VOORHEESVILLE — Voorheesville boys’ basketball coach Don Catellier was putting his players through tough physical drills during practice on Monday.

The Blackbirds’ coach watched a big lead fall away on Friday against Schalmont though his team held on for a 50-44 win.
"In the second half we did not play at all and they played well," he said of the Schalmont players. "They made some shots, but the difference was we got lazy."

The Blackbirds led 25-14 at halftime and led by 13 points at one point in the third quarter.
"Schalmont did some things defensively that took us out of our game," Catellier said. "They made some adjustments at halftime and we didn’t adjust as well. It was a combination of they played really well and we fell into a rut. We fell asleep."

The Blackbirds did get balanced scoring in Friday’s contest.

Greg Klopfer led the way with 11 points. Nick Duncan and Mike Hopper each scored nine points.

Duncan grabbed nine rebounds for the Blackbirds.

The win boosts Voorheesville’s record to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the Colonial Council.

The Blackbirds beat Ravena, 51-39, last Tuesday.
"We played well in that game," Catellier said. "We came out and went ahead. We led 21-14, at halftime. and 41-20 at the end of the third quarter.
"Schalmont and Ravena are the same in that they play physical," Catellier added. "They are tough, physical teams."

Catellier added that his team can play that brand of basketball.
"We can bang with them," the coach said. "Is it our first choice" No. But we are not afraid of it. We have good-sized kids."

The Blackbirds also beat Lansingburgh, 83-51, on Dec. 6.
"We came right out and scored 27 points in the first quarter," Catellier said. "Greg and Andy [Catellier] scored 24 out of those 27 points. They made six three-pointers."

The Blackbirds made 10 three-point shots in the entire game. Klopfer made seven and Catellier hit for three.
"That kind of opened it up on the inside," Coach Catellier said. "Nick Duncan had one point in the first quarter and then had 18 in the next three."

Klopfer finished the contest with 26 points. Andy Catellier scored 20 and Duncan added 19.
"We got 31 points out of the post with Nick, Mike, and Evan Christner," Catellier said. "We try to establish one or the other. If we establish the inside, it opens up the outside and, if we establish the outside, it opens up the inside."

The Birds blew away the Knights. They led 27-13 at the end of the first quarter; 44-29 at halftime, and 64-36 at the end of the third frame.

Working on D

Catellier was putting his players through defensive drills on Monday, because he felt that aspect of the game is lagging behind.
"We are behind on defense," the coach said. "We’re ahead on offense. We are giving up six points higher than we did last year."

The Blackbirds also gave up 73 points in an overtime loss to Glens Falls in the first game of the season.
"For the most part, I’m pretty pleased," Catellier said. "We’re starting to get things worked out and we’re working together as a team. We had to mix in new parts. I’ve seen progress and we’re finding out exactly what we can do. On the third of January we have Watervliet and that is always a battle."

The Blackbirds played Cohoes on Wednesday as part of a double-header with the varsity girls’ team. The Birds then will have a week off before facing Mechanicville in a make-up contest.
"Originally, we had two weeks off," Catellier said. "But the Cohoes game got moved to Wednesday and Mechanicville got moved to the middle of vacation."

Catellier knows that it will only get tougher for his team as they head toward the meat of their schedule.
"Everybody circles us on their schedule," Catellier said. "We’re at the top and teams will be coming after us. We can see film on a team and they could not look so good and we may not react as well as we think we’ll do. Teams are doing stuff that is pretty amazing.
"I liked it last year when we were under the radar," Catellier said. "Well, we weren’t under the radar, but we did not get a lot of respect."