Blair Cold From Three as West Wins 4AA Title

Blair High School. – Courtesy photo @PUSD_ATHLETICS

Will host Palisades in state playoffs

By Christian Romo

No CIF banners hang in Blair’s gymnasium. There are a few league championship banners for the boys basketball program, a few for the girls, and a hall of fame in the southeast corner, but no CIF banner. For over 50 years, save for two championship appearances in the early 1980s, Blair has missed out on the success and tradition enjoyed by PHS and Muir, who together have brought eight CIF championships back to the city. A recent resurgence, however, brought the Vikings into contention, utilizing an electric and high-scoring offense to vault them into this year’s Division 4AA title game, their first since 1983. But a 65-54 loss to West Torrance sent the Vikings back to Pasadena still looking for their first banner.

For such an effective system, Blair’s offense is relatively straightforward: junior center Dezmond Washington and four shooters. It has worked all season, too. Blair averages 9.4 made three pointers a game and 72.2 points per game, the most in the entire division. As the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, Washington locks down the paint on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, and on Saturday night he held up his end. Blair’s shooters, however, did not.

Washington finished the game with 26 points and 17 rebounds, reaching a double-double only twelve minutes into the contest. Though West’s Alex Mishaw outscored him (finishing with 30 points and shooting 69% from the floor), Washington was the game’s most dominant force, absorbing the lights and sounds of a college atmosphere and demonstrating a confidence to play at the next level. Though he was disappointed with the loss, Washington said he and his team enjoyed the tournament. “I’ve never played a championship game on this type of court,” he said, “so it was a good experience overall for me and my team.”

West won without making a single three-point shot, only attempting four all game. Their offense took advantage of transition plays and open mid-range shots, forgoing three-pointers for high-percentage baskets near the rim. The Vikings, however, have won all year with three-pointers, and their perimeter shooting was as frigid as it has ever been. Blair shooters combined to go 0-10 from three in the first half, only making their first three-pointer with 1:54 left in the third quarter.

“We’ve got some of the best guards in Southern California,” said Blair coach Alon Margalit, “and they scored zero points in the first half. That’s not us. We didn’t play like ourselves.” Much of the credit should go to West’s perimeter defense, which surrounded Blair’s guards near midcourt and double-teamed ball handlers on nearly every possession. But Blair got plenty of open looks, and sometimes going 3-19 from three just means the shots weren’t falling.

Blair picked it up in the fourth quarter, with junior Gabriel Snow and senior Jordan Hall hitting shots to close the gap. But West controlled the tempo, dominating their opponent in a way that their eleven-point victory doesn’t sufficiently show. “If we played Blair basketball, we would’ve won that game,” said Margalit. “You can grow from losses if your character is good and your head is right. We’ve gotta have one more run left in us.”

The Vikings will get an opportunity to redeem themselves in the state playoffs, hoping to hit shots that disappeared in the finals. A state championship banner would look just as good hanging in the gym as a CIF banner, maybe even better. But the first step is winning, something Blair, now three-time runners-up, has never done before.

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