Blair girls defeated the Hill School for the second time this season to advance to the finals of the MAPL tournament. After a bye on Friday, the Bucs came out ready to compete. Temi Fagbenle scored 23 points, blocked 4 shots, and grabbed 12 rebounds. Christelle Akon-Akech dished out numerous assists and scored 12. Senior Tamar Oppenheim stood out on defensive side of the ball and scored 7 points. Hill cut into the Blair lead in the third quarter, but Blair maintained enough composure on defense to secure the win by a final score of 50-42. Sunday at 12:30, the Bucs will seek to avenge a narrow loss to Peddie in early January. Peddie enters the contest as the number one seed and has never lost in MAPL play.

Blair boys fought off a tough Hill squad to earn a spot in the MAPL finals, downing Hill 51-48. Blair spread the ball around offensively, with senior Ryan Lubreski leading the way with 10 points. On the boards, Lionel Gomis pulled in 9 rebounds for the Bucs and he added 7 points offensively. Consistently solid defense held off Hill in the closing minutes of the game. Blair will play against The Hun School for the MAPL Trophy at 2:30.

Sunday Championship 

Girls: 
Peddie wins 52-32 to earn MAPL title. Peddie was quick out of the gates exploding to an early 15-0 lead in the first quarter. Blair managed to fight back cutting the deficit to 3 points as Arielle Aikens scored 10 points in the first half for Blair. Peddie ended the half no a buzzer-beater by Hayley Peters, who ended the day with a game high 25 points.

After the half, Peddie, again, came out strong. Peters and Nekole Jackson led the charge with 6 points each in the third. A stifling Peddie defense held the Bucs to 5 points in the third quarter.

Temi Fagbenle led the Bucs with 14. Peddie earned their twelfth consecutive MAPL title.

Boys: 
Blair wins the MAPL TITLE!

Blair defeated Hun 47-45 in front of a crowded Performance Gym on Sunday. Jesse Pritchard had 17 for the Bucs, including three late fourth quarter free throws that put the Bucs up by two. Hun’s final desperation three came up short, and Blair earned their 6th MAPL title.

Blair held a lead for the entire first half, but the Bucs saw that lead disappear, as Hun battled back in the third to a 33-33 score to start the fourth quarter. Lionel Gomis played determined defense and was a rebounding machine for the Bucs. Gomis also contributed on the offensive side with 9 points. Adding to the defensive front for Blair, Tyler McNeely and Mark Bevacqua provided added a solid physical presence for the Bucs.