VOORHEESVILLE — The Voorheesville boys’ basketball team proved Friday night that not only can it hang with the big boys, it also might be one of the them.

The Blackbirds beat Watervliet, the winner of the Colonial Council, 55-44, in a tense, physical game that featured Watervliet’s legendary coach, George Mardigan, getting ejected and 41 foul shots awarded to the Blackbirds.
"This is a great road win," said Voorheesville Coach Don Catellier after the game. "We’ve won two in a row. The sectional committee has to sit up and take a look at us now."

Friday’s game wrapped up the regular season for the Blackbirds, and sectional seedings were announced on Wednesday. Voorheesville is the number-six seed and will play on Tuesday. The Blackbirds will host Berkshire.

On Friday, Voorheesville fought the physical Cannoneers in one of the toughest gyms in Section II.
"We came into the game with four things we wanted to accomplish," Catellier said. "We wanted to control the offensive boards, we wanted to play with them, and play as hard as they did. And we played hard."

The Blackbirds lost to the Cannoneers by two points earlier in the season, and were not cowed coming into Watervliet.
"We’ve won here three years in a row," Catellier said. "We were not intimidated."

The Blackbirds led for most of the contest. They trailed after the first quarter, 8-6, but took over in the second quarter. The Birds led, 24-17, at halftime.

Voorheesville took the lead on a hook shot by Evan Christner, who was in foul trouble and sat out for a lot of the contest. Tim Robinson scored after grabbing a rebound.

Joe Klembczyk made two foul shots, to make the score 15-10.

Voorheesville led, 19-13, and outscored Watervliet, 5-4, for the rest of the period to take a seven-point halftime lead.

Voorheesville built upon its lead with tough defense and strong work on the boards. The Birds led, 35-26, at the end of the third quarter.

The game featured four technical fouls, the last one against Mardigan and led to his ejection. It was the coach’s second technical foul of the game and by rule he had to leave.
"Our defense did a great job," Catellier said. "We had a great game plan defensively, and the kids executed."

The Blackbirds made 27 out of 41 attempts at the free-throw line. Klembczyk made 15 foul shots in the contest and finished the game with 17 points for the Blackbirds.
"What can I say about Joey Klembczyk"" Catellier asked. "He did a great job."

The Blackbirds also did a great job of battling the Cannoneers on rebounds.
"On offensive boards, we won, 9-8," Catellier said. "And it was 21 to 21 overall. We can hang with the big boys. We went to their courts and beat them both."

Beating the best

Voorheesville beat three of the four top teams in the Colonial Council in the past week to finish the season. The Blackbirds beat Schalmont on Feb. 2 and followed that with a road win against second-place Cohoes last Tuesday. The Blackbirds also beat Albany Academy, the third-place team, last month.

Against Watervliet, Robinson scored 10 points to aid Klembczyk’s 17. Justin Arico added nine and Christner chipped in with seven.
"We’ve beaten the teams we’ve had to play," Catellier said. "All three teams ahead of us, we beat. And we’ve done it with different people stepping it up. Evan didn’t have his best game tonight, but Greg Carson and Timmy did a great job. They played great on defense and hustled to the boards and did what we had to do to win."

Catellier and his players had to wait until Wednesday to see who their next opponent would be. The Blackbirds have a scrimmage on Friday against Bethlehem.
"We want to keep sharp for sectionals," Catellier said. "The committee has to look at us. I see us as a top-four seed right now."

Voorheesville finished the regular season with a 12-8 overall record and an 11-5 record in Colonial Council play. The Birds have won eight of 10 games since returning to play after the new year began.
"We’ve improved," Catellier said. "I knew all along that we had a pretty decent team and now we’re growing into it. We just need to keep it going."