By Jordan J. Michael

BALLSTON SPA –– The Voorheesville girls’ basketball team hasn’t earned much respect in recent years. Oh, how the tides have turned.

The Lady Birds solidified a spot in the Class CC finals with a 47-to-44 win over Stillwater in Ballston Spa on Wednesday night. Voorheesville is 17-5 on the season and continues its amazing turnaround.

“It’s been our dream to play in the sectional finals,” said Kelly Glath after the game, standing next to her co-captains, Casey Becerra and Sarah Goss. “The recent history of this team has been pretty bad, losing a lot of games. We were once content with losing, but not anymore. We’re expected to win now.”

Becerra sank the first of Voorheesville’s eight threes on the night to give the Lady Birds an early 8-to-5 lead over its Wasaren League opponents. Becerra buried another three a few minutes later to give Voorheesville a 12-to-11 advantage.

Stillwater ended the first quarter with a nice cross-court pass by Carissa Daigle to Maggie Hoogeveen for an easy score under the basket. The Warriors has a 14-to-12 lead.

Early in the second quarter, Brittney Creed hit a three-pointer for the Lady Birds as she was getting fouled. Emily Norris soon added another three for Voorheesville and its lead was 21 to 18.

Stillwater would have a 22-to-21 lead at halftime after Haylee Semago put a jumper through the netting.

“Shooting the three is a big part of our game and we got good looks all night,” said Voorheesville Head Coach Bob Baron. “We ran the ball all night and took charge in the third quarter.”

“The nine of us try to formulate the best plan possible at halftime,” said Goss. “The plan usually consists of us pushing the ball as hard as we can.”

The Lady Birds came out blazing in the third quarter and outscored Stillwater, 20 to 8, over the eight minutes of play. The Warriors had no three-pointers in the game.

Creed hit back-to-back threes to give Voorheesville a 26-to-22 lead in the first few minutes of the third. Goss hit a nice hook shot and Glath put on the breaks in transition and drained a three.

Jane Pritchard bombed another three as the third quarter came to a close, giving Voorheesville a 41-to-30 lead.

“We used a zone defense tonight because Stillwater is a taller team,” Baron said. “It worked pretty well, but we started giving them more second-chance opportunities in the fourth quarter and they almost came back to win.”

The Warriors went to a full court press in the fourth and the Lady Birds started getting a little sloppy with the basketball. Stillwater grabbed many offensive rebounds, but couldn’t get a shot to drop.

Stillwater got to within five with 38 seconds to go, but Goss clinched the game with two free throws. Voorheesville won by three and awaits Hoosic Valley for the Class CC title at Hudson Valley Community College on Friday.

Becerra and Creed both had 10 points for the Lady Birds. Elizabeth Madden had nine and Goss added six. Semago had 14 points to lead Stillwater.

“Coach Baron came to this team last year and totally changed the attitude,” said Becerra. His daughter, Brittany, had played for Voorheesville in its glory days. “He taught us how to win basketball games. Now, were true believers.”