Following a devastating loss to the consortium rival Paint Branch Panthers, the boys bounced back, with two decisive victories over Quince Orchard and Wootton.

Tuesday, Blake defeated Wootton’s Patriots 71-54, the second straight victory by a margin of 15 or more points.

Senior Einstein transfer Kelvin Bright led the team with a Blake career high 27 points. Says Head coach Damon Pigrom, “He was a spark, he’s been solid… but with the makeup of our team, anybody can have a big night, anybody can have a big game.”

Last Friday, the Bengals trounced the Quince Orchard Cougars 65-40 as senior guard Jermaine Cooper led the field with 19 points in the home opener. Says Cooper, “It was a huge win because it brings our confidence back up after being 0-1. It allows us to start our winning streak.”

Says senior guard Achille Hendje, “It’s great to beat a team up after a loss like that…we just need to figure out how to do that to better teams down the road.”

Blake shot 19 of 65 against the Paint Branch Panthers, losing 65-49 in front of a sell-out crowd at Paint Branch. Security officials were forced to block the entrances as several dozen fans attempted to rush the admission table 30 minutes prior to game.

Inside, Kelvin Bright led the team with 16 points. Says Bright, “We could never knock down the outside shot and we really struggled to get in a groove.”

Many attribute the Bengals’ loss to their inability to defeat a 2-3 zone. Coach Pigrom chose to concentrate on this aspect of his offense in practice last week after the loss. Says senior guard Brandon Driver, “In practice we ran a lot of zone because the knock on us was that we can’t beat it… Next time we’ll be ready.”

With the loss, the Bengals likely sacrificed their 14th-place ranking in the Washington Post Top 20 High School Basketball poll. Never before had the team been ranked so high at any point in the season. The latest poll is scheduled to be released today.

Says Pigrom, “The problem I have with this team is that they pick and choose when to go hard… because we’re good, there’s always that feeling that we can take time off and still win.”

The boys travel to Whitman today to face the Vikings at 7pm. Says coach Damon Pigrom, “I’m not sure how athletic they’ll be, but they’ll be very disciplined.” Adds senior forward Kevan Creppy, “It’s gonna be a barn-burner.”