Blazers girls’ basketball season recap

Girls Recap Photo

Photo: Blair vs. Whitman

Blair vs. Whitman Photo courtesy of Ethan Zajic.

Despite many trials of hardship and misfortune, Blair’s varsity girls basketball team managed a successful season and a praiseworthy playoff run. 

Their season started with three wins in a row and a sprinkle of blowout games over Paint Branch and Gaithersburg. However, their 5-1 record was put into immediate jeopardy when the former head coach resigned in the middle of the season. 

Jada Laudi stepped up and took over as the new coach. Adding to this intense confusion and change, the omicron wave of COVID-19 raged in mid-December, and to combat it MCPS prohibited all fans from spectating games. A handful of games were canceled due to high numbers of cases on other teams, which stripped chances from the Blazers to prove themselves as an improved team. 

The fan-ban rubbed more salt into the team’s open wound. Former senior guard Arielle Granston spoke on the adversity the team faced and the negative effect it had on their play. “There were just too many changes coming at us too fast, so there was a lot of adjusting to do,” Granston said. 

But with some time, they did. Granston described the season’s real turnaround as the game they had against Bethesda-Chevy Chase. Though they lost, the game became crucial to improving the team’s cooperation. “I think it was just when we really came together as a team; we stopped playing selfishly and started to move the ball around to the best possible shot,” Granston explained.

Their improved cooperation was due to the chemistry they built up throughout the season. Even while losing games they were working towards constructing the complete team the county saw in the playoffs. 

Sophomore small forward Abby Greenberger described how the bonds built throughout the season eventually led to on-court success. “When you put a bunch of people that don’t really know each other on a team they are probably not going to be playing at their maximum potential. I didn’t know any of these people since it was my first year at Blair, and now I eat lunch with them every day,” Greenberger said. 

The team ended the regular season with a six-game losing streak for a final record of 5-7, but they revealed the improved chemistry early in the postseason. They secured the full season sweep against the Paint Branch Panthers by knocking them out of the playoffs with a blowout score of 45-29.

They matched up against a formidable Blake Bengals team for the regional finals. Despite their valiant effort, the Blazers were defeated by the Bengals with a score of 40-25.

Unfortunately the seniors weren’t given the opportunity to end their final high school season with a regional championship, but the Blazers as a whole have many more promising seasons ahead of them to prove their skill. Greenberger plans to join the team next year and hopes to “avenge the graduating seniors,” and plant Blair’s girls basketball program among the county’s most formidable.