Girls basketball

Measuring stick

Sullivan West gets the better of undefeated S.S. Seward in hard-fought non-league match

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — The S.S. Seward Lady Spartans arrived at Sullivan West on January 28 with an unblemished 13-0 record. With senior post player Kathleen Folkl coming out on fire, Seward looked to put the hammer down on the Lady Bulldogs early. Folkl scored 10 points in the first quarter and seven more in the second as she approached the 1,000-point milestone of her career.

She came into this game needing 29 points to reach that storied benchmark and the way she was getting the ball down low early on, it seemed as if she and her teammates were going to celebrate the event on the Lady Bulldogs’ home floor.

But by night’s end, she had scored 24, coming up five points shy of the mark, due in part to her lackluster six-for-13 performance from the free-throw line. No doubt, she will readily score those five points in S.S. Seward’s upcoming game against Chapel Field on January 30.

Despite Seward’s early grip on the game, a gritty effort by Sullivan West allowed the Lady Bulldogs to roar right back. Seward led 15-7 with 2:25 to go in the first quarter, but Sullivan West stormed back on a 6-0 run to close the quarter trailing 15-13.

The resurgence was sparked by defensive adjustments that brought multiple bodies to surround Folkl to deny her the ball. When she got possession of it, often by virtue of her superb rebounding, she found Lady Bulldogs in her way to contest her shots.

In addition, Sullivan West sent multiple bodies crashing the boards as the Lady Bulldogs came away with more than their fair share of rebounds. Finding Folkl often well covered down low, Seward turned to its perimeter shooting game, which has been strong of late. But on this night, it foundered until Sarah Steele got it going in the waning moments of the game with a trio of treys.

Sullivan West’s Rachel Houghtaling was the team’s leading rebounder. She led her team with 16 points and went toe to toe with Folkl, scoring eight to her adversary’s 10 in the first quarter. Sullivan West’s more stringent defense began to have an effect by the second quarter as it held Seward to 10 points, three of which came from Steele’s first three pointer. Folkl had the other seven, giving her a total of 17 by halftime.

Houghaling countered with 12 in the first half.

Sullivan West led 27-25 at the break as the game’s referees commented on both teams’ superior play and the well-matched nature of the fray.

Sullivan West turned up the defensive pressure in the second half. Both teams had already tried pressing each other to little avail. Seconds came off the shot clock but the press didn’t hamper either squad to any noticeable degree.

In the second half, Sullivan West fronted Folkl even more assiduously. On offense, the Bulldogs began to benefit from some dicey back-door cuts. A splendid pass from Jenn Pitz to Sarah Lander netted a three as the Bulldogs completed an early 7-0 run to start the quarter. Fouling Folkl proved to be a worthy strategy as she seemed out of synch at the line. Sullivan West limited Seward to a mere five points in the quarter and led 40-30 after three periods.

Lander scored seven of her 11 points in the frame, including her team’s only three pointer of the night.

Although Vicky Argueta would miss the first two free throws of the fourth quarter, the Lady Bulldogs would proceed to go 10 for 10 on their next opportunities. Those points scored by Pitz, Katrina Graby, Houghtaling and Lindsey Murphy would be crucial in the late going as Steele found her stroke to pour in nine points in the quarter, six of which came in the last 1:17 of the game.

Argueta’s contribution of 11 points off the bench was vital in the win as Graby accrued two quick fouls in the game’s opening minutes.

This match up, which pitted a strong Class B contender in Sullivan West (11-2) against Seward (13-1), the odds-on favorite to win Section Nine’s Class C title, was a good measuring stick for each team. “This is the first game in which we’ve been tested. It’s our first close game,” said Seward coach Joe DiMattina.

Realizing the value of playing against stiff competition, DiMattina was philosophical, although not happy about the loss. “This can only help us,” he added.

DiMattina guided his Lady Spartans to the state Class D final a year ago only to suffer a heartbreaking 52-51 defeat to Section 10’s Hammond on a last-second three-point shot. Following his girls soccer team’s recent state championship this past fall, DiMattina hopes to get another crack at the hardwood crown, and games like this one and the coming Billy Moran Championship tournament final against the Lady Bulldogs on February 9, should harden his team for the coming wars.

But there’s plenty to be done if that is to become a possibility. DiMattina said that offensive rebounding by some of his other players was strongly lacking in this outing. Folkl gets the lion’s share of the boards but “it’s up to the others to step up as well,” he said.

Sullivan West coach Ron Bernhardt was pleased with his team’s efforts all the way through. “We executed all night long. They jumped on us early but we didn’t buckle,” he noted, crediting his team’s aggressive defense and timely free-throw shooting down the stretch.

Sullivan West played at Fallsburg on January 30 in a league rematch. The following week presents a rematch with Liberty, followed by a critical game at O’Neill on February 7 and the Billy Moran final versus Seward on February 9.

Seward hosted Chapel Field on January 30 and then Tuxedo in a league game on February 1. The following week brings another league game against Chester before the rematch with Sullivan West.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of game photos.