BERNE — Two elements were working incredibly well for Berne-Knox-Westerlo last Friday: Its full-court pressure defense, and Monique Britton, who was scoring at will.

The visiting players from Sharon Springs were having serious trouble against BKW’s press; they kept turning the ball over. This led to easy baskets for the Bulldogs as Britton scored a career high of 32 points.

“We’re a strong team that causes turnovers,” said Britton, a sophomore, after the 52-to-22 win. “If you’re a second faster than what you’re capable of, you’ll be able to stop the ball each time and make turnovers. Just stop what’s going on in the middle, stop the dribble and dish.”

BKW has always had an intense full-court defense under Head Coach Tom Galvin. Some nights, it works better than others.

“We put a little more effort into the man-to-man tonight,” Galvin said; BKW started with man-to-man defense, then went to some zone defense later before dropping the full-court defense altogether at the end of the third quarter with a 26-point lead. “Sometimes, we’re dogs on defense,” he said. “It creates easy lay-ups.”

The Bulldogs went on a 14-to-0 scoring run to close out the first quarter. BKW kept stealing the ball and Britton kept laying it in. This process repeated itself until the Bulldogs laid off the gas pedal in the fourth quarter.

“We held it together tonight and moved the ball well,” said Britton, who fearlessly drove to the basket. “If I learn to get better at my jump shot, I won’t be able to be stopped, and I can’t do that without my team.”

Galvin told The Enterprise that he loves Britton — she’s been on the team since eighth grade — like a daughter. “When she wants to play 110-percent, there are very few people who can handle her,” said the coach. “She’s big, strong, and athletic. If she can find that intensity 24-7, 365, then the sky is the limit.”

Britton’s 32 points against Sharon Springs was two points away from breaking Liz Harvey’s record of 33 for a single game; Harvey graduated in 2013 as BKW’s all-time leading scorer. Harvey mentored Britton in eighth grade, and now as she is two years older, Galvin would like to see her pick up that leading role on the team.

“I just texted her, actually, saying, ‘I almost beat your record,’” Britton said of Harvey with a laugh. “Sometimes, I still shoot around with her and she teaches me to be self-motivated and not listen to the negatives from other people — use that to make me stronger and prove people wrong.”

^{_{Lounge act: Sophomore Monique Britton rests on the bench as she listens to her coach last Friday during the fourth quarter; she scored 32 points for Berne-Knox-Westerlo in a 30-point home win against Sharon Springs. The Bulldogs are 1-2 on the season. The Enterprise — Jordan J. Michael}}

On the court, Britton harnesses the same sort of power that Harvey once did.

“We don’t graduate, we replace,” Galvin said. “That’s what we want to do — put another person in there.”

If BKW can figure everything out, said Galvin, a Western Athletic Conference championship might be in it sights. “They don’t always reach their potential,” he said. “But they did tonight.”