VOORHEESVILLE — Upset.

It has many meanings. It was the way the Voorheesville boys felt after they were beaten by a lower seeded team in the first round of the Class B Section II basketball playoffs.

The Blackbirds, who were seeded sixth in the tournament, had difficulties with Berkshire and it resulted in a 62-61 upset win for the Bulldogs on Tuesday night.
"It’s a real tough match-up to play them in the first round," said Voorheesville Coach Don Catellier after the game. "We tried to keep it within ourselves and we did not do that. We tried to force things and tried to run with them. And we can’t do that."

Instead of using their height advantage, the Blackbirds tried to fast break with the more athletic Bulldogs. And the Blackbirds didn’t match up well with Berkshire.
"We’re real tall," Catellier said. "They had us athletically, but they had no true big guys that could match up with Evan [Christner] and our other guys. The game plan was to go inside and, in the second quarter, we lost our focus. In the first, we went inside. The second quarter, we didn’t."

Back and forth

Voorheesville led, 18-13, at the end of the first stanza, and, after Justin Arico’s jumper gave the Birds a seven-point lead to start the quarter, Berkshire took over.

The Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run to claim the lead.

Voorheesville stuck around, getting a jump shot from Tim Robinson and a foul shot from Arico, to remain just a point behind, 24-23.

Berkshire then rattled off another eight consecutive points as part of an 11-1 run for the next two minutes to lead, 35-24.

Only four points by Robinson at the end the second quarter kept the game close at halftime. The score at the intermission was 36-28.

The Birds came out flying in the beginning of the second half and clawed their way back into the game.

After the teams traded baskets to open the third frame, the Blackbirds went on an 8-0 run to even the game, 36-36.

Arico made a jump shot and a fast-break lay-up by Christner got the Birds back into the game. An inside basket by Joe Klembczyk and a lay-up by Arico after a steal, evened the game.

A jump shot by Berkshire’s Daquan Smith broke the tie and set up a quarter-and-a-half of frantic basketball.

Berkshire led, 46-45, at the end of the third quarter as the teams continued to trade baskets for the rest of the frame.

The war on the floor continued as both teams battled and neither could pull away.

Kevin Klembczyk made a runner in the lane to make the score 58-56 with 3:25 left in the contest.

An inside basket by Smith built the Berkshire lead back to four but Christner answered with an inside basket of his own to make the core 60-58.

Osei Austin scored on a runner to build the lead back to four points. But that lead was cut by three as Arico made a three-point basket from the left side with 46 seconds left.

The Blackbirds got the ball back after a missed shot and called timeout with 14 seconds to go in the game.

But the Birds couldn’t get a good shot at the basket; the upset was complete and the players left the court with upset looks on their faces.
"The kids fought their hearts out," Catellier said. "It’s a tough way to lose. But you can’t ask for anything more."

Christner led the Blackbirds with 15 points. Arico scored 14, Robinson added 11 and Joe Klembczyk chipped in with 10.

Looking ahead

Arico, Robinson, and Klemczybck led a solid group of seniors who will graduate. Also in the mix are Chris Thompson, Greg Carson and Pino Ragonese.
"What can I say about that group," Catellier said. "Justin, Joey, Greg, Pino, Timmy, and Chris are great kids. They are very hard to replace. They are just great kids and this senior group is special. I thought it would be hard last year with my son playing, but this is just as hard."

But all is not lost with this group of seniors. Christner returns, and so will a couple of other contributors in Kevin Klembczyk and Jordan Murphy.

A group of talented players from the junior varsity will also be in the mix next year.
"We have a great group coming back," Catellier said. "We’ve got juniors in Evan and Kevin and we hope to have Mackey Lloyd healthy for all of next year. And Jordan Murphy should come along. We have a group of kids that were successful on the junior varsity and we expect them to be successful on the varsity."

Catellier also expects the program to be built up to the point where the team can compete for Colonial Council and sectional championships for the next few years.
"The kids are working hard," the coach said. "We have a good program and kids respect it. They are working hard at it. Voorheesville basketball has come a long ways."