TROY – The Voorheesville girls team fought back from a 25-11 deficit on Saturday, March 10, to force overtime in the state Class B quarterfinals against Northeast Clinton High School.
But, the Section II champs came up short in OT, getting outscored 7-2 and lost to the Section VII champs in a wild game at Hudson Valley Community College by a score of 51-44.
“The effort was good in the second half. I thought we came out a little flat and we turned the ball over too much in the first half,” Voorheesville coach Andrew Karins, in his first year as head coach. “I yelled a little at half time and they responded.”
The Blackbirds were led by Olivia Barringer with 18, 12 of which came in the third quarter when Voorheesville outscored Canton 14-7. Emily Burke had nine and Victoria Konicki had seven while Rebecca Clair and Leah Weber had five each.
Kairns said his team was bigger than the squad from Canton but not as speedy and the 3-2 zone prevented his two standout senior guards – Clair and Burke – of getting the ball to his two post players. That changed in the third quarter, he said, when he changed his post players around a bit and Barringer and Konicki were able to work together and put some points on the board.
“The two post players who do pass the ball well started to click in the second half,” he said.
For the squad from Canton – who brought a large fan base to Hudson Valley Community College to watch the boys play also – sophomore standout Kya McComb led all scorers with 28 points, Caitlyn Houghton had 10 points and Emily Sample had nine.
The Blackbirds had a difficult season – with the abrupt resignation of coach Robert Baron in November and the promotion of Kairns from the JV ranks – came into the postseason as the No. 6 seed. The team finished the Colonial Council season below 500, going 6-7 in league play and 10-9 overall.
But, once the sectionals started, they got by the No. 11 seed Johnstown, then No. 3 seed Cobleskill-Richmondville and No. 2 Mechanicville and then beat the top seed Tamarac on Saturday, March 3, at HVCC.
The team will graduate its two senior captains Burke and Clair – who Kairns called leaders on and off the floor – but the majority of the squad will be back next year.
“In the end, thing didn’t fall our way but still a fabulous year and we are still sectional champions and I couldn’t be more proud of the girls,” Kairns said. “But, the younger girls didn’t like the result of this game, and I can tell they will use this as motivation for next year.”
Saturday was a tough day for Section II athletes at HVCC, the Colonie girls lost the Class AA quarterfinals to West Genesee, Averill Park girls lost the Class A quarterfinals to Jamesville-DeWitt and the Shen boys lost the Class AA quarterfinals to Liverpool.
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