By Jordan J. Michael

VOORHEESVILLE –– The Lady Birds basketball team hadn’t lost a game since the middle of December. Winning streaks can’t last forever.

Lansingburgh came to the Lady Birds’ home floor on Tuesday and escaped with a victory, 51-46. Voorheesville had beaten the Knights earlier on in the season. Head Coach Bob Baron told The Enterprise at the beginning of the season that Lansingburgh would be one of its toughest opponents.

“They have good man-to-man defense and a few stand-out players,” Baron said, referring to the Knights. “Playing them is always an adventure.”

Voorheesville’s last loss was to Albany High, a non-league opponent, in a tournament hosted by Albany. “We had quite a streak going,” said Baron, on Tuesday. “But tonight we ran into some problems. Ending a winning streak is never fun.”

 Voorheesville was coming off a double overtime win at Cohoes on Friday. “We didn’t shoot well tonight and we didn’t shoot well at Cohoes,” said Baron. “I don’t know why this is. We’re either a little fatigued or a little unfocused.”

Lansingburgh had an 11-to-9 lead after the first quarter. “Scoring nine points in the first quarter just isn’t enough,” Baron said. “We usually score at least 50 points a game. We didn’t sink enough shots tonight.”

The Lady Birds grabbed the lead, 14 to 12, halfway through the second quarter after Brittney Creed drained a three from the left. The shot clock would expire on the Knights’ next possession, due to tight defense by Voorheesville.

Ariana Youngs and Alyssa Fanne added two quick lay-ups for Lansingburgh to take an 18-to-14 lead. Casey Becerra had a nice play at the end of the half for Voorheesville, putting the ball through the net just before the buzzer sounded. The Knights led, 19-16.

The Lady Birds fed off the buzzer beater of the previous quarter and came out on fire in the third session. Kelly Glath scored first, followed with two pretty buckets by Sarah Goss. Voorheesville had a quick 22-to-19 lead. It was a flawless minute of basketball.

Losing momentum

“That first minute of the third quarter was really strong, but we didn’t keep it going,” said Baron. “We started to lose control of the ball again.”

Glath took the ball the length of the floor and made an aggressive move to the basket, but the ball bounced the other way. Youngs had a steal and went coast to coast for a score. Lansingburgh had a 29-to-22 lead with 4:30 left in the third.

“We were sloppy with the basketball and they took advantage of that,” Baron said. “Youngs was scooping up every loose ball and taking it the other way.”

Glath made another excellent play, placing a perfect bounce pass to Emily Norris, who put it in for a lay-up, plus the foul. Norris completed the three-point play, closing the Voorheesville gap to six.

The Knights had a seven-point lead as the third quarter closed, 36-29. “We dug ourselves a pretty big hole for the fourth quarter,” said Baron. “But this team never gives up and we had some fight left.”

Glath would add another three-point play from under the basket and the Lady Birds were within five, 37 to 32. Lansingburgh went on a 7-to-0 run and was now up by 11 points at 43 to 32.

The Knights found Chelsea Rebhum for three consecutive baskets down low and the game looked to be out of reach for Voorheesville.

“We were trying to press in the fourth quarter and we had to gamble a bit,” Baron said. “The court opened up and they kept finding Rebhum under the basket.”

Creed found Glath for a trey with 12 seconds left and the score was 49 to 46. Voorheesville had to foul and Lansingburgh sank the free throws. The Lady Birds ran out of time. The Knights won, 51 to 46.

“My girls played hard and tried to come back and win,” said Baron. “We cut an 11- point lead to three. The fight of the team is never in question. We just didn’t make enough plays to win.”

Glath had 17 points as Voorheesville’s leading scorer. Madden and Becerra added eight and nine respectively. Baron told The Enterprise that Glath has been shooting really well lately.

Rebhum ended the night with 20 points for Lansingburgh and Youngs had nine to go with a handful of steals.

Voorheesville’s Colonial Council record stands at 10-2. The team is 11-3 overall. This is a vast improvement from last season.

The Lady Birds will travel to Holy Names on Friday for a heated matchup. “They beat us by 12 on our home floor last time,” said Baron. “No other team has beaten them.”

“I’m very happy with the improvement of my team but I go by the potential of a team,” Baron said. “We’re in every game. Was I hoping for another win? Yes. It’s disappointing when the ball doesn’t go into the basket.”