BERNE — The players on the team knew what was at stake on Tuesday night.

A win would put the Lady Bulldogs in third place in the Southern Division of the Western Athletic Conference; a loss would put them in fifth as the regular season came to a close.

The BKW players responded by playing a determined brand of basketball, in posting a 55-40 win.
"The game was for third place," said BKW Coach Tom Galvin. "Coming into this year, I knew Schenectady Christian and Schoharie would be the top two teams. But I thought we could be in the mix and be in the top three. We ended up sliding into the third spot. We worked for the last few games to do it.
"It’s a tribute to them," he said of his players. "They battled. I wouldn’t trade them for anybody."

The Lady Bulldogs led at the end of the first quarter, 13-8, and at halftime, 24-18.

BKW held a 36-26 lead after C.J. Vincent made a jump shot with 3:07 left in the third quarter.

But Middleburgh would not quit and made things interesting in the next couple of minutes.

The Knights got a jump shot from Ashley Farrell and an inside basket by Samantha Huxtable to cut the lead to six points with 1:52 left in the quarter.

Farrell was then fouled on a three-point shot and sank all three free throws to make the score 36-33 with 56 left in the frame.

But the Bulldogs scored the final five points in the quarter — in 15 seconds — to build back their lead.

Andrea VanDyke scored an inside basket and Christine Sikule made a three-point shot at the buzzer to make the score 41-33 at the end of the stanza.

"Momentum changer"
"Christine’s shot was huge," Galvin said. "Unfortunately girls can’t dunk but they can hit buzzer beaters and that got the crowd going. It broke Middleburgh’s spirit. We came running off the floor at the end of the quarter and they were walking off the floor. It was a momentum changer."

BKW dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring Middleburgh 14-7 in the frame and pulling away with the win.
"The kids believed," Galvin said. "They finally did it. It was a nice tribute to the seniors. They refused to lose. Third place is not glamourous but they came out and did it."

Sikule, a senior, scored 14 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs. Classmate Sarah Furman scored two points but contributed during her limited time on the floor.

Vincent also scored 14 points for the Bulldogs. VanDyke added 12 points and Brittany Krimsky scored seven. Every active player but one scored for BKW.
"Our team got better as the year has gone on," Galvin said. "We lost to them earlier by four points before Christmas. And we beat them by 15 tonight."

A lot of the improvement has been because of a tenacious defense. That defense put BKW in the game against the top three teams in the league — Schenectady Christian, Schoharie, and Fonda-Fultonville.
"Cara Swain was again our unsung hero," Galvin said. "She held their best player, Emily Karsch, to five points. And Andrea held their second leading scorer to two points. It was a great team effort. Eight of us are healthy and all eight have been great."

Galvin has liked the way his team has played late in the year after struggling for most of the season.
"We lost to Schenectady Christian by one, Fonda by six, and Schoharie by four," Galvin said. "We lost by a combined 11 points to the top three teams in the league. I would not want to play us right now. We are playing up to our potential."

The Bulldogs wrap up the regular season with a 6-12 overall record and a 6-8 league mark.

The Bulldogs will play in a Western Athletic Conference crossover game on Saturday at Fulton-Montgomery Community College. Galvin said the Bulldogs will probably play Mayfield at 5 p.m. They will have a home crossover — win or lose on Saturday — at home on Tuesday. Then its on to the Class CC sectional tournament.
"The CC’s are loaded," Galvin said. "We’re playing well going into the CC’s. We are going in after a tough season to play for the title."