GUILDERLAND — Guilderland girls’ basketball coach Frank Cacckello wonders which team will show up — the one that has the talent to be one of the top teams in the Suburban Council and can beat Colonie or the one that gives up a 12-point lead in a loss to Shaker.

On Friday night, Cacckello got the latter team in the first half and the better team in the second half. The Lady Dutch beat Columbia, 44-34, after trailing at halftime.
"We challenged them at halftime," Cacckello said. "Really, we played one of our better games. We had a three-minute lapse in the second quarter. In the first half, our offense took 11 three-point shots and that is something we cannot do. I told the kids at halftime, we had to get the ball inside. We got the ball to Mary Kate [O’Connell] inside and that let us be able to work outside."

Guilderland trailed 22-19 at halftime as Columbia scored the last 11 points of the first half. The last Lady Dutch points of the first half came on a Kristin Pezze jump shot with 3:15 left. The basket gave the Dutch a eight-point lead, 19-11.

Then the Lady Devils just went on a tear.

Lauren Hayes made a three-point basket and Kaleigh Lussier made a jump shot, bringing the score to 19-15.

Lussier then scored on an inside basket and Amber Batzold made a jump shot with a minute left until the intermission to give Columbia the lead.

Lussier finished the first scoring after grabbing an offensive rebound with 22 seconds left.
"They are a tough matchup," Cacckello said of Columbia. "They are a different type of kid. They are tough to guard down low, but we held them to just eight points in the second half."

Taking over

The Lady Dutch gave up just four points in the third quarter and they took over the contest.

Mary Kate O’Connell scored inside for Guilderland but Lussier answered with an inside basket to keep the lead at three points.

Then Nikki Branchini stole the ball for Guilderland and went all the way to the basket for a lay-up and was fouled. Branchini converted the foul shot and the game was tied, 24-24.

Branchini broke the tie with 4:34 left in the third stanza with a foul shot. Later, she scored on a drive to the basket to put the Lady Dutch up by three points.

After a Columbia basket by Hayes cut the lead back to one point, Pezze made back-to-back three-pointers to completely swing the game in Guilderland’s favor.

Jessica Tice rounded out the scoring in the third period to make the score 35-26.

Guilderland gave up eight points in the fourth quarter, but scored nine to keep the advantage.

Strong defense

Defense has been Guilderland’s strength for most of the season though the team has worked a lot on offense. in practice.
"It’s hard to explain," Cacckello said. "We have the kids and we have the offense, but I don’t know why we don’t score more. Our defense might take a lot out of our offense. We put so much energy into it. We try to be balanced."

And Branchini was the leader of the defense as she had four steals in the second half.
"She gives us a spark on the defensive end," Cacckello said. "She was spectacular in the second half — on both ends. She started to take the ball to the hole. She might not fill up the stat sheet but she does a lot of things for us."

The Lady Dutch also got great defense from Tice.
"The kid she shut down was very good," Cacckello said.

Tice, a senior, has some Division II basketball programs looking at her, Cacckello said.

Pezze led the Lady Dutch with 12 points.
"She is such a good shooter," Cacckello said, "but she needs to go to the hoop more."

Tice scored 10 points for Guilderland, Branchini added nine, and O’Connell chipped in eight.

Lussier led Columbia with 12 points and Kaylyn Smith added seven.

"Right where we want to be"

The win improves the Dutch’s record to 9-6 overall and 7-4 in the Suburban Council.

Guilderland won a tough road game at Ballston Spa, 32-28, on Jan. 20 but lost to Shaker, 41-40, on Jan. 17 after holding a double-digit lead.
"Against Shaker, we blew a 12-point lead," Cacckello said. "We did not blow the lead with turnovers; our offense got us into trouble by taking too many outside shots."

The sectionals are right around the corner, but Guilderland still has three games to go to finish the regular season. The Lady Dutch hosted Saratoga on Tuesday, beating the Blue Streaks, 51-30.

Rachel Rabbin and Tice led the way with 13 points. Pezze and O’Connell added nine points each.

Guilderland then hosts Shenendehowa on Friday.

The Dutch then will play in the Suburban Council Tournament, in the second tier of teams after playing in the league-championship game last winter.

Guilderland then wraps up the season with a trip to Saratoga on Feb. 14.

Cacckello likes the position his team sits in right now as sectionals approach. The Lady Dutch have accumulated enough points to earn a high seed for the playoffs. The Lady Dutch earn two points for every non-Suburban Council Blue Division team they beat and one point for a divisional win. The league tournament has no bearing on sectional seeding.
"We’re right where we want to be," Cacckello said. "We’re in the three slot. We got two points for our win because we only play them once.
"We’ve had some ups and downs," Cacckello added. "Many people love to talk when they look at our record. There’s nothing going on with this team. We just get up and down."