BERNE — C.J. Vincent can’t wait to begin her senior season on the team.

The three-year veteran of the squad has seen highs and lows but is looking to put a cap on an excellent career as a Lady Bulldog.
"I’m so excited, I really am," Vincent said. "Ever since I started playing, this is the hardest working players we’ve ever had. We lost two good players, but the ones we have are determined to win every game we step on the court to play. We have a great group of girls that work so hard and have a love of the game."

The Bulldogs will have 10 players this season.
"That is good and bad," said BKW Coach Tom Galvin. "Setting the rotation on game day is easier. But at practices, you get below 10 kids, it’s tough. A couple of kids chose not to come out. I rather have them tell me before the season then have them in it and quit. I like the 10 we have. They are athletic. They are working hard and having fun."

BKW will open the season the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, in the Cohoes Tournament against Troy.
"They have a new coach and they will be ready to go," Galvin said. "We’ll be the underdogs. But I like to play up and challenge tough teams. We’ll take some lumps along the way. But playing tough non-league teams will make us better for our league games. One of the reasons we almost beat Hoosic Valley in the sectionals was we play bigger schools."

Troy is a Class AA school, the largest in Section II. BKW plays at the CC level and last year at sectionals almost beat top seed Hoosic Valley in the quarterfinals.

Also in the Cohoes Tournament is the host school and Ichabod Crane.
"It’ll be great to play a sectional type of game," Galvin said.

"Anybody’s game"

The Bulldogs will work to continue their tradition of being near the top of the Southern Division of the Western Athletic Conference. There will be some tough competition if the Bulldogs want to return to the top after being knocked down a notch last year.
"Schoharie will be the team," Galvin said. "They get everybody back from the co-league champs. Schenectady Christian is good, they get their post player back. It can be anybody’s game, though Schoharie is the favorite and everybody else is battling for second place. We are capable of beating anybody in the division if we put it together."

The reason for Galvin’s optimism is that a lot of his players are more experienced.
"C.J. is a year smarter and Andrea [Van Dyke] is a year smarter," the coach said. "We have three of our five starters returning and they’ve been through the wars. The juniors are now seniors, the sophomores are now juniors, and our freshman is now a sophomore. They all worked hard in the off-season. They played AAU [Amateur Athletic Union] and went to summer team camps, and we have worked out in the open gym since September."
"If we step up and work at it," Vincent said, "we can be very good. The girls are working. I want to go out with a bang; and I can see it coming.
"On any given day, we can win any given game," Vincent added.

Returners include junior Lauren Ford; senior co-captain Brittany Krimsky; Vincent, the team’s other co-captain; Allyson Bates; Anna Kusler; Andrea Van Dyke; and Alysha Van Dyke. Vicky Lounsbury, Katrina Yakel, and Kristin Spinnato are the newcomers to the varsity.
"I think we’ll have an upgrade athletically," Vincent said. "We’ll be very strong athletically."
"I feel we are a year smarter," Galvin reiterated. "There are not a lot of rookies and the kids up from the junior varsity will help us. I always say we are capable of going 15-5. This team can do better than that. This team is very talented, but sometimes their heads get in the way."

Vincent seems ready to do anything to make sure her senior year will be an excellent one.
"We have a lot of potential," Vincent said. "Last year, the basketball gods killed us. This year, they want us to win, I feel that. Krim [Krimsky] and I are seniors and we want to go out with a bang. Every single game, we are going to go out and we’ll believe we’ll go out and win. We’ll leave it all out on the court."