BERNE — The Berne-Knox-Westerlo girls’ basketball team on Friday got a little bit of a lift from its recent struggles; The Lady Bulldogs beat Sharon Springs, 69-21.
"I usually hate games like that," said BKW Coach Tom Galvin, referring to the wide margin of victory. "But we needed it. We played well and did the things we had to do."

The win moved the Lady Bulldogs record to 3-7 overall and 3-2 against Western Athletic Conference Southern Division teams. The win also snapped a four-game losing streak that began on Dec. 20 against Schoharie.

However, the Lady Bulldogs lost to Middleburgh, 42-38, on Tuesday night.

The Schoharie loss might have hurt the Lady Bulldogs’ confidence.
"It was our first loss to Schoharie in a couple of years," Galvin said. "We played poorly. We can handle losing to a good team, which Schoharie is. But it is hard to handle losing when we don’t play well.
"It sent us for a loop," Galvin added. "We then went to a Christmas tournament and played Galway and we didn’t do well. We went into a little funk. Sharon Springs might be a sign that we are getting out of it and moving in the right direction."

Galvin said that his team is very talented and is capable of playing at a much better level.

Top five
"Out of the 11 years I’ve been coaching," Galvin said, "this team is in the top five with talent and athleticism. We just need certain people to step up and regain the confidence to win. This is not a bad team. If they were, I would tell them in a nice way that they stunk and we would focus on other things. But the cupboard is not bare and this is not a down year."

The Bulldogs have not been doing well in three major areas of the game — rebounding, shooting, and turning over the ball.
"The great thing is that none of my players like to lose," Galvin said. "They need to stay together and work hard. If they do that, I told them good things will happen. I told them, don’t quit and keep battling back."

Galvin feels that there is still hope in defending their Southern Division title.
"We need to get back to hitting shots," the coach said. "If we do the things we need to and even with two losses in the division, we can make some noise. But we need to keep each other up and improve and make things happen. We do have a chance."

The Bulldogs have been getting strong play from ninth-grader Andrea Van Dyke. She scored 18 points against Sharon Springs and had 15 in the first quarter. Every Bulldog scored in Friday’s contest.

Van Dyke has taken over for the Bulldogs while other players are looking to regain their shooting touch.
"She’s played enough basketball to do that," Galvin said of the ninth-grader. "We’ve had some other players that have stepped up. Brittany Krimsky scored 10 points against Galway and Cara Swain is filling in valuable minutes. But Andrea is not afraid to step up in a leadership role, which can be hard for a freshman to do."

Galvin said that the key for his players is to keep their heads up and keep battling.
"It’s tough for a team to go undefeated," Galvin said, referring to both Schoharie and Schenectady Christian. "And we see Schenectady Christian and Schoharie again and hopefully they beat each other up. It’ll be an uphill battle, but if we stick together and believe in each other and believe in what the coaches ask, then things can come together."