VOORHEESVILLE — Voorheesville boys’ basketball Coach Don Catellier got a pleasant surprise for his birthday. A win over a Colonial Council power.

The Blackbirds used a strong second half to overcome an eight-point halftime deficit, beating rival Albany Academy, 60-51, on Tuesday night.
"It was a nice birthday present," Catellier said. "I asked them to give me a tough 32 minutes and I’d be happy with them. That’s all I really wanted for my birthday. They gave me a win instead."

The Blackbirds outscored the Cadets 16-10 in the third quarter and 21-12 in the fourth frame to pull out the win.

Senior Greg Carson scored eight points in the quarter and got big baskets by Chris Thompson and Evan Christner.

The game was tied, 39-39, at the end of the third stanza.

Academy got an inside basket by Jamel Fields to open the final quarter. But Voorheesville responded with a close-range jump shot by Tim Robinson.

Robinson then scored inside to give the Birds the lead for good. Christner scored on a put back of an offensive rebound but Albany Academy got two points on a lay-up by Tyler Foster.

Voorheesville then went on a 6-0 run for the next minute and a half to build on its lead.

Justin Arico made a jump shot, Christner scored inside, and Robinson scored another inside bucket to make the score 51-43 with 3:17 left in the contest.

The Cadets got a floater in the lane by Jimmer Bennett but then went on another scoreless drought and the Blackbirds ripped off four more points. Arico scored inside after making a cut to the basket and Christner scored inside with a strong move.

Fields’s lay-up made the score, 55-45, with 1:26 left and the Cadets were forced to foul to stop the clock.

The Birds made five of seven free throw attempts down the stretch to put the game away and earn a big victory on their home court.

"Playing hard"
"We finally got a close one," Catellier said. "They outscored us 19-4 in the second quarter and we got them 16-10 in the third and 21-12 in the fourth. The second quarter killed us. When they went man-to-man [defense] on us, we killed them. We struggled with their zone. We got good looks we just didn’t knock them down.
"But the kids kept playing hard and held them to 22 points in the second half. Timmy Robinson scored six points in the fourth and Greg Carson has eight in the third. Our big guys were great in the second half.
"Nineteen of our 37 points in the second half were from our big guys," Catellier said. "And Kevin Klembczyk did a good job on defense. He held their leading scorer to eight points. He did a good job on the Foster kid."

Christner led the Blackbirds with 19 points in the game. Arico added 12 and Klembczyk chipped in with nine points.

Fields led the Cadets with 22 points. Bennett scored 11 and Shavar Fields and Foster each added eight points.
"I knew, as we matured, and gained more game experience," Catellier said, "that we would be a good team. We’ve had some close losses in the first half of the season. Hopefully, those will become wins in the second half. We just beat the third team in the league. We’ve beaten two of the top four teams in the Colonial Council."

The Blackbirds lost to Watervliet and Cohoes, the top two teams in the league by a combined total of two points. Voorheesville lost to Watervliet, the league front runner, 40-39, on Jan 5.

The Blackbirds beat Cobleskill-Richmondville, 61-49, on Friday.
"Hopefully, Watervliet will lose a couple of games and we can claw back into it," Catellier said of the league race. "But we are waiting for sectionals. We want to be great for sectionals. We’re working that way, and it’ll be here quick."

The Blackbirds are 5-4 in the league and 6-7 overall. They play at Lansingburgh on Friday and at Mechanicville the following Friday.
"I’m happy with the kids," Catellier said. "They had a high energy level and played with that for 32 minutes. They are working real hard and everybody contributed. That’s the great part about this win."