VOORHEESVILLE — For three-and-a-half quarters, you could cut the tension with a knife.

The Albany Academy and the Voorheesville boys’ basketball teams went back and forth in a Colonial Council contest on Friday in Voorheesville.

Albany Academy held a 37-36 lead at the end of the third quarter. The Cadets pulled away in the fourth frame as the team’s depth and players’ athleticism had finally worn down the Voorheesville players and led to a 56-45 win for Academy.
"I’m happy with the kids," Voorheesville Coach Don Catellier said after the contest. "We had a game plan and the kids worked their butts off."

And work their butts off they did as Voorheesville played tough against an Academy squad that had been crowned a favorite in the Colonial Council in the pre-season after the arrival of transfer Chris Pelcher guided by new coach, Brian Fruscio.

The Blackbirds could not keep up with the Cadets in the fourth quarter, especially after Evan Christner picked up his fourth foul on the Birds first possession of the frame.

Albany Academy went on a 12-0 run to open the quarter, knocking off the pesky Blackbirds and giving the Cadets control of the game.

Pelcher scored five of the 12 points and Shavar Fields scored four in the run.
"Their big guys are difficult guys to play," Catellier said. "And we just ran out of big guys. Pelcher is a great player. It was a battle all night. We held them down. He averages 21 points a game and we held him to 10 under his average. I’m definitely happy with the game plan. The kids did a great job."

Voorheesville’s big kids, Brian Wise and Christner, were in foul trouble for most of the game. Wise fouled out in the third quarter, and when Christner picked up his fourth foul early in the fourth quarter, he was forced to play more tentatively so as to avoid a fifth foul, which would have disqualified him from the game.

That allowed Pelcher and Fields to take over in the middle and let the Cadets go on their scoring run.
"They are very physical," Catellier said of the Cadets. "This showed that we can play with the big boys. We’ll be all right."

Pelcher finished the contest with 11 points. Fields led the Cadets with 13 points. James Field scored 11 points and Tyler Foster added nine.

Mackey Lloyd led the Blackbirds with 11 points. Christner and Mike Tesch each scored nine points.

"Never easy"

Voorheesville trailed, 11-7, at the end of the first quarter and looked to be knocked out of the game in the second quarter. The Blackbirds fell behind by 10 points with 1:51 left in the half.

But Lloyd made two free throws and Kevin Klembczyk made one to cut the lead to seven points.

Lloyd then followed that up with two big three-point shots that cut the lead to one, 24-23, at halftime.
"You can’t ask for anything more," Catellier said of his players’ effort. "They went out there and played a great team. They are going to win a lot of basketball games. They got a lot of kids back and Pelcher transferred in," he said of Academy. "Then throw Coach Fruscio into the mix. That’s a great ball club over there."

Catellier only sees his team improving after playing so well against Academy.
"We’ll get better from this," the coach said. "This is just our second game of the year. They’ve played three games already.
"I found out a lot of what this team is made of," Catellier said. "We can play with people. At the defensive end, we were good. We have a chance in the [class] C’s to play a long ways. They knew they were in a game tonight."

The Blackbirds opened the season with a win last Tuesday against Cobleskill.
"That was a nice win," Catellier said. "Everyone played a lot. We saw some things from the kids. I think we have good depth. The juniors came in tonight, knowing what to expect," he said after Friday’s game. "This wasn’t their first experience."

Voorheesville followed up Friday’s tough game with a trip to Lansingburgh. The Blackbirds came back from being down 15 points to beat the Knights. Christner made a baseline jump shot with five seconds left to give the Blackbirds the win.
"We’re thrown right to the frying pan," Catellier said. "In our league, it is never easy. Every night, someone new comes to play."

The Blackbirds travel to play Mechanicville on Friday then returns home to play Ravena and Schalmont before Christmas. After the holiday, the Blackbirds play in the Spa Catholic Tournament.