Blue Devils bring the heat, burn girls' basketball

Blair's storied basketball rivalry with Springbrook High School has always proved for exciting, high-intensity games. But while the Lady Blazers came out determined to tally their first victory of the season, they were unable to both hit their shots and counter Springbrook's quickness, falling 47-37 and dropping to a 0-3 record.

The first minutes of the games foreshadowed what was to come for the Lady Blazers. Junior point guard Lara Dean, the staple of the team's offensive attack, dribbled from the back court past several Springbrook defenders, dishing the ball in the paint to sophomore power forward Caroline Kuttner, who turned the ball over.

Again and again, Dean would break Springbrook's defensive pressure, but her efforts went unrewarded, as Kuttner and senior Erin Ivey, a new varsity player, were unable to hold on and convert. This happened consistently throughout the game for Blair, en route to 50 turnovers.

That's not to say that the team did not play with heart. Both Kuttner and sophomore Emily Ramsey went up strong on the boards and swatted away Springbrook shots. Ivey set an example for her teammates, often throwing her body around the court, scrapping for loose balls and contesting every opposing shot.

Still, passion was not enough to win the game, and the Lady Blazers' sub-par performance in the first three quarters dug their own grave, as they went down by 17 points.

A fourth quarter rally came close to resurrecting the sunken squad, however. Sparked by Dean, the Lady Blazers came to life and shrunk the deficit to under ten points at one time.

On one play near the end of the game, Dean proved exactly why she deserves the title of team leader. As a Springbrook player streaked down court with nothing between her and the basket, Dean quickly recovered and got a piece of the ball from behind, blocking a shot that would have crushed Blair's momentum.

Dean did not lead the comeback by herself. Contributions by senior co-captains Latasha Peace and Ashley Moorfield were vital, as the tandem combined for six points and added experience to a team made up primarily of sophomores and juniors.

A number of poor judgments by Blair let Springbrook break open the game. At the end of the first quarter, with the crowd counting down the last few seconds of play, Ramsey, who netted three points, held the ball after a strong defensive rebound. Forgetting to protect the ball, a Springbrook player was able to strip the ball and put up a last second layup.

The Lady Blazers were undermanned, and their lack of depth showed as they began to unravel early, letting Springbrook get off to a jump start. Junior Jen Sindall sat out with an ankle injury, while sophomore Kidish Brown, last year's greatest offensive threat, was academically ineligible and watched from the sidelines.

Noting Blair's play from her vantage point on the bench, Sindall was upset with what she saw and found it hard to comprehend the team's lack of success thus far. "I was really frustrated to see my team out there struggling, and I was wondering what happened to us. We performed so well in our fall and summer leagues," Sindall said.

Kuttner thought that Blair's struggles could be attributed to their inability to get hot early in the game. "We didn't start playing until the second half. By then it was too late," said Kuttner.