Short-handed Blair Oaks boys see positives

Blair Oaks got the test it wanted from the start of Friday night's basketball Jamboree at Rackers Fieldhouse.

Helias put on a full-court press and it led to a 12-3 lead in the first two minutes.

"We knew that they were going to play like that," Blair Oaks coach Ryan Fick said. "It's hard to simulate that in practice. We were looking forward to that experience, because we knew that would be a test."

The Falcons did settle in after that but fell 34-23 to the Crusaders. Blair Oaks finished the night 1-2, losing 31-26 to Father Tolton before defeating Jefferson City 31-14 in the 12-minute scrimmages.

All in all, it was a positive night for the Falcons, who are without five varsity players with the football team on a postseason run.

"It'll be a process," Fick said of when the football players start practicing. "It happens quite a bit. We're used to it and we'll make the most of it. I'm happy with what I saw from the guys we had playing tonight."

Dru Rackers got his mid-range jump shot going and scored a team-high 12 points for the Falcons against Helias.

"Helias was pressuring the ball and getting in the passing lanes," Fick said, "and Dru did a great job of flashing the free throw line, getting the ball and turning around and shooting that 12 to 15 foot jumper with confidence."

Eric Northweather, a post player for the Falcons, scored eight points on the night. But the big man showed his range, knocking down a pair of 3s against Helias.

"He's got the green light because he's shown in practice that he's capable of that," Fick said. "It was nice to see the confidence."

Tim Fick and Trent Martin combined to scored 24 of the 26 points against Father Tolton. The pair made a combined seven 3-pointers.

"Tim and Trent kind of feed off each other sometimes shooting the basketball," Fick said. "It can be contagious sometimes."

Martin made three more 3-pointers in the win against the Jays, scoring a team-high 13 points.

"We did have some turnovers against Jefferson City, but overall offensively I was happy with our ball movement," Fick said. "We've spent a lot of time talking about zone offense in practice in the first couple weeks. It was nice to see that carry over."

Blair Oaks has about a week and a half before the regular season starts. The Falcons open against Tuscumbia on Nov. 28 in the first round of the Eugene Tournament.