ONEONTA - Bainbridge-Guilford lost two of its first four games, one of those defeats its second league game against Delhi in mid-December. Two months later, the Bobcats have not lost since, and Delhi has dropped just one contest. It's a fitting finale to the Midstate Athletic Conference girls’ basketball season as the two clubs vie for league supremacy Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Oneonta State Fieldhouse Gymnasium.
"I think it's going to be brawl," said B-G's longtime head coach, Bob Conway. "Delhi is young and athletic, and (their coach) plays all 12 kids. He keeps them coming in and out. They play aggressive man-to-man defense, and they love to run and shoot."
For its part, B-G was in control of that first meeting leading by double digits in the early part of the second half. Leading scorer and team leader Morgan Bullis found herself in foul trouble, however, and unceremoniously picked up her fifth foul in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. Delhi was able to rally for a 50-46 win on the Bobcats' home floor.
"We had a young group trying to break their press (at the end of the game), and we turned it over a tremendous amount of times," Conway said. "We also stopped scoring."
That was then, this is now. "I think the younger kids have matured enough they can now handled some pressure, and they have a idea of where the ball needs to go," Conway said.
Delhi spreads the wealth, but Conway pinpointed Logan Bruce and Kayla Spangenberg as key components to a Delhi offense that runs the "dribble drive." It's an offensive system built on the principles of dribble penetration and kickouts to open shooters.
Bullis and fellow senior Taylor Palmatier were the only B-G players with at least one year of varsity starting experience behind them when the season started. Sophomore Becca Reyes was called up midway through last year, and she provides a three-point threat; Megan Palmatier, just a freshman, complements Bullis on the inside and is the team's second leading scorer, and eighth-grader Abi Selfridge has turned into the super "sixth man" providing scoring and defense off the bench. Conway also integrates several other players, most of whom buy into the longtime coach's philosophy of hard-nosed defense.
"One of the biggest things for us is to keep Morgan on the court in this game," Conway said, "She settles everyone down, she creates problems for other teams’ defense, and she is probably our best ballhandler against the press.
"The first time we played them, we were a 'hack attack' waiting to happen, and I think we were leading the nation in fouls. We're playing better defense now."