BERNE — For the past couple of years, Berne-Knox-Westerlo girls’ basketball Coach Tom Galvin saw his team get stronger at the end of each season.

This year, the Lady Bulldogs have gotten off to a strong start.

BKW improved to 3-0 in the Southern Division of the Western Athletic Conference and improved to 5-2 overall after winning its fifth straight game, 46-34, against Schoharie on Friday night.
"We’ve gotten some momentum early," Galvin said. "That overtime win at Fonda was big. The kids are believing what we are selling. Everybody is."

The Lady Bulldogs beat Fonda on Dec. 7 in an overtime thriller. BKW picked up its sixth win of the season by beating Sharon Springs, 48-32, on Tuesday night.

"Defensive intensity"

After a sloppy start to Friday’s game, the Bulldogs used what has become their trademark — a ferocious defense.

Pressuring the Schoharie guards, BKW held a 13-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and never trailed again.

Neither team scored until Schoharie’s Kaitlyn Johnson made an inside basket with 5:53 left in the opening frame.

Schoharie led, 4-1, before BKW went on a 12-2 run to end the first stanza.

Andrea Van Dyke made a shot in the lane. That was followed by a three-point basket and a drive to the hoop by Lauren Ford.

A three-pointer by Amber Pitcher and a fast-break lay-up after a steal by Van Dyke finished out the run for the Lady Bulldogs.

BKW built on its lead in the second quarter. After two foul shots by Schoharie, Katrina Yakel hit a jump shot and Pitcher connected on back-to-back three-pointers to make the score 21-8.

BKW led, 27-17, at halftime.

Things didn’t change much in the third frame except that BKW added one point to its lead and made the score, 38-27, at the end of the third frame.

The Lady Bulldogs kept their double-figure advantage despite the best efforts of Schoharie junior Sarah Lamoureux.

Lamoureux led the Indians with 14 points but they were hard-earned and didn’t come from her usual spot inside. She was forced to handle the ball up the court against the BKW pressure defense.
"We knew they lacked a point guard," Galvin said. "We wanted to make it 94 feet of heck. We made it difficult for them to bring the ball up the floor all the time. The pace was chaotic and that was good for us.
"Their best post player had to bring the ball up the floor," Galvin added. "She can’t set up in the post. She is one of the best post players in the league. We pressured them and you can’t replicate that kind of defensive intensity."

"Coming together"

Baskets by Katrina Yakel on a jump shot, Anna Kusler inside, and Pitcher on a fast-break lay-up were big in keeping the Bulldogs ahead by more than 10 points during the final stanza.

Ford led the Bulldogs with 16 points, mixing up drives to the hoop with some deft outside shooting.
"Lauren can go to the rim," Galvin said. "She is bigger for a lot of guards. She gets to the rim like no one else I’ve coached."

Pitcher scored 13 points mostly on three-pointers. Yakel and Van Dyke each scored six points, making some timely baskets.
"Amber Pitcher is close to leading Section II with three-pointers," Galvin said after Friday’s game. "She came up from JV, and she was young and inexperienced and small. I decided to start her and she is making me look like a genius. She had four three-pointers tonight and she had five the other night."
"Katrina Yakel had a good game," Galvin added. "She hit big shots when they started to make a run. She also did a nice job on Lamourex."

Galvin also had praise for other players on Friday night.
"Anna Kusler did a nice job on the boards," the coach said. "She is a small kid and she has double-digit rebounds every game. And I told Andrea [VanDyke] that she might not have gotten a lot of points, but she ran the team well and played great defense. Everything is coming together. We hit shots and we defended well."

BKW wraps up the pre-holiday portion of its schedule with a contest against league rival Schenectady Christian on Friday. After the holidays, the Lady Bulldogs hit the road to play Galway at Fonda-Fultonville High School on Friday Jan. 4 and then travel to Canajoharie on Jan. 8.