Girls basketball

Fit to be tied

Lady Bulldogs clinch Division IV tie with stunning win over undefeated Burke

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — They say lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice but you won’t get any of the suddenly rabid fans at Sullivan West to take stock in that phrase.

Two years ago, the Lady Bulldogs swept John S. Burke in the regular season to take the Division IV title and they beat the Lady Eagles again on February 15. The 45-39 victory earned them a share of the division crown, an honor Burke reclaimed last year after Sullivan West had divested them of it in 2006.

Such success against what Sullivan West coach Ron Bernhardt refers to as “the best basketball program in Orange County in the past two decades” is virtually unprecedented.

Face it, when it comes to girls basketball, Burke has set the standard. Eight Section Nine titles since 1994 and a state championship in 1997 adorn the Lady Eagles’ impressive résumé. This season, they set aside all 18 of their prior opponents, including heavyweights Albertus Magnus, Haldane, Kingston and Cornwall, twice, and were only two wins shy of coach Bob Turner’s first undefeated regular season.

Like the New England Patriots, also undefeated prior to their recent Superbowl loss against the New York Giants, most regarded Burke as invincible. And in similar fashion, Burke’s bid for perfection was sullied by a team that simply played better than they did on that given day. Back on January 28, the Lady Bulldogs had also put an end to S.S. Seward’s unblemished win streak.

This game was a far cry from the first encounter in Goshen on January 11, wherein the Lady Eagles made short work of Sullivan West by exerting uncanny defensive pressure and exploiting the Lady Bulldogs’ lack of a second effective guard.

But that was then.

Following the loss, the Lady Bulldogs licked their wounds and vowed to take another shot at their archrival on their own floor. Since that ignominious defeat, Sullivan West, 16-2 (7-1 OCIAA), has reeled off eight straight wins.

The victory was fueled by stellar defense featuring a few new wrinkles inserted by Bernhardt, coupled with his team’s unwavering focus and fine execution at both ends of the floor.

Holding Marist-bound Emily Stallings to five points on the night (a three pointer and a pair of free throws) far exceeded Bernhardt’s expectations. She had 19 in the teams’ first fray.

By putting Rachel Houghtaling on Stallings man-to-man and applying man-to-man pressure against junior standout Meaghan Rufer, Sullivan West challenged Burke’s other players to beat them.

Burke had ample looks but couldn’t knock down its shots. Credit Sullivan West’s defense, which forced Burke to fire many shots from the corner. Sullivan West also ruled the offensive glass and got key second-chance opportunities.

In crunch time, they fought off the expected Burke comeback bid as Katrina Graby scored six of her game’s eight points in the fourth quarter that included a buzzer beater at the 30-second clock. Her buckets came when it mattered most.

Early in the game, Sullivan West was paced by Sarah Lander, who scored 12 of her game-high 14 in the first half, including a pair of threes.

Sullivan West led 7-6 at the end of the first quarter and five of those points came from Lander. Four from Rufer and two points from Shannon Gough were all Burke could muster. Lander opened the second quarter with her second trey, but Burke fought back and assumed a 15-12 lead with buckets by Kaitlin Fitzgibbons, Lexi Avanzato and Rufer.

Fueled by their home crowd, still seething from the season-ending exit wound induced to its boys team the night prior by Burke in a game many fans felt was rent asunder by officiating, Sullivan West’s girls answered the challenge. After tying the game with a free throw by Graby and a bucket by Lander, the Bulldogs got a key three from Lindsey Murphy to get back on top. They would never trail again.

They led 23-17 at the half.

Turner told a scoreless Stallings, “You’ve got to turn and play Houghtaling one-on-one. If the defense slides, you’ve got to act like a point center and kick it.” Had Burke’s shooters been on, the strategy might have worked better.

From the get go, Burke seemed unprepared for Sullivan West’s intensity. Turner sensed his team’s rust from not having practiced for nine days, although they did play three games during that stretch.

Sullivan West increased its lead to nine by the end of the third quarter and led 32-23. A three by Jenn Pitz was part of her nine-point tally. Burke matched the quarter output but Sullivan West was beginning to get to the line more. By night’s end, they’d can 11 of 17 from the stripe. Burke would make five of six.

Burke’s pressure caused a number of Sullivan West fourth-quarter turnovers. With 4:40 to go, they pulled within three, following a basket by Tara Fogarty. But Graby’s key buzzer beater pushed the margin back to five. Following a miss by Houghtaling, Graby got a put back for two more. But Burke kept on coming.

Rufer, who stole a Dawg rebound and scored to cut the lead to five, was then fouled and made one of two to make it 40-36 with 3:03 remaining. Given Burke’s pedigree, such a small margin was dangerously narrow.

With the Dawgs in the bonus, Houghtaling made one of two from the line.

A late three by Stallings couldn’t stave off the victory as Murphy hit all four of her free throws in the final minute.

The victory could affect the sectional seedings, which will be determined on February 21. Highland is undefeated in the Mid Hudson Athletic League and could get the top spot. Sullivan West and Burke (18-1, 7-1 OCIAA) will fill out the top three in a very competitive field that will likely include Red Hook, O’Neill and Marlboro.

“Sullivan West played very well tonight,” said Turner, who minimized the loss of a perfect regular season. He felt it was one less thing to think about as Burke prepares to defend its title.

“We struggled on the offensive end all night and on the boards too. Back in ’97 when we won the state title, we lost the OCL championship game to Newburgh and that loss steeled us for what followed. We’ll take some positives from this. We have to,” he said.

Bernhardt was immensely proud of his team. “We executed at both ends of the floor. We had the upper hand all night as we made our shots and took care of the ball.” Bernhardt credited the win as a total team effort. Houghtaling had seven rebounds and six assists. Graby and Lander crashed the boards with six rebounds apiece.

Gough led Burke with 12 points, Rufer had 11. Sullivan West got 11 from Houghtaling, nine from Murphy and eight from Graby.

The Lady Bulldogs hosted S.S. Seward in the oft-postponed Billy Moran championship game on February 20 and will conclude their regular season against Class AA Valley Central on February 22.

A win against Liberty on February 19 finalized the division tie with Sullivan West.

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