the defending Center State champions who have dominated the Redskins in recent years, led Cooperstown 36-19 at halftime, but a 50-point second half propelled Cooperstown to a stunning 69-58 victory.

"We haven't beaten Waterville in a few years, and I think we were afraid of the name Waterville and we just weren't playing our game in the first half," said Cooperstown boys basketball coach Dave Bertram. "At halftime I just told them, after a little venting, that the team out there isn't that great, and if we played to our capabilities there wasn't any reason we couldn't win the game."

Bertram must have gotten his point across, as the Redskins came out of the locker room a team possessed and mounted a furious comeback, scoring 26 third quarter points behind a withering full court press and blistering shooting. Shane Connolly's three-point shot with 3:17 remaining in the period cut the lead to 10 at 43-33. Senior Tyler Harris then took over, scoring six straight Cooperstown points to trim the lead to 45-39, and after another Connolly three-pointer, Harris hit a three-point shot from the corner with 15 seconds left to cut the lead to 46-45 after three quarters of play.

"At that point we were just riding so high and team was feeding off the crowd and we had all the momentum," Bertram said.

When Andy Dickan stole a pass and drove the length of the court for a lay-up to start the fourth quarter Cooperstown had its first lead, and with a large home crowd roaring their approval they never looked back. The Redskins held Waterville scoreless for the first three and a half minutes of the final quarter, and when big man Billy Hribar converted a three-point play with five minutes left Cooperstown suddenly had a six point lead at 52-46.

"It (the comeback) was a total team effort," Bertram said. "Billy played a solid all-around game, Tyler had 15 rebounds, and Nick Laskovski had eight points, six assists and four steals. It was just awesome."

Waterville cut the lead to 54-51 with about three minutes remaining, but Jeremy Holmes, who finished with a team-high 19 points, scored four straight points to push the lead back to seven. Holmes was Cooperstown's lone bright spot in the first half, scoring 10 of the Redskins 19 first half points. Waterville's biggest lead was a 36-16 bulge with a minute left in the first half before Cooperstown scored the final three points to cut the lead to 17.

Hribar, a 6'7" center, had his best game of the season, scoring nine points, grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking three shots. Harris had 13 points, 11 in the third quarter, and Connolly also had 13 points, 12 coming in the second half.

Cooperstown plays at Sauquoit tonight (Thursday) and host Mt. Markham Saturday at 7:30 p.m. before hosting their Holiday Tournament Dec. 27 and 28.