From cancelled games to the state quarterfinals: the Blair Boys' Basketball's season recap
The Blazers dominated in the 2021-22 season, finishing with a 13-3 record and a regional championship.
Editor's Note: This article was updated on Wednesday, March 23, to include comments from senior point guard Muller Torontow.
The Blair Boys’ Basketball team had a season worth remembering. They went 13-3, shut down talented opponents and putting up 70-plus points in some games. Their stars – senior forward Gio Moore (who went on to be named Montgomery County Player of the Year), senior guards Muller Torontow and Isoiza "Ryan" Emah, senior center Yann Aubert, and junior guards Jonathan Pang and Eli Greenberger – flourished, and their bench delivered when needed. Blair eventually won the regional championship before being eliminated in the state quarterfinals, three rounds into the playoffs. Here is a recap of the 2021-22 season and what to expect from the future.
Season opener
All four quarters of the season opener were riveting. Punctuated by thunderous dunks and consecutive threes, both teams had dominant stretches where offense was clicking and defense was airtight. With Blair up 58-57 with just 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter, junior guard Eli Greenberger stepped up to the free throw line with all the pressure in the world on his shoulders. He didn't hit either free throw, and the ball fell into Seneca Valley’s hands for the game’s final seconds, down by one.
Blair began their full-court press, but Seneca snuck through it and nailed a shot with six seconds left in the game, turning the tide and putting the Screaming Eagles up 59-58. Junior guard Jonathan Pang got a shot off as the clock hit zero, but it didn’t go in and Seneca Valley ran away with the win.
A Blazer reaches for the hoop as other players look on. Photo courtesy of Derek Mu.
Despite being a crushing loss, the game became a humbling experience on which the Blazers never looked back. If Greenberger made just one free throw, the game might have gone into overtime. But for the rest of the season, he evolved into one of Blair’s most effective players, shooting a lights-out 40-percent-plus from three.
COVID wave
The Blazers wanted nothing more than to bounce back from the crushing loss against Seneca Valley and show the Blair fans that they had the talent to make a deep playoff run. But in the days after the game, several JV and Varsity players tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the cancellation of Dec. 10’s game.
These cases coincided with the omicron explosion around the country and in MCPS schools, with droves of students testing positive for COVID-19. In response to this wave, MCPS announced they would shut down athletics programs for two weeks if there were three or more positive COVID cases in a program. Blair quickly exceeded this threshold, so all games and practices ceased for two weeks.
Once the outbreak in the basketball program subsided and two weeks passed, games and practices started again, albeit in near-empty gyms, as spectators were not allowed to attend games due to the new MCPS guidance. SCO was not able to cover the games until Jan. 26.
In addition to these obstacles, much of Blair's core team was injured. Senior point guard Muller Torontow said that it wasn't until New Year's that the Blazers were healthy. "The beginning of the season, we had a bunch of injuries. Eli [Greenberger] was out, Jonathan [Pang] was out, Ryan [Emah] was out, so that's basically our core players. I feel like our turning point was New Year's… We were .500 [won 50% of games] when we went into Christmas break. And when we came back, we only lost one game for the rest of the season," Torontow said.
Regular season wraps up
Junior guard Eli Greenberger launches a three with the Blazer Ragers and Blair fans in the background vs. Springbrook Photo courtesy of Cal Tobias.
The first game that fans were allowed back in was an absolutely dominant 72-46 win over Springbrook on Feb. 4. Greenberger carried the team on his shoulders, nailing three after three. In the following games, Blair kept winning, as did their chance to go deep into the playoffs. Blair closed out the regular season with this dominant run, culminating in an electric 72-52 senior night win over Whitman in front of a packed crowd.
The Blazers celebrate after their Senior Night victory against the Vikings. Blair defeated Whitman 72-52. Photo courtesy of Sam Levy.
Head Coach Tony Mensah said that having fans crowding the stands had a huge impact on the players. “When fans come out to games, they bring that energy. It feeds the players, it feeds the whole basketball team, coaches too. We all live off of that stuff. So yeah, it was a huge deal to have fans back in the stands,” he said. Blair’s record by the end of the season was 13-3.
Playoffs
Blair rode the wave of their regular season winning streak through the first two games of the playoffs. Blair blew away Paint Branch in the playoff opener with a 70-52 victory in front of a deafening student section. The Blazers didn’t miss a beat in the next round, securing the regional championship with a 22-point victory over Blake.
Senior point guard Muller Torontow drives to the hoop against Blake in the regional championship on March 2, 2022 Photo courtesy of Mollie Block.
But in the next round, Blair’s hopes for a state championship were dashed. In enemy territory at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, the Blazers lost the state quarterfinal 55-42. Roosevelt went on to win the State Championship.
Coach Mensah said the fact that they were away from home contributed to their loss. “I think that the poor shooting had a lot to do with the fact that we hadn’t played on the road for a while. Like, we were home for a month. So I think some of that impacted us,” Mensah said.
Torontow agreed and said it altered Blair's play. "At times we just seemed a little timid. I think having that home court and having the fans cheering… would be helpful," Torontow said.
But Mensah also thinks Blair could’ve won. “They deserved [the win]… but if we played them 10 times, I think we would beat them more times than they would beat us,” Mensah added.
Next season
Next season carries a lot of promise for the Blazers. Many of this year’s seniors will have graduated, including County Player of the Year forward Giovanni Moore. Point guards Isoiza Emah and Muller Torontow, as well as center Yann Aubert are among those who are set to graduate.
But Torontow pointed out that the team will have a solid cohort of underclassmen playing for Varsity next year, giving him confidence that the team will at least make a regional championship. "I think we have some pretty strong JV players coming up, and I trust Mensah in mentoring them and making them better. And we have a bunch of juniors who are returning," Torontow said.
Coach Mensah emphasized that junior three-point aces Greenberger and Pang will return, in addition to the current underclassmen that Torontow mentioned. “We have talent returning, and then we have some guys on JV who will be developing and coming up, so we’ll be fine. And the expectation for next year is that we will play for the State Championship."
Tags: Basketball Blair Athletics
Sachin Parikh. Hello! My name is Sachin and I'm a senior in the CAP program. I'm currently co-EiC along with Isabelle Yang, and have previously held staff writer and sports editor roles over my three years on the publication. When I'm not working on SCO, I enjoy … More »
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