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Hun falls to Blair in year’s first meeting

Raiders in Peddie tourney today

By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
   Round One went to Blair, but it was just the first of what figures to be a number of meetings between the Hun School and Blair boys’ basketball teams this season.
   ”I think we’ve played them 14 times in the last four years, maybe 16,” said Hun coach Jonathan Stone, after his team had dropped a 51-50 decision to the Bucs on Wednesday. “We’ll probably play them four times this year. It’s certainly a rivalry. Just about every game is one like this.”
   And even though it was just the second game of the season for the Raiders and third for Blair, the game had all the intensity of a late-season tournament game. Hun led by as many as 14 points, 36-22, in the second half only to see Blair rally and take the lead for good with three seconds left in the game.
   ”Every one of the guys played their hearts out,” said Stone, whose team will open play in the Peddie School Invitational today at 5 p.m. against Brunswick (Conn.). “I have no problem with how hard our guys played. They played hard and they competed from that. We just have to learn from it and manage the time better.
   ”We knew they would make a push and a run. It was a little bit in the flow of the game but they got some momentum and we didn’t. Their defense picked up and we didn’t match it.”
   The Raiders had a six-point lead with just over two minutes left in the game, but Blair never wavered in its comeback attempt. A basket and subsequent foul shot Jarrett Mann with three seconds left was the difference.
   ”Since we’re going to have another one like this, we have to learn from it,” Stone said. “As a competitor you’re excited to be in games like this. You just want to be on the other end of it. We’re going to have plenty more games like this, that’s for sure.”
   Sterling Melville led the Raiders with 17 points, while Lance Goulbourne added 13 in the loss. The Raiders nearly pulled the game out at the foul line, where they made 17 of their 23 shots, compared to just 11 of 26 for Blair.
   The Peddie School Invitational this weekend kicks off a tough stretch for the Raiders, who will play at St. Benedict’s on Tuesday, at Valley Forge Military Academy on Thursday, and then play St. Anthony’s in a game at Seton Hall.