Girls' Basketball beats Rockets in comeback fashion

The girls' varsity basketball team (7-1) overcame a bad start to defeat the Richard Montgomery Rockets (3-4) in a statement game on Monday night.

As the game commenced, the Lady Blazers started off slowly, as they struggled to recover loose balls and to score. Head coach Erin Conley attributed this bad start to the team's tiring overtime win Saturday night, saying it left the team tired. "We didn't come out mentally prepared," Conley said, "our overtime game on Saturday night left us mentally tired and I thought that caused us to come out a little bit weak."

The Lady Blazers only managed to put up five points in the first quarter, leaving them with a four point deficit to the Rockets.

To begin the second quarter, Conley and her coaching staff made some adjustments. Blair transitioned to its press defense and hurried the pace of the game offensively. They were playing with more determination. "We came out harder and more as a team," senior captain Erica Adarkwa said.

Although Blair was playing better in the second quarter, jump shots were not falling and as a result, they trailed at halftime 18-16.

In the third quarter, the Lady Blazers began to excel on defense. Adarkwa and sophomore guard Camille Estrin lead the defensive charge and they were able to force turnovers.

With about two minutes left in the third quarter and the team trailing 26-25, the Lady Blazers took the lead for good. A steal by senior captain Shannon Healy sparked a 9-0 run to end the quarter with a 34-26 lead.

Healy praises the team for changing its mentality in the second half. "We all decided that we were going to change our mentality and just play like the team we know we are," Healy said, "we all just decided that in the team room and came out like we should have come out first."

In the fourth quarter, Blair picked up right where it left off. The press defense forced turnovers that led to easy transition buckets, widening their lead.

Conley attributed Blair's epic comeback in the second half to defensive dominance. "We got some good scores in transition but our comeback really started from our defensive pressure to really put them on the hot seat," Conley said.

They finished the game out strong on a 9-2 run, ending the game with a score of 51-34.

The girls' varsity basketball team will play its next home game on January 10 at 5:15 pm against Whitman High School.