Varsity
Sue Altman, Head Coach
Ryan Wehmeyer, Assistant

JV
Ryan Spring

To Prospective Blair Basketball Players,

Welcome to Blair Academy Basketball! If you are a student applying to Blair and hoping to join our basketball squad, we look forward to meeting you when you visit campus. The 2006-2007 season will be my first year as head coach and my fifth year in the basketball program at Blair. I have spent the last four years as an assistant at the varsity level, and I played college basketball at Columbia University. I am happy to answer any questions about our team or about Blair more generally. Please do not hesitate to contact me by phone (908-362-2015) or email (altmas@blair.edu) if I can be of any help to you.

“Nothing will work unless you do.” John Wooden

The 2003-2004 season was a great success. Nine players returned to the squad, and we added Ngoneh Gaye, from Pawtucket, Rl (now on scholarship at Kennesaw State) and Shannon Ruetsch from Hackettstown, NJ. The Lady Bucs earned spots in both the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) finals and the Prep A State finals. This was one of the first girls’ basketball teams in the history of Blair to compete in the Prep A Championship game, a tremendous credit to this group of hard-working athletes. They landed a 13-7 record and aimed for continued success in 2004-05.

The 2004-2005 season began with a trip to Massachusetts to participate in the Northfield Mt. Hermon Holiday Tournament, where we placed 2nd of 8 teams. Players new to the squad included: Kelly Scott (NY, NY; now playing at UPenn, see related article), Chier Deng (London, England), Lynn Chien (Taipei, Taiwan) and Lejla Agic (Sparta, NJ). We hope that many of you were able to watch one of our games last winter and cheer on the Lady Bucs! They were a fun team to see: Kelly sinking shots from the paint and perimeter ... Winnie driving the lane ... Kat’s baby hook ... and Rachel’s defensive stops. What an athletic, aggressive and exciting group. Both Winnie Adrien and Kelly Scott earned First Team All-MAPL honors; Kelly also earned a spot on the First Team All-State list and Winnie on the Second Team All-State. Co-Captain Rachel Campbell and Kelly Scott were co-winners of the Brooks’ Prize in girls’ basketball. Congratulations!

Though we graduated 3 seniors from the 2004-2005 squad, we had a successful 2005-2006 season. The Lady Bucs were led by co-captains Winnie Adrien and Shannon Ruetsch, who were joined by fellow seniors Beth Kaskel (Sparta, NJ . . . 4-year player), Christina Giambrone (Blairstown, NJ) and Brittany Gordon (Wilmington, NC), see article about Brittany. This year we played a very challenging schedule and ended the season with a winning record (12-8). Several of the teams in our league (MAPL - Mid-Atlantic Prep League) are competitive, but we held our own and earned 3rd place in the MAPL tournament. A highlight of the season was an exciting 5 game winning streak, including our close win over the Hill School in which our starting point guard earned her 1000 point.

To be a successful member of the Blair Academy basketball team you must approach your academics with the same enthusiasm and commitment you put forth on the basketball court. We believe in playing in practice that same way you want to perform in a game and in working towards perfection in every drill. No one person can win a championship or even a single game; it takes a TEAM! The Blair Lady Bucs focus a lot of our energy on building team unity and understanding individual roles. This year we graduated five outstanding senior leaders, so we are certainly looking for new talent! We hope any prospective student-athletes choose Blair for its welcoming community, commitment to academics, and close-knit athletic teams.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Go Bucs!

Coach Sue Altman

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