By Fred Stabbert III
LIBERTY — January 25, 2005 – Sullivan West’s Lady Bulldogs clinched its spot in postseason play with a convincing 58-17 win over Liberty on Friday night in Liberty.
“We shot the eyes out,” an ecstatic Sullivan West Coach Ron Bernhardt said. “That’s what you need.”
Leading the way was junior Kate Fanning who scorched the nets on 7-9 shooting to lead Sullivan West with 17 points — 10 in the first quarter alone.
Without the services of starter Keely Hamlin, Liberty had few answers for Sullivan West’s hot shooting hand, which included a 21-3 run in the third quarter to salt the game away.
“We played a nice third quarter. Well done…they played like a nice team,” Bernhardt said. “We are 3-1 league, but we have to work on our fundamentals and keeping our focus to get ready for the postseason.”
Sullivan West (3-1 league, 9-2 overall) is in second place in the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Assn. Division IV while Liberty (0-4 league, 2-10) slipped to third place.
Freshman Sarah Lander and April Ackermann each scored 10 for Sullivan West. Melissa Zydor led Liberty with six.
“We need some real good tests,” Bernhardt said.
And that is what they will get Friday night when the Bulldogs travel to Onteora.
“They are a good, balanced club,” he said.