By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

Last year there were many Urbana boys basketball players getting playing time. The different this season, there’s many experienced players seeing the court.

Urbana showed its depth and experience in beating Blair, 55-29, Monday night in the Cougar Holiday Classic semifinals at Quince Orchard.

Last year, the Hawks were knocked out of the 3A West region playoffs in the second round. This year Urbana is undefeated at 7-0 after bringing back three starters and eight players that saw major action.

“Everybody on this team likes each other and they play hard,” Urbana Coach Terry Connelly said. “This year I think we’re playing a lot of guys and they have a lot of experience.”

Urbana had nine different players score and was led by 12 points by junior Kevin Sowers. Senior Brad Hickman notched nine points, junior Frankie Jarboe and Zack Cooper each had eight points and Sean Cunningham scored seven points.

“Everybody has their roles,” Jarboe said. “Our roles are shooting, making threes.”

All of Urbana’s first quarter points came from three pointers and the team made six overall. Blair (3-2) played a zone defense for much of the game, which was countered by Urbana’s quick ball movement and strong outside shooting.

“I love playing zone,” Jarboe said. “We practice shooting more than anything. Everybody can shoot, everybody can knock it down.”

Urbana was tested early on when Blair jumped out to an early 4-0 lead behind senior Mike McClain, who scored a game-high 15 points. The Hawks missed their first several shots and had no consistency on offense.

“I thought it was going to be a dogfight,” Cooper said. “We had to wake up.”

That’s when Urbana’s experience came through. The Hawks scored the next 11 points and 25 of the next 29 to take a 25-9 lead at halftime.

The Hawks have already notched quality wins over Thomas Johnson and Century. On Jan. 5, they will play Tuscarora in a regular season showdown. But before that, Urbana is looking to fulfill one of its goals of winning its holiday tournament.

“Coming down to Montgomery and being on the road and getting a big victory,” Cooper said. “That would be pretty big.”

Blair has had an inconsistent season thus far after opening with high expectations. The Blazers reached the championship game of the Montgomery County Recreational Department Summer League after reaching the region semifinals last year.

“We really thought we would start from where summer league stopped and pick up where we left off,” Blair Coach Mark DeStefano said. “For some reason we haven’t been able to recapture that same intensity and that same focus. … It’s a long season. We’re 3-3. It’s not the end of the world. But we do have to start playing better.”