WARDSVILLE, Mo. - Blair Oaks opened Tuesday night's game against Father Tolton with a turnover, a sight that became familiar as the Trailblazers' defense stuffed the Falcons for a 46-35 win.
"That's the best defensive team that we've seen so far this year," Blair Oaks coach Ryan Fick said. "There aren't going to be very many teams that guard us the way they did."
Father Tolton pressured the ball all night, forcing 21 turnovers and not allowing open looks for the Falcons. Blair Oaks finished the game shooting 11-of-39.
"We had a hard time getting into an flow offensively," Fick said. "We weren't comfortable at all. Then when we did get open looks we were rushed."
The Falcons did lead first on a turn-around jumper from Eric Northweather, but that would be their only lead.
Father Tolton scored the next eight points on a layup and two 3-pointers. Blair Oaks went inside to Northweather twice during that run, but the shots didn't fall.
"They've got some size inside that did a really good job at contesting every shot Eric took, so Eric was shooting with a hand in his face," Fick said. "As he gets stronger he'll be bale to establish better position. A lot of times he was fading away or falling away, which made it a little more difficult."
Northweather did tie for a team-high eight points. Dru Rackers was able to make 3-of-4 from the field to match Northweather's points.
The Falcons got to the free throw line to cut into the deficit. Tim Fick got fouled on a 3-point attempt and made the free throws to make it 14-9 after the opening quarter.
A Northweather second-chance bucket plus two free throws each from Northweather and Nolan Hair got Blair Oaks within 18-15 with 4:22 left in the first half.
But the Trailblazers closed out the half on an 8-1 run to lead 26-16 despite turning it over four times in a three-minute span.
"It just seemed like we got it to three we came away with some empty possessions, had some turnovers, shot quick, missed a couple chippies," Fick said. "Some nights it goes that way."
The Falcons played tough on the defensive end as well, forcing 16 turnovers.
"That's probably the biggest bright spot we'll take away is our defensive effort I thought was really good with the exception of we allowed quite a few second-chance points," Fick said.
The Trailbalzers scored eight points off offensive rebounds in the first half.
The Falcons had a difficult time keeping Father Tolton's Beau Washer off the glass as he had a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with a game-high 17 points.
Father Tolton got its lead to 39-24 by the end of the third quarter and led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Blair Oaks added Father Tolton to its schedule this season and Fick said he'd like to keep the Traiblazers on it.
"You want to play as many district opponents as you can so when it comes to district seeding it's a little more clear cut what the seeding should be," he said. "Games like this will make us better. These are the type of games you want to play throughout the season."
Blair Oaks (4-2) will play its next three games on the road, starting with Friday's game at Hickman.
Blair Oaks won Tuesday's JV game 53-35.
Corban Bonnett led the Falcons with 16 points.
Blair Oaks (4-0) will take on Eldon today to begin play in its home JV tournament.