By Jordan J. Michael

COHOES –– The second string of players for Voorheesville gave the girls’ basketball team a little extra push and it was enough for a win at Cohoes on Tuesday night.

After being down 19-to-10 with 5:36 remaining in the second quarter, the Lady Birds rallied from behind to beat the Tigers, 42-39, to run its record to 3-0 in the Colonial Council.

“I count on all nine girls to play basketball,” said Head Coach Bob Baron after the game. “The second group gave us energy to come back and make it close.”

Voorheesville came into Tuesday’s game with wins over Schalmont (60-49) and Cobleskill (71-33). Senior Elizabeth Madden was the leading scorer in both games, but she was held to only two points against Cohoes.

“The only scoring that matters is the team scoring,” Baron said. “It doesn’t matter who scores, as long as we win the game. All nine of these girls can put up numbers.”

The Birds went on a 9-to-2 run to close out the first half and the Cohoes lead was cut to 21 to 19. Seniors Emily Norris and Brittney Creed, who led the team with 10 points, made some key shots to close the gap.

“We dribbled into traps and over dribbled in the first half,” said Baron. Voorheesville also had a few costly turnovers in the game. “Some changes needed to be made,” he said.

The game was knotted at 25 after Jane Pritchard went coast-to-coast for the Lady Birds and Bailei Tetrault, who led the Tigers with 12 points, cashed in a jumper after Voorheesville couldn’t grab a few defensive rebounds.

Tetrault buried a wide-open three-pointer with 2:12 left in the third quarter to give Cohoes a 30-to-27 lead. But, Jen Cillis made a huge play at the other end to tie the game at 30 by completing a three-point play.

“Cohoes is an extremely athletic team,” Baron said. “It was a great game to be a part of.”

The Birds turned the ball over a few times towards the end of the third quarter and Cohoes jumped out to a 36-to-30 advantage. In the fourth, Brittnay Denman followed a Melissa Bogart miss underneath to get within two of the Tigers, 38-36.

“We started making smarter passes and got out of double teams,” said Baron. “Everything changed for the better when we made more passes.”

With 3:28 left in regulation, Sarah Madden tied the game at 38 for Voorheesville and then hustled to the other end to block a lay-up attempt by Cohoes’s Jocelyn Ahearn. Norris got to the foul line with two minutes left and sank both to give the Birds a 40-to-39 lead.

Seconds later, Creed split the defense in the lane and put in a nice lay-up to secure the win for Voorheesville. The Tigers had two chances to tie the game with a three-pointer, but missed both shots.

The Lady Birds narrowly escaped with a win on Tuesday and now faces a tough Lansingburgh team at home on Friday night. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.

“This game was a good test for us,” Baron said.