Girls basketball

Rank of distinction

Sullivan West finishes regular season with 14 straight wins

By RICHARD A. ROSS

GOSHEN, NY — “It’s obvious to me why this team is ranked fifth in the state in Class B,” said Goshen coach Gus Lawson, following Sullivan West’s 66-37 demolition of his Class A Lady Gladiators on February 15.

“They play smart and they don’t beat themselves,” he said.

Intelligent play and poise have been key this season. Sullivan West followed up its win over Goshen with a resounding 68-24 win over Fallsburg and ended their regular season at 17-2. The Ladies of the Lake finished strong with a run of 14 straight victories.

While Goshen’s Lawson had much to say about how his own team didn’t answer the bell against Sullivan West, he waxed poetic when it came to praising Sullivan West freshman Rachel Houghtaling and senior April Ackermann. “Number 50 [Houghtaling] is first team in my book,” he said, “and Ackermann is an extremely solid player.”

Right on both counts.

Ackermann led her team with 26 points, including 13 in the first half. She showed her ability to rule down low. The poised senior added effective rebounding and patience against the bruising Goshen defense that took the liberty of displaying an extremely physical style of play.

Ackermann remained unfazed and positioned herself perfectly to get easy bank shots. Her teammates continued to show their fine ability to dish to the player with the best open look.

Goshen tried both man and one-two-two zone defenses, but Sullivan West executed well against both. Looking on and taking notes were Highland’s coach Jim Delmar and Burke’s Bob Turner. What they witnessed was Sullivan West’s dominance of Goshen, a team that just missed out on a Division III title to Cornwall. The Highland and/or Burke girls will have their work cut out for them, if, and when, they face Sullivan West in the sectionals.

It must be said that when it comes to tournament play, it’s a whole new season. Other sectional contenders will include Marlboro, for sure.

Turner doesn’t need any more convincing about Sullivan West’s prowess after watching his team lose twice this year to the Bulldogs.

Lawson was the latest to join the ranks of believers about Sullivan West’s legitimacy as a major contender. That not only includes the pundits who determine state rankings, but the trail of teams that the Ladies of the Lake have left in their wake since December 28, when they registered their last loss by falling to Class AA Middletown 47-36. Their only other loss this season was to Cornwall, 40-27, back on December 14.

Impressive to say the least.

Coach Ron Bernhardt’s team has not only learned to execute well under pressure, they have figured out that superior basketball is predicated on more than fine skills; it takes intelligence and presence of mind.

Faced with a physical Goshen team that sought to control the tempo, Sullivan West merely relaxed and deployed mind over matter. Using an ebb and flow of man and zone defense, the Ladies of the Lake harried the Gladiators and forced them to the perimeter. While Goshen did net some threes, especially in the early going, a halftime adjustment by coach Bernhardt enabled Sullivan West to neutralize the long ball. The Bulldogs got back quicker off their press, picked up their defense in the corners and clogged up the baseline.

Sullivan West led 18-6 after the first quarter, with nine points from Ackermann and six from Sarah Lander. Although Sullivan West got out to an early five-zip lead, Bulldog turnovers and shots by Goshen’s Carly Jung, Desiree Anderson and eighth-grade phenom Kathleen Payne pushed Goshen out in front for the only time of the night at 6-5.

But Sullivan West went on a 13-0 run to close out the first quarter as Ackermann, Lander and Fanning contributed to the scoring. Great rebounding and defensive help from Houghtaling and Donna Kelly aided the run.

The Ladies of the Lake withstood a Goshen run early in the second quarter when the Gladiators got rolling on several Sullivan West turnovers and marshaled a pair of treys. Chelsey Locatell and Erin Ortiz each nailed a long shot. Goshen got within four at 22-18 after Bianca Sobogal boxed out, and got a put back at 5:11.

Bernhardt called for time and the Dawgs regained their composure.

Unflustered, the Bulldogs buckled down and executed with patience. Using their trap, they disrupted Goshen’s offensive flow as Ackermann added six more, aided by some great feeds from Erin Bernhardt. Houghtaling came on to relieve Fanning and scored four points in the second quarter. The Dawgs held Goshen to three points on a trey by Locatell in the final 2:45 of the quarter. The Dawgs took a 34-21 lead into the half, punctuated by a Fanning buzzer beater.

The game turned for good at the outset of the third quarter. The Bulldogs got the first five of the quarter, with a shot by Lander and a three by Jennifer Pitz. Ortiz answered with her second three-pointer. Sullivan West kept the margin large with five points from Kelly, including a timely three. The Bulldogs led 48-21 at the end of three, and outscored Goshen 18-6 in the fourth quarter to garner the 66-37 win. Ackermann had eight fourth-quarter points.

“This is a happy day for us,” said Bernhardt. “We showed a lot of poise tonight. We do need to execute a little better,” he said, taking into account the 10 first-half turnovers, “but we came out and played very unselfish basketball. This is what we’ve been working for. All of these kids understand their roles and all of them can help us win,” he said.

In addition to Ackermann’s 26, the Dawgs got 12 from Lander, eight from Fanning and six from Houghtaling. The Bulldogs shot an impressive 13-for-17 from the line.

Jung led Goshen with nine. Locatell had eight and Ortiz had six. Fanning did a great job on Payne, holding the celebrated youngster to four points. Bernhardt handled Ortiz as well, holding the emotional guard to six.

Goshen’s record fell to 8-11. The Gladiators will try to regroup themselves for the coming Class A sectional wars, where they will face the difficult competition of Cornwall, Red Hook and Monticello.

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