By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor What does a clutch senior guard do when he hasn’t made a shot all night? If you’re Jack Dakan, who’s had five or so “daggers” to close out wins this season, you just keep shooting. Dakan’s two buckets on Friday night came on 3-point baskets that gave Blair a 5-and […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
What does a clutch senior guard do when he hasn’t made a shot all night?
If you’re Jack Dakan, who’s had five or so “daggers” to close out wins this season, you just keep shooting.
Dakan’s two buckets on Friday night came on 3-point baskets that gave Blair a 5-and then 9-point lead at the time, and the Vikings were able to finally close out a very tough Flintridge Prep team.
Blair and Prep threw punches (figuratively) all game, but the Vikings outlasted the Rebels, 62-53 in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 4-AA playoffs.
“Being a shooter, you’ve always got to have confidence,” Dakan said. “My first couple shots didn’t go in and Prep’s players did a good job (of) not getting the shots I normally do. Second half, I trusted my teammates would continue to hit me and they trusted me with the shots that I’ve taken all year.”
Dez Washington of Blair and Jake Althouse tied for high-scoring honors, as both had 22 for their respective teams.
Althouse also grabbed 8 rebounds in his final game at Prep.
“The entire game was a battle,” Althouse said. “It was a very physical game in an intense playoff atmosphere. We fought hard and did a good job of executing our game plan. They hit some key 3’s at the end. This season was great, and to have 9 seniors allowed us to have a great chemistry, and I am sure we won’t forget these memories.”
Gabe Snow had 13 points and Caleb Smith added 12 for the Vikings (22-6).
“We got great senior leadership and it was a matter of our defense wearing teams out,” Blair coach Alon Margalit said. “Dez took the game over in the fourth quarter and Jack has hit more clutch shots than anyone I have ever seen. Prep really impressed me. They played hard, are well-coached and gave us a run for our money.”
Jonathan Le had 10 for the Rebels.
“Coming into the game, we knew what to expect from them and we prepared well for it,” L e said. “We were able to stick with them and keep it close until the end. I’m proud of the way we fought and how far we were able to come as a team in order to compete with those guys. We battled, Jake played big for us and Kendall had an amazing game. It was a tough way to go out but I am very proud of the season we were able to put it together.”
Dallas Murray had 7 for Blair, and Dakan finished with those huge 6 points.
The Vikings will host Jurupa Valley Tuesday night at 7 in the quarterfinals.
Prep saw the career of one of the area’s best competitor’s come to an end.
Kendall Kikkawa, a three-sport athlete, and a guy who once scored 8 touchdowns in a game this year, finished with 6 points and 10 assists.
Beau Detchemendy had 7 and Cameron Wu added 6 points.
“This game was a dog fight,” Kikkawa said. “We knew Blair would be tough and have some offensive firepower, as they proved to have, but we stuck to our game plan and were in it to the end. We thought the game could have gone either way, but they just made some shots down the stretch.”
Blair scoring: Dezmond Washington 22, Gabe Snow 13, Caleb Smith 12, Dallas Murray 7, Jack Dakan 6, Jordan Hall 2.
Flintridge Prep scoring: Jake Althouse 22, Jonathan Le 10, Beau Detchemendy 7, Kendall Kikkawa 6, Cameron Wu 6, Jonathan Au 2
Box Score:
Blair: 13-10-16-23-(62)
Prep: 11-12-15-15-(53)
