By Rob Potter
ELDRED — January 15, 2002 - The Sullivan West Lady Bulldogs kept their record spotless last Thursday evening with a non-league win over Eldred.
Although SW (9-0) recorded a 60-27 victory, it was not a typical night for the Lady Bulldogs.
In many of their games this season, the Lady Bulldogs have been led in scoring by inside players like junior center Tiffany Hauser or senior forward Aileen Semenetz. But the presence of Eldred center Stacie Blaut, who had several blocked shots in the contest, kept the SW inside game relatively in check.
Unfortunately for Blaut and her teammates, the Lady Bulldogs found offense elsewhere.
Senior guard/forward Calley Sander led the SW offensive attack with 11 points. Jen Ackermann and Shelisa Duquette each netted eight points in the contest and Christina Winski added six points.
Ackermann also grabbed seven rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs.
“We had such balance tonight in terms of scoring,” SW Coach Ron Bernhardt said.
And though hampered by the Eldred defense, Hauser finished with a double-double. She scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the contest.
SW grabbed a 19-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and boosted that advantage to 33-13 at the half.
After a close third quarter, where the Lady Bulldogs netted 11 points to the Lady Yellowjackets’ nine, SW dashed any thoughts of an Eldred (4-5) comeback by going on an 8-0 run early in the final period. That burst gave the Lady Bulldogs a 30-point lead with five-and-a-half minutes left in the game.
“We played respectable, but not to our level,” Bernhardt said. “We were able take what their defense gave us and hit a good number of shots from the outside.”
Those successful shots countered the 1-3-1 zone defense that Eldred employed for much of the game.
“They are a very good team,” said Eldred Coach Frank Kean of the Lady Bulldogs. “Our 1-3-1 worked nicely, but then they were able to adjust to it and hit some shots from the corners.”
While the loss dropped Eldred’s record below the .500 mark on the season, Kean wasn’t too disappointed. He chalked it up to a learning experience.
“We’ve played nine games this season and in six of those games, we played a school that’s bigger than us,” Kean said. “And when you play better competition like that, it makes your team better down the road.”
(Eldred is a Class D school and Sullivan West is a Class C school.)
The veteran Eldred coach said he was pleased that all 11 of his players got into the game, helping the Lady Yellowjackets prepare for the league season that begins this week.
Charlene French scored a team-high seven points for the Lady Yellowjackets. Blaut, Becky Ryman and Aimee Schneider each added five points.