BERNE — Expectations remain high for the Berne-Knox-Westerlo girls’ basketball team.

Going into this season, the Lady Bulldogs will be defending four consecutive Western Athletic Conference Southern Division championships.

And, though there are many new faces on this year’s squad, they have witnessed the success of the program, which included back-to-back trips to the state final four.
"There’s a mystique," BKW Coach Tom Galvin said. "We’ve won and the kids have always been on winning teams and they want to keep it going. No one wants to be on the team that has a down year."

The one link between the final-four teams of 2003 and 2004 and this year is Christine Sikule.
"She’s had an example of that success," Galvin said. "She adds leadership to this team. She knows the tradition and keeps the guys playing the way it takes to be successful. All the kids work hard to keep that going."
"We want to win the WAC South," said Sikule, who is a co-captain of this year’s team. "We would like to win our division."
"It’s not out of reach," added the other captain, C.J. Vincent. "We want to win the WAC Cup. We want it back in our house."

The Lady Bulldogs won WAC championships from 2002 to 2004, for the first three years the league existed. Last year, Fonda-Fultonville took home the trophy.
"Eveybody wants that trophy back," Sikule said.
"Athletic and pesky"

BKW will have a little different look than in the past couple of years. They won’t have much size to battle inside and will have to rely on a superb group of guards.
"We’re small," Galvin said. "Our biggest player is five foot, 10. But we are athletic and have kids that can handle the ball and can shoot from the outside. We have athletes that can defend and run the floor.
"We need to play with defensive intensity," Galvin added. "If the game is hectic, and we’re playing a full-court game and it’s crazy, we’ll probably win. If the game is slow and methodical, we’re probably not going to win it. A lot of teams in this league have good post players."
"We’re scrappy," Vincent said. "We’re athletic and pesky. We have a lot of fast guards. If we can guard out in front, they will not get the ball down low."

Galvin has nine players to force the hectic pace fewer than in most years.
"A couple of kids decided not to come out," Galvin said. "I would rather have nine kids that want to be here than 11 or 12 questioning why they are here.
"The nine we have here are all talented basketball players," Galvin said. "They all contribute every day. You can do a lot with nine in practice. But you do have to adjust and do some different drills."

Sikule and Sarah Furman are the only seniors on the team. Vincent, Ashley Slaver, Brittany Krimsky, and Cara Swain are the juniors. Alysha Van Dyke and Lauren Ford are sophomores, and Andrea Van Dyke is a ninth-grader.

Vincent and Slaver are the returning starters from last year and the top two scorers from last year. Sikule would have been a starter but was injured for most of last season.

Andrea Van Dyke moved up to the varsity late in the season and played some key minutes last year.
"She played well in our scrimmage with Voorheesville," Galvin said. "She put the ball in the basket. We’re very young. We have a freshman and four juniors. But the kids we have are pretty experienced. I like the kids I have. A lot of them are dedicated to a lot of the things that we are doing."

The Bulldogs are dedicated to staying on top of the Southern Division of the WAC. They’ll even use their history as a way of intimidation.
"Coaches have told me that their kids don’t think they can win in our gym," Galvin said. "They’re intimidated of us; I’ll take that."

Even the new players on the BKW varsity team have experienced success. They have been on the junior varsity team coached by Rob Bentley. The j.v. Bulldogs haven’t lost a divisional game in the past 10 years.
"It’s definitely attainable," Sikule said of winning the division again. "It’s not out of reach."
"All the girls are working extremely hard in practice," Vincent said. "We’re athletically fit and we can guard teams up top and not let them get the ball down low."

The Lady Bulldogs open the season on Friday and on Saturday at the Cohoes Tournament.