By Rob Potter
JEFFERSONVILLE — January 22, 2002 – The Sullivan West Lady Bulldogs continued their winning ways on Friday night.
Although the visiting Tri-Valley Lady Bears stayed with the home team in the first quarter of play, Sullivan West gradually pulled away to post a 64-37 win.
The victory moved SW to 12-0 overall and 6-0 in OCIAA Division IV play. Tri-Valley fell to 4-9 overall and 3-3 in OCIAA Division IV competition.
In the first quarter, however, it looked as though T-V might become the first team to put a blemish on the Sullivan West record.
The Lady Bears grabbed an early 4-2 lead and stayed with the Lady Bulldogs in those opening eight minutes. Heading into the second quarter, Sullivan West held just a three-point advantage, 15-12.
In the second quarter, however, the Lady Bulldogs turned up the intensity of their full-court press. That lead to a few easy baskets after steals and T-V turnovers.
After T-V’s Lauren Dilberian cut the Sullivan West lead to 15-14 just 20 seconds into the second period, the Lady Bulldogs used their defense to key an 8-1 scoring run over the next three minutes.
The Lady Bulldog lead first hit double digits when junior center Tiffany Hauser scored an inside bucket with 3:42 remaining until the half. That hoop put Sullivan West up 25-15, which increased its lead to 33-20 at halftime.
Sullivan West put together a 14-2 run in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter to take a commanding 47-22 lead.
“We didn’t come out to play offensively in the first half,” Sullivan West Coach Ron Bernhardt said. “But we made up for it defensively.”
Hauser, however, scored 18 of her game-high 24 points in the first half. She netted 10 of those in the first quarter.
In addition to those points, Hauser added 13 rebounds and five assists for the Lady Bulldogs.
Also keying the Sullivan West offensive attack were Aileen Semenetz (13 points and seven assists), Jen Ackermann (seven points), Kayla Peters (six points) and Christina Winski (six assists).
Bernhardt noted that the contest was a much closer one than when the teams met earlier this season in Grahamsville.
“Tri-Valley played very well, especially in that first half,” he said. “They were all over, looking for their shots.”
Tri-Valley Coach Karen Furman agreed.
“We played much better tonight than we did the last time we faced them,” Furman said. “And I’m very happy about that.”
She added that the Lady Bulldogs’ ability to clamp down defensively and run the fast break offensively spelled trouble for the Lady Bears.
“They’re just a great team,” Furman said of Sullivan West.
Amanda Krom led Tri-Valley with nine points. A trio of her teammates, Dilberian, Heather Bachmann and Ellie Dymond each scored six points in the game.