Recaps

12/8/07 - Blair Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase - Blair vs. NMH
This past weekend Blair played against New England powerhouse Northfield Mount Hermon, with the proceeds from the game going to the Coaches vs. Cancer organization. Blair and NMH have engaged in two extremely close games the past two years, both decided by one point, and hopefully this is the start of a budding rivalry for the two.

This was also Blair's home opener, and although the result was not as anticipated, the game was very suspenseful and tense throughout, which led to a great atmosphere for the fans, as they were enthusiastically involved in the game. Despite the heart-breaking one-point loss, the game was very entertaining for the Blair spectators, including two highlight-reel slam dunks, one by Austin Johnson off a beautiful between-the-legs bounce pass by Jarett Mann, the other a second half "facial" by Mann in an open-court one-on-one challenge.

The game was close throughout, and Blair held a 4-5 point lead throughout most of the game. However, with just over two minutes to go, NMH began to buckle down on defense and hit some big threes, with the Blair offense hitting an early-season snag in the last few minutes. This meant an 8 point swing in NMH's favor going into the final minute. With NMH up 4, Ameer Brown was fouled attempting a three, but it did not go. He made two out of three shots from the line, but NMH sunk their two free throws after they were fouled. Blair ran back up the court and Ryan Lubreski hit a big three with 3.6 seconds left on the clock, to put Blair back down by one. After a Blair timeout, NMH was able to inbound it and were able to move the ball around to avoid a foul call despite a desperate Blair scramble to foul before the clock expired.

After the impressive come-from-behind victory in Hun last week, Blair this time found themselves on the other end of a tight game, as NMH stole a victory on the Bucs home court. Jarrett Mann and Austin Johnson once again led Blair in points, though the team also got a lift from the bench, as various players contributed throughout the game on both ends of the court.

Leading Scorers: Blair - Austin Johnson - 18 points; Jarrett Mann - 16 Points

Final Score - Blair 58, NMH - 59.

12/5/07 - Hun
This past Wednesday Blair went down to Hun to play in the first of a series of games to determine home court advantage for state playoffs. This game left off right where last year's ended, in an extremely tight match-up, with Blair down the entire game until that last few seconds.

With Blair trailing 50-48, Jarrett Mann was able to put back a missed shot with 3.1 seconds left in the game. If that wasn't enough, he also was fouled on the play. He calmly drained the free throw to give Blair its first lead of the game. On the next and final possession of the game, Hun came down and missed a three-pointer at the buzzer, and Blair was victorious in the first of what should be a number of exciting games vs. Hun.

This was a very important victory that gave Blair a head start on its way to home court advantage for the state championship. Despite not playing up to our usual standards for the first three quarters, Blair showed a lot of poise in the final minutes of the game, thanks in large part to a series of extraordinary plays by Ameer Brown. He hit on a slashing drive between two Hun players, grabbed an offensive rebound in traffic to keep another possession alive, and took an offensive charge on Lance Goulbourne (arguably Hun's best player) on the very next possession, which was his 5th foul. It was a huge series of plays that gave Blair a chance to win the game.

The final score after the game winning free-throw was 51- 50. Jarrett Mann led the way for Blair with 14 points and also played great defense the entire game. His refuse-to-lose attitude and constant energy helped propel the team to victory.

Blair now takes a 3-0 record into its home opener this Saturday versus Northfield Mount Hermon, a perennial New England powerhouse that has had several down-to-the-wire games against Blair in the last few years.

Leading Scorers: Blair - Jarrett Mann - 14 Points; Hakeem Harris - 11 Points
Leading Scorers: Hun - Sterling Melville - 17 Points; Lance Goulbourne - 13 Points

Final Score: Blair - 51; Hun 50.

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