Quince Orchard ends Blair's winning streak at three

NELSON H. KOBREN MEMORIAL GYMNASIUM-

Three consecutive wins over significantly bigger teams had the Blazers believing that they know how to overcome their size disadvantage. Tonight, the taller and stronger Quince Orchard High School Cougars soundly defeated Blair 65-52 and gave the Blazers a serious reality check.

Coach Jeff Newby knew exactly what went wrong for Blair (3-2, 3-1). "Other teams are bigger than us, but in previous games we've been able to defend inside pretty well," he said. "This game, [Quince Orchard] was much stronger than us and we weren't as aggressive defensively in the interior as we need to be."

The Cougars' power combination of Charles Lee and Josh Block used their bodies to score 24 and 21 points respectively against the Blazers' rather scrawny frontcourt. Lee is averaging 20 points per game while Block is close behind him with an average of 16. Both were extremely efficient against the Blazers, never trying to take over the game on their own. Instead, they stepped up and provided whenever Quince Orchard (4-1, 3-0) called upon them.

Blair never did get into an offensive groove the entire game and looked confused in a half-court offensive set. The Blazers, who have played consistently effective transition basketball in previous games, failed to convert on numerous fast break opportunities. Blair's heralded senior backcourt of Cyril Djoukeng and Ellis Yeadon combined for 11 steals, most of which did not lead to Blair points.

With several minutes remaining in the third quarter the Blazers appeared ready to explode and steal away the Cougars' slim 40-36 lead. The defense came alive and forced Quince Orchard into committing a turnover on four straight possessions. Yet, somehow the Blair offense failed to put points on the board on all four opportunities.

And on the fifth possession, with less than a minute remaining in the quarter, Lee converted a three-point play that gave his team a seven-point lead and crushed the Blazers' comeback hopes.

The game was tied at 14 briefly in the second quarter, but Quince Orchard maintained a lead the rest of the game. Blair was trailing by double figures for a good portion of the fourth quarter.

Newby appeared most frustrated with his team's inability to run their signature press. "We've been running the same press for three years and [tonight] we had guys that didn't do what they were supposed to do. So it was totally a breakdown on our part," he said. "We weren't there mentally tonight for whatever reason." All it took for the Cougars to break the press was one long pass to a man wide open underneath the basket.

Yeadon poured in 18 points to lead Blair. Djoukeng had an off night on offense, but still showed great court vision and had nine assists. Senior forward Delonte Simmons (eight points, seven rebounds) had the best game of his varsity career.