BERNE — After suffering its first Western Athletic Conference loss a couple of weeks ago, the Berne-Knox-Westerlo boys’ basketball team has fought back.

The Bulldogs have won their last three games, including Friday night’s 86-42 demolition of Middleburgh.
"I was surprised by that," said BKW Coach Andy Wright. "They have some athletes on their team."

But BKW has some basketball players and it showed as they shot the lights out in the small gym at BKW. The Bulldogs finished the contest with 11 three-point baskets en route to the win.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. They led, 21-8, at the end of the first quarter and 39-23 at halftime.

Middleburgh actually led, 4-2, early on but BKW scored on a drive to the hoop by David Sikule and an inside basket by Josh Skinner to take the lead for good with 5:33 left in the first quarter.

Matt Lounsbury scored on a fast-break lay-up and was fouled. He converted the free throw to give the Bulldogs a 9-4 lead.

BKW outscored Middleburgh, 12-4, in the rest of the quarter to build on its lead.

Sikule made a three-pointer and Ben Burton made a jump shot for BKW. Then Lounsbury scored the final points of the quarter. He scored on a turnaround jump shot, a drive to the basket, and hit a three-point shot to round out the scoring in the period.

"Exciting night"

The Bulldogs continued their relentless play on both ends of the court. They led, 59-36, at the end of the third quarter and then only gave up six points in the fourth quarter as Wright substituted a lot of players in the second half and got everybody into the game.
"During the week, I challenged our team to play better defense," Wright said. "I didn’t like the margin we won our past couple of games against Canajoharie and Duanesburg. They were 10-point games, but we would let them score and then we would score. We have the mentality that we are going to just out-score teams instead of stopping them.
"I challenged the seniors to put the effort in to try and stop them," Wright added. "The kids took me seriously. They played hard on defense tonight and that transferred to the offense."

On Jan. 9, the Bulldogs beat Canajoharie, 78-70, and beat Duanesburg last Friday, 69-59.

BKW dropped a non-league contest to Tamarac, 63-54, on Saturday night.

On Friday, against Middleburgh, BKW had 10 players reach the scoring column. Lounsbury led the way with 25 points — 22 in the first half. Sikule scored 19 points and Josh Skinner added 18 points.

Pat Sheehan led Middleburgh with 12 points.
"It was a fun, exciting night," Wright said after the game. "I was not expecting the crowd. I know it’s Friday and we always get good crowds."

Wright was impressed with Lounsbury’s 25 points, but he knows his team can produce a different leading scorer in any contest.
"With the type of team I have," Wright said, "we want to keep guessing who is going to hurt them."

On to sectionals

As the end of the season nears, the Bulldogs are still clinging to a high ranking in the Southern Division of the Western Athletic Conference. BKW has a 10-4 overall record and a 7-1 mark in the league.

The Bulldogs have home games remaining on Friday against Schoharie, and on Wednesday against Sharon Springs.
"That will be the biggest game of the season," Wright said of the match-up with Schoharie. "They will come in here all pumped up."

BKW beat the Indians in overtime earlier in the season.

The Bulldogs close out the regular season on Saturday against Schenectady Christian at Scotia High School and at Canajoharie on Feb. 6.

After the regular season and if the Bulldogs remain in the top two in the South — they are just behind unbeaten Schenectady Christian — they will play in the WAC tournament against a team from the Northern Division.

After that comes the Class CC sectionals, and Wright hopes a home game comes with it. The Bulldogs right now seem in position to get one.
"We are working on getting that first game a home game," Wright said. "The kids want to play at home. It’s the third year on the team for Lounsbury and Skinner. They have always dreamed of having a sectional game in front of their home crowd. I want to make that happen and I want to give them the best guidance to do that."