Boys snag division title

Nobody was taller than six-feet-two-inches, an average height for NBA point guards. Nobody could consistently make a three-point shot. In fact, the team went through long stretches without even attempting a three. Yet this year's boys' basketball team overcame its deficiencies and had an incredible 20-4 season in which it was ranked in The Washington Post and won the regular season division title.

The remarkable regular season helps ease the pain of the Blazers' Feb 26 exit in the regional semifinals of the playoffs at the hands of the powerful and efficient Quince Orchard High School. The Cougars dominated the much smaller Blazers, who were lacking injured point guard Cyril Djoukeng, and won 75-44 at home. The loss came two days after Blair, who received a first-round bye, defeated Churchill High School 50-38 in the regional quarterfinals.

Coach Jeff Newby, after allowing the playoff loss to settle in, was more than satisfied with the season. "If you had told me at the beginning of the year that we'd be 20-4 and ranked in the Post, I think I would have been pretty surprised." The Blazers, who climbed to as high as the region's 18th-ranked team following a 12-game winning streak, were ranked for the first time since 1993.

"One game doesn't determine the whole season. Obviously it's very disappointing the way we lost. Quince Orchard is a very good team, and they had some advantages over us," said Newby. "As you pull further away from it, all you can say is we lost four games—one to the regional champion [Magruder High School], two to the regional runner-up [Quince Orchard] and one to Sherwood—that we could have won at the buzzer. I'm very pleased, although it was disappointing at the very end."

The first game of the season was the Dec 6 loss to Magruder, the defending State Champions. After falling to Quince Orchard four games later, the Blazers stood at 3-2. Twelve games later, they were 15-2. During the winning streak, Blair had to overcome a major size disadvantage nearly every game. They did this by effectively boxing out for rebounds, using a ferocious press that forced turnovers and taking advantage of many fast-break opportunities. In some games, like the Dec 11 78-53 win over Paint Branch High School, the Blazers scored the majority of their points in transition.

Newby believes the success in his first year as a varsity head coach proves encouraging. "What we did this year worked. It worked because we were unselfish, it worked because we played good defense and that's something we can replicate every year. No matter what talent level you have, you can always play defense, you can always work hard, you can always box out," said Newby.

Newby also owes a lot of credit to the seniors. Guards Djoukeng and Ellis Yeadon led the team the whole season. That is, until Djoukeng fractured his left, non-shooting wrist in a Jan 29 win over Walter Johnson High School. Blair went 2-1 while he was sidelined. Upon his return in the regular season's second-to-last game, the Blazers showed immediate improvement, jumping out to a 41-13 halftime lead against Wheaton High School. But early in the second half, Djoukeng was hacked to the ground while driving to the basket and broke his other wrist, severely hurting the team's playoff hopes.