JV Basketball sneaks in another victory

DEC. 16, NELSON H. KOBREN MEMORIAL GYMNASIUM-

Blair JV boys' basketball pulled out a win today against Watkins Mill after a close game. This was a change for the better after losing to Walter Johnson on Friday, with a score of 48-68. Although Blair started off slow and Watkins Mill kept a few point lead throughout most of the game, Blair came back in the last four minutes to take a win of 51-50, making their current record 3-1.

The game started with Watkins Mill taking an immediate lead of 7-2 but Blair stayed close behind from then on. Blair definitely had some miscommunication in the first half when passes were completely off, not many picks were successfully implemented and a few balls got taken, but these were countered by their strong offense and ball-handling. One instance of Blair's strong offense was towards the end of the second quarter. Sophomore co-captain Tommy Dugan took a break away and made a lay-up, but then stole the ball from Watkins Mill as tried to pass it in. He handed it to sophomore Rashad McDonald who makes a quick two-pointer.

The second half consisted of Blair slowly working up the tension until they broke lose in the last few minutes. Blair was down 42-48 with four minutes left but quickly took some points and made the score 48-50 with 37 seconds left. Blair sophomore Jacob Wade then steals the ball as Watkins Mill passes it in and a time-out is called. Freshman Darius Smith, who busted his lip earlier in the game, gets the ball as the game starts up again and makes a clean three-pointer, giving Blair the lead and Watkins Mill a disappointment.

"When we play with heart great things can happen and they showed a lot of heart today," said coach Richard Porac. Dugan's steals, McDonald's 12 points and Smith's three pointer helped the team pull off an impressive comeback.

The team next plays Dec. 18 at 5:15 p.m. at Damascus.