By Jordan J. Michael

VOORHEESVILLE –– There is a three-headed monster on the Voorheesville boys’ basketball team. Man, is it scary.

Blackbird senior Nick Kinisky coined the “three-headed monster” phrase after a 68-to- 52 home win over Mechanicville on Tuesday night. Michael Snyder, Ethan Mackey, and himself make up the dynamic group.

“I like to say that we’re some kind of crazy beast out there because we’re all over the floor,” said Kinisky. “We can hit you in three different ways.”

“Mackey lives under the basket and we like to keep him fed,” Snyder added. “Defenses double down on him and it opens up a lot of space for everyone else.”

 Kinisky, Snyder, and Mackey combined for 50 of Voorheesville’s 68 points on Tuesday night. Mackey led the way with 19 points.

“Mackey had all of his points in the first half,” said Head Coach Don Catellier. “He’s probably one of the best big guys in Section II.”

Catellier told The Enterprise that the defense on opposing teams have tried many things to stop the aggressive offense of the Blackbirds. “If someone is getting doubled, we’ll just kick it out to an open player,” he said. “You can stop maybe one of them, but not all three. You can only double so many guys.”

Mackey gave the Red Raiders trouble down low and had three quick baskets in the first quarter. Voorheesville jumped out to a 13-to-6 lead. Kinisky and Snyder each added a three-pointer and the Blackbirds led, 19-to-10, at the end of the first session.

James Currier started the Voorheesville scoring in the second quarter with a three from the corner. Mackey added two more close-range buckets and eventually jammed one home after a steal at mid-court. It was a 29-to-12 lead for the Blackbirds.

Mechanicville’s Nick Lettrick was his team’s only highlight, making some impressive shots. The athleticism continued for Voorheesville and Chris Castren had a nice steal and lay-up combination. The Blackbirds had a 20-point advantage at halftime.

“We got back to playing good team basket tonight,” said Catellier. “We just had a handful of rough non-league games and a close league loss to Lansingburgh. This game was a little less competitive.”

Snyder and Kinisky drained back-to-back threes at the opening of the third quarter. A few minutes later, Kinisky added a three-point play off of an excellent feed from Mackey. The lead was 61 to 40 at the end of the third.

The Voorheesville reserves got a good workout in the fourth quarter and the team cruised to a 16-point win. Lettrick ended with 24 points for the Red Raiders.

“We knew their two big guys would score, but our defense shut everyone else out,” Catellier said. “Mechanicville actually finished second in the state last year. It’s kind of weird to see them down.”

Voorheesville is 9-1 in the Colonial Council and 11-5 overall. The team’s goal is to keep pace with Lansingburgh as the regular season winds down.

“We have plenty of challenging games left,” said Catellier. “My guys know that, if we lose one down the stretch, the league is Lansingburgh’s. Things are getting tight.”