By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor If losing in the CIF-SS Division 4-AA finals on Saturday wasn’t going to test the Blair basketball program’s resolve, being down 9 points late in the CIF Division 4 State playoffs would. Would Blair show the heart it had all season, especially after losses, or would the prep careers of […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
If losing in the CIF-SS Division 4-AA finals on Saturday wasn’t going to test the Blair basketball program’s resolve, being down 9 points late in the CIF Division 4 State playoffs would.
Would Blair show the heart it had all season, especially after losses, or would the prep careers of seniors Jordan Hall, Jack Dakan and Caleb Smith come to an end?
The show will, in fact, go on, after Blair’s 55-53 victory on Wednesday night as the Vikings scored 22 fourth-quarter points to outlast a very feisty Palisades team.
The 22 in the final period were as many as Blair had scored in the second and third quarters combined, and they outscored the Dolphins by 11 points in the final 8 minutes.
Jordan Hall, on his 18th birthday, and trailing 53-50 with 20 seconds to play, called for the ball beyond the 3-point arc in the corner.
Despite a defender in his face, the senior connected on that 3 pointer, and tied the game at 53-53.
On the ensuing possession, Blair (25-7) stole the ball and coach Alon Margalit called a time out with just 15 seconds to play.
After the ball was moved around the top of the key, Hall drove towards the hoop for the win and a running lay up.
The shot was off, but in came Dez Washington, who got the rebound and immediately put the ball up while off of his feet, and in our video, you’ll hear the buzzer go off after he’s released the ball.
Washington’s clutch rebound and put-back gave Blair a dramatic victory, and allowed the Vikings to extend the careers of Hall, Dakan and Smith, all of whom made key contributions in the win.
But it also marked the coming together of a team down 9 points and without stars Gabe Snow and Dallas Murray, who both played on Saturday, but neither played Wednesday, due to injury.
Dakan had three 3-point baskets and finished with 11 points.
“We’re all clutch and have each other’s backs,” Dakan said. “We do not want to lose and want our season to continue.”
Hall had 7, including the huge 3-pointer with 20 seconds to play and Smith finished with 11 points and 6 assists.
“I think we just stayed positive and I wasn’t going to let it be over,” Smith said.
Blair will travel to No. 1 seeded Burbank on Saturday night at 6.
“We only had one team foul and hadn’t played good defense all game long and we stepped it up,” Margalit said. “It led with our defense, and we didn’t get rattled. Dallas and Gabe were both out and you could see our lack of size out there, but we refused to use it as an excuse. We refuse to lose.”
Dayne Downey had a game-high 19, but the senior forward fouled out and was sorely missed by the Dolphins.
All 19 of Downey’s points came in the first three periods.
Daniel Emein scored 9 of his 11 points in the fourth quarter for the Dolphins, and kept the game tight until the final buzzer.
Washington led Blair with 18 points and 11 rebounds, but it was his put-back that had classmates and fans mobbing the junior star on the court.
“We physically just pushed the pace offensively and played defense,” Washington said. “I was thinking ‘go get it’ when I saw the ball and was excited when it went in.”
By The Numbers:
Blair Scoring: Ben Harris 6, Curt Johnson 2, Jack Dakan 11, Dez Washington 18, Jordan Hall 7, Caleb Smith 11
Palisades Scoring: Dayne Downey 19, Zack Lynch 12, Chris Kurihara 7, Daniel Emein 11, Dylan Griffin 4
Box Score:
Palisades: 11-15-16-11-(53)
Blair: 11-12-10-22-(55)
Records:
Palisades (16-14); Blair (25-7)
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