The Voorheesville girls basketball team put on a defensive clinic.
The Blackbirds forced 38 turnovers and more than a dozen jump balls on their way to a 45-31 victory over Section X champion Madrid-Waddington in last Saturday’s Class C regional at Hudson Valley Community College.
Voorheesville (16-7) advances to this weekend’s state tournament at HVCC. The Blackbirds meet Section V champion Gananda at 2:15 p.m. Saturday.
We’re looking forward to the challenge, said Voorheesville coach Robert Baron, who will be involved in his first state semifinal in his four-year varsity career. `Every game is a step up, and you have to be ready to make that step.`
It didn’t appear that Voorheesville was ready to make the step up against Madrid-Waddington in the first half. Despite all the turnovers, the Blackbirds never got their offense on track as they slowly built an 18-13 halftime lead.
`We weren’t really focused,` said Baron. `What we did was we settled for jump shots instead of getting the ball down low to our forwards.`
Voorheesville started finding its for-wards in the second half, as Sarah Madden and Anna Feller made some tough shots down low to help the Blackbirds expand their lead to as much as 17 points.
`We usually have a height advantage [over our opponents], so we like to get it down low,` said Madden, who finished with a team-high 12 points. `Anna and I have been working on our layups and our short jump shots a lot in practice.`
`When we get those inside shots, it makes everything easier because then you start opening up those outside shots,` said Baron.
Madrid-Waddington made one stab at a comeback early in the fourth quarter. Down 33-17, the Yellowjackets went on an 8-0 run capped by consecutive three-pointers by Bridgett Beldock to trim Voorheesville’s lead to eight points.
That was as close as Madrid-Waddington got. Feller hit a layup off a pass from Melissa Bogart, and Voorheesville was off on a 12-6 run to seal the victory.
`They did their job by expanding that lead to 17 points [in the third quarter],` said Baron. `You knew that [Madrid-Waddington] would make a run, which is why having that 17-point lead was important.`
Feller contributed 11 points, while Bogart and Emily Blow combined to score 10 points for Voorheesville. Beldock netted 13 points to lead Madrid-Waddington.
Voorheesville advances to the state semifinals for the first time since 2006. The Blackbirds’ last state title was in 2002, when they took home the Class C crown.“