Blazers Survive and Advance
in NECC Tourney

 The Eastside Blazers (5-5, 1-3) opened up the Northeast Corner Conference Tournament on Tuesday night on the road at Hamilton, where they took on the Marines (1-7) in a girls/guys double header. The Blazers were in for a battle in this one as Hamilton played one of their best complete games of the season, including knocking down 8 three pointers and scoring 9 points at the free throw line. 

The Blazers came out slow but won the first quarter 15-13 behind 2 threes from Loden Johnson and 5 points from Noah Acquaviva. The momentum built towards the end of the first quarter continued during the second quarter as Eastside built a 8 point led heading into halftime at 35-27. Connor Abplanalp had himself a career game, which included scoring 13 points in the 2nd quarter alone.

The second half was a battle as the Marines won the third quarter 15-13 and the boys tied the fourth quarter at 13, giving the Blazers a 61-55 victory which advances them into the NECC quarterfinals. Abplanalp finished the game with 21 points to lead all scorers on the night. Clay Minnick added 15 points, and Johnson finished with 11 points. The 61 points was a season high for Eastside on the season and bring their record to above .500 at 6 wins and 5 losses. 

Eastside will now host Central Noble (9-2) on Wednesday night in another girl/guy double header that tips off at 6:00pm with the 15-3 Lady Blazers. The boys' varsity will follow at roughly 7:30pm. Chik-Fil-A sandwiches will be on sale at the game through our Athletic Boosters. Semi-Finals for the NECC tournament will take place on Thursday and the Championship will be Saturday night. 

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