BERNE — The Lady Bulldogs went into Saturday’s Class CC quarterfinal game at Mechanicville High School with revenge in their hearts.

The BKW girls’ basketball team upset Greenwich, 65-51, on Saturday night to avenge a loss earlier in the season to the Witches and to earn a spot in the semifinals that took place Wednesday at Burnt Hills High School.
"We got out early," said BKW Coach Tom Galvin. "They cut it down to four in the third quarter, but we made a nice run and we persevered. We had a buzzer beater by Katrina Yakel at the end of the third quarter to give us the momentum back. The score was down to six and that put it back to eight. It showed that it was our night. I was like, ‘We’re not going to lose now.’"

The Bulldogs played loose in the fourth quarter and had a lot of confidence as they cruised to the win, Galvin said. They outscored the Witches, 18-11, in the final frame.

"The dark horses"
"Offensively, it was the best we’ve played in a long time," the coach said. "We attacked and ran. We hit jump shots. Our offense clicked like it hasn’t in a long time. We had different contributors. Different people stepped up at different times."
"It’s so amazing," said senior Co-Captain C.J. Vincent. "We came out real strong. Krim [Brittany Krimsky] and I were talking about that before the game. At practice the night before, we said, ‘This doesn’t feel like our last practice. This is not our last night in this gym.’ And we really showed it."
"We were really excited," said Krimsky, the team’s other co-captain. "We wanted to win so bad. We didn’t want to be out."

It was the best game Galvin’s seen since his team dominated Class C in two trips to the state semifinals.
"We haven’t played a better game in probably the last three years of me coaching," he said. "We were waiting for this game, since last year when we lost to Hoosic Valley in the quarterfinals by one point. We should have beat them."

Greenwich came into the game as the number-three seed but had its two top players foul out in the fourth quarter. BKW is the sixth seed in the Class CC tournament.
"We are the dark horses," Vincent said.
"No one expected us to win," Krimsky added. "There was no pressure."
"That helps us a lot," Vincent chimed in.
"We’re not uptight," said Krimsky, finishing Vincent’s thought.

But the Bulldogs came into the game knowing they could beat a team they had lost to in a Christmas tournament this season.
"They beat us in a Christmas tournament," Vincent said. "We had nothing to lose. We’re the sixth seed. We laid it all out there. Every girl did."
"We were on a big court and our defense set the tone," Galvin said. "From the get-go, we were geared up for them. A lot of these girls have been on league championship teams on junior varsity or varsity.
"Sectionals are a different story. I told them that. During the season, we play a tough non-league schedule."

"A big shot"

Andrea Van Dyke led the Bulldogs with 20 points. Krimsky scored 14 points, Anna Kusler added 12, and Vincent chipped in eight points.

Tabitha LaVigne led the Witches with 18 points. Carrie Smith added 15. Both fouled out in the fourth quarter.

But it was Yakel’s shot at the end of the third quarter that might have been the biggest of the year for BKW.
"It was a big shot," Vincent said. "It got the momentum going. We went on a run. They came back, but we shut them down and we fouled out their two best players."

Krimsky and Vincent saw the successful teams that BKW fielded several years ago, and want to forge their own success.
"We want to keep it alive," Vincent said.
"We want to keep Berne’s reputation alive," Krimsky added.
"We were looking at the banner in the school and we said that we wanted to put more words on the banner again," Vincent said. "We were like, ‘How many more words can we put up there.’"
"We want to put more words on the banner," Krimsky agreed

The Bulldogs, Galvin feels, are playing their best at the right time of year.
"We’ve come together and are playing great basketball when we should be," he said. "It’s not like we had a chance to beat them and not shoot well. Everything fell into place. We wanted to win the league title, but we didn’t. But we won 14 games during the league season and those helped us prepare for the second season."

And the Lady Bulldogs hope the second season will continue for a little while longer.
"Like Krim said, we have nothing to lose," Vincent said. "No one wants to go home yet. We’re still pumped."
"We’re not sick of it, yet," Krimsky concluded.